The first EuroClub was officially launched today in Oshakan village, Armenia.
This new space for young people from Oshakan village and neighbouring communities will facilitate youth engagement through skills development and civic activities.
The ‘EuroClub Oshakan’ will be managed by a group of Young European Ambassadors (YEAs) from Oshakan and the local youth initiative ‘Uniting Bridge’ NGO.
The opening of EuroClub Oshakan took the form of an Armenian traditional Christmas celebration, with Young European Ambassadors decorating the Armenian ‘Tree of Life’ and cutting Tarehats, the Armenian traditional Christmas pie, together with the Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Andrea Wiktorin.
“EuroClub Oshakan will help to engage in or undertake interesting initiatives based on local youth interests, knowledge and skills. It would be a platform to discuss, impart and learn about many topics: environment, digitalisation, media literacy, culture, art, entrepreneurship, leadership and more. Young people will have the opportunity to share their culture with their European peers and learn from each other through various exchanges,” said Andrea Wiktorin.
Razmik Mnatsakanyan, a Young European Ambassador from Oshakan and one of the Euroclub’s founders, believes that the new space will help to attract more young people to Euroclub activities, motivate and inspire them to be active citizens, contribute to society and benefit from EU-funded youth projects. Young European Ambassadors will contribute to Euroclubs’ activities with the support of the EU NEIGHBOURS east regional communication programme.
So far, Young European Ambassadors in Armenia have implemented more than 20 civic engagement activities in Oshakan, involving more than five communities from Aragatsotn region and reaching out to around 500 local young people. In particular, YEAs have organised English-speaking clubs for local youth in Oshakan, a series of movie screenings, awareness-raising campaigns about environment and ecology in Ashtarak, info sessions, and summer camps in rural communities, aiming to promote civic activism among Aragatsotn youth and to inform them about EU-funded opportunities.
