European Youth Foundation

On 11 and 12 April, the EYF staff carried out a monitoring visit to the first international activity of the annual work plan of MIJARC Europe.

The aim of the activity was to equip young people with key roles in MIJARC Europe with basic knowledge on AI, so that they understand its complexity and its implications, and are ready to address them with their peers.  

During the visit, MIJARC and its European coordinators mostly explored the ways in which AI affects the lives of rural youth, mostly in relation to their access to work, its impact on energy and agriculture, and access to health. From this activity, MIJARC will organise other international seminars this year on the same topic, so this activity served as a training of trainers for representatives from member organisations.

Simon, the coordinator of the project and president of MIJARC Europe, said “for us as an organisation based on humanistic values, it is very important to address societal changes of our time and how they affect rural youth. AI and its advances from the past year have been so profound that we think it is necessary for us to explore this, to make young people actors of these changes”.

Clara, a young person aged 24, from the member of the MIJARC member organisation in Spain, joined this project to “exchange perspectives and ideas with people from different countries. As for AI, the topic is almost mysterious, I do not have so much information about it and the European debates about it. To me, this is an opportunity to have information and bring it back to my organisation. It was also very interesting to learn more about the EYF and the work of the Council of Europe”. Clara added “AI affects me a lot, I believed it before coming here, and now I think it will affect the world of work and the tools related to the job market. We have to be informed to know how to manage AI”.

This project is supported by the EYF through its programme of annual work plan grants.