The main goal of AYCH (Atlantic Creative Youth Hubs) is to improve the cooperation between the Atlantic territories of Europe through the promotion of the youth entrepreneurship. The project is led by five countries (United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Portugal, and Spain) and it aims to exchange ideas and create new synergies that will help build the future of Europe.
Us, the young people, are the main actors of this program, and it is up to us to make a difference and a real impact on our future. So far, we have organized different events online and in presence, that basically consist in Hackathons. These competitions provide us with the opportunity to enhance our team-working and intercultural skills, as well as to meet people from other countries and from different backgrounds. In fact, last May we had our biggest meeting in L’ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique, where people from up to 20 nationalities worked in teams for three days, to recreate our urban spaces in a sustainable and healthy way.
As for my specific role in the project, I mainly help the Chamber of Commerce of Santiago de Compostela with the organization of the events. I also participate in the encounters as a mentor of the teams, in which my creative and innovative side is challenged. After the events, we make a summary of all the prototypes created by the participants and we offer them the chance to incubate them and make them real, which I believe is a crucial step. If we talk about what I like the most, that will be the creativity involving the process; the interesting ideas that can be created in such a short time just by gathering skills and perspective from such diverse people. This proves that together, different as we are, we can create the future of Europe together.
– Sara, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg Atlantic Area project “AYCH” at the Chamber of Commerce of Santiago de Compostela.
