Land Vorarlberg - Presse

Young people get to know Europe

Austria's role in the European Union is utilised intensively in the Vorarlberg in order to make it possible for young people to get to know other countries and cultures in Europe. In the last five years, funding worth more than 500,000 Euro has flowed into the Vorarlberg. In 2001 groups and organisations in the region received eleven percent of the grants available, with a proportion of the population of 4.5 percent. "The opportunities which arise from a varied youth exchange programme have been recognised and are made use of as much as possible", according to State Councillor Greti Schmid. An important part of the EU programme consists of the European Voluntary Service for Young People: up to the end of 2001 altogether 102 young people from 39 municipalities in the Vorarlberg spent between six and twelve months in another country, in order to work in the social, cultural or environmental spheres.