EUROPE DIRECT Thessaloniki proudly hosted representatives of the BOW study association BOW of the public administration study from Nijmegen, the Netherlands, on Friday, April 26th.
The representation, counting some 50 students and their professors, made a study trip to Thessaloniki during which their primary focus was how the Social Safety Net in Greece operates, what it consists of and the degree to which it is operational, while gaining some insight about the upcoming EU elections, especially related to the intentions of young people, as far as voting is concerned.
The BOW study members were welcomed at the City Hall by the Manager of EUROPE DIRECT Thessaloniki, Ms Panagiotopoulou who addressed the EU- related queries, and Ms Skitsa, former President of ThessDiktyo, the Thessaloniki NGO Network, which counts many Social Safety Net related members and dealt with issues related to NGOs and citizens’ initiatives.
The meeting, which was held in a round-table format, brough many issues to the surface, like Euroscepticism, active citizenship, enhancement of the participation of younger citizens to the democratic procedure and the importance of collective action in dealing with social security issues.
Both parties aggreed that this is the first meeting but definitely not the last and discussed the idea of creating a think-tank