The YOUMIG project will start off by holding an international conference and kick-off meeting in Budapest, Hungary on March 2-3, 2017.

Photo: KSH

The event will be held at the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO), at its Main Building in Keleti Károly street 5-7. After registration, Zsolt Németh, Vice President of the Lead Partner HCSO will officially open the conference. This will be followed by a brief introduction from Johannes Gabriel, the Danube Transnational Programme Representative and an introduction of the YOUMIG project by Ádám Dickmann (LP/HCSO project manager) and Béla Soltész, the deputy project manager. The keynote lecture by the title 'Migration and Youth Migration: is a different conceptual framework necessary?' will be delivered by Heinz Fassmann from the University of Vienna. Ulf Brunnbauer of the Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Germany, will talk about 'State politics and emigration in East Central Europe: Some Historical Perspectives' while Branislav Šprocha of INFOSTAT, Slovakia will address issues concerning National, regional and local population development in the context of youth migration, focusing on the case of Slovakia. Other topics to be covered include 'Challenges for monitoring migration flows in the Republic of Serbia' by Gordana Bjelobrk, Qualitative emigration research in Romania by Tamás Kiss and YOUMIG’s attempts at tackling challenges at local governments by Amna Potočnik from the Maribor Development Agency in Slovenia. The session will end with extensive discussion on these topics.

After lunch, project participants will get to know each other in smaller groups in a more informal setting, and the afternoon and the following day will be held in sections, focusing on thematic, financial management and communication issues. At the end of the second and final day participants will again come together for a brief discussion and for outlining the tasks ahead in the project. With over 90 participants including some 45 project participants attending and a leisurely ship cruise over the Danube on the first evening, the event is expected to be a memorable start to the YOUMIG project.