Sefton organisation hosts European virtual mobility conference

10th February 2017
 Liverpool Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Malcolm Kennedy and Regenerus Chair Cllr John Fairclough pictured (front) with UK and European partners at this week’s Connect conference.

A Sefton organisation hosted a major European conference this week looking at how cross-border digital links can improve the lives of out-of-work young people.

Bootle-based Regenerus staged the event to mark the completion of the Connect Virtual Mobility Project in which it has been one of the key partners over the past two years.

The project has involved six organisations in five European states, and has been

co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.

The conference – which also included the official launch of the Connect Virtual Mobility App – was held at The Venue in the historic Royal Liver Building on the Liverpool waterfront.

As well as Connect partners, it was attended by youth workers, policy makers, academics and professionals with a keen interest in the field of virtual mobility.

Guests were welcomed to the event by Liverpool’s Deputy Lord Mayor, Cllr Malcolm Kennedy, and by Regenerus Chair and Sefton Council Cabinet Member for Locality Services, Cllr John Fairclough.

The conference agenda looked back at the Connect project successes, and also ahead to the benefits of the new app, which will help young people who are not in work or training to improve their life and employment opportunities by working on projects with their counterparts in the other nations.

In practice, the app will enable groups of young people in different countries to work together on virtual mobility tasks, carrying out a range of activities linked to the achievement of knowledge and skills defined at the outset.

They will then be able to use the app to record the results of their efforts using photos, videos, audio recordings and social media, all of which they will be able to share instantly via real-time exchange.

Regenerus Chair, Cllr John Fairclough, said:  “Connect has been a very exciting initiative to work on and this event enabled us to put the spotlight on the project’s many achievements.

“And although this conference brought the main phase of the project to an end, it’s gratifying to know that the new app will continue to benefit young people across Europe in the years to come.”