This year sees the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Working Community of Cantons, Provinces, Counties, Regions and Republics of the Eastern Alps , an example of successful dialogue and cooperation between institutions, cultures and nations.

To mark the anniversary, Slovenia's Office for Youth, which heads the Working Group on Youth at the Alps-Adriatic Working Community, and the Novo mesto Association for the Development of Voluntary Work are organising a youth conference with the aim of bringing together around 100 young people from different regions of the member states. The conference will take place from 10 to 12 October in Novo mesto, Slovenia.

The 25th anniversary celebrations are an ideal opportunity to promote exchange between young people and to enable them to organise independently and engage in further cooperation and cross-cultural dialogue. The conference is an attempt to acquaint young people with the various forms of cooperation undertaken thus far within the Alps-Adriatic Working Community, and to encourage them to think about how they might further exploit the opportunities this presents in the future. We wish to strengthen those links that have already been forged and to build on them through further activities in which young people engage in the promotion of tolerance and multiculturalism.

The varied three-day event will incorporate a range of activities on the topic of culture and cross-cultural exchange and understanding, human rights and the active citizenship of young people, this last being one of the main areas of endeavour of the Working Community.

Activities will take the form of interactive lectures, debating groups, cross-cultural creative workshops (dance, percussion, debating) and cultural events.

Young people over the age of 18 who are active in youth organisations, societies or groups are invited to attend the conference. Slovene and English will be the official languages of the conference. Costs relating to food, accommodation and the programme of events will be covered by the Office for Youth and the Alps-Adriatic Working Community.