Edgar Faure had a conviction and a vision: a united Europe and the European integration would not be possible without the inclusion of young people from diverse backgrounds. To foster a sense of European belonging, social inclusion and intercultural understanding, while enhancing young people’s professional and personal development, Egar Faure launched in 1985 a youth mobility programme: the “European Youth Tour”, which later became Eurodyssey.
“[Edgar Faure] didn’t want that only children from priviliedged social and intellectual backgrounds could have the opportunity to discover Europe. He wished for working-class children, trained for manual jobs, to benefit from the opportunity too. […] After he died, his successor, Pierre Chantelat, modified the programme’s title, which became Eurodyssey.” (source)
In 1985, Edgar Faure was the President of the Regional Council of Franche-Comté and the Founding President of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) – at the time, “Council of the Regions of Europe”. Convinced that European regions had the capacity to develop and carry out their own initiatives, he established the “European Youth Tour” in the framework of the AER in 1985 – two years before the creation of the Erasmus programme!
At the time, Edgar Faure had summarised this youth mobility programme for his region as follows:
“For every youth from abroad hosted in Franche-Comté, youth Comtois can be hired abroad. They key of the system is the alliance of regions, facilitating youth inclusion in different and gratifying sectors.” (source)
Edgar Faure was inspired by a famous French textbook, “Le Tour de la France par deux enfants”, published in 1877, recounting the journey of two children from Lorraine touring France, discovering its regional and cultural diversity. The book is famous in France for its contribution to creating a sense of national identity and belonging under the Third Republic. Edgar Faure expanded the idea, developing a youth mobility programme across the participating European regions.
Looking back, after more than 35 years of existence and more than 10.000 young people placed in traineeships abroad, what started as a small pilot programme is today one of the main assets of the AER, and the only youth mobility programme entirely managed at regional level.