A «National Cohesion and Citizenship» day was held on 1er in December in Amiens, with the support of the IHEDN – Picardie regional association. It focused on the theme of youth engagement and followed on from the previous session in Amiens, held on 25 November 2013.
It brought together around 80 people (leaders from the voluntary sector, teachers and headteachers, officials from urban policy and local government bodies, local councillors, military personnel, etc.) led by Philippe de Mester, Prefect of the Somme, and Lieutenant-General Bernard de Courrèges d’Ustou, Director of the IHEDN.
The programme included three talks and panel discussions:
• «What is national cohesion? What is citizenship?», by Admiral François Dupont, former Director of the IHEDN, and Réda Didi, Founder and General Delegate of the think tank Graines de France and a participant in this seminar in 2008; ;
• «Potential barriers to young people’s engagement», by Fabien Lafay, Head of the Student Success Unit at Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University; ;
• «Civic Service», by Constance Stoyanov, Deputy Head of the Youth Policy Unit at the Hauts-de-France Regional Directorate for Youth, Sport and Social Cohesion, Didier Belet, Departmental Director of Social Cohesion for the Somme, and Marc Germanangue, Deputy Director General and Director of Education at the Institut de l’engagement.
Following events in Lille, Marseille, Le Havre, Nantes, Lyon, Amiens and Clermont-Ferrand, this event marked the eighth «National Cohesion and Citizenship» seminar organised since 2011 in the regions by the IHEDN Endowment Fund, with the backing of the IHEDN Community and the support of Lafarge, the fund’s long-standing patron.
