A seminar on “A drained and ageing Europe: What job opportunities do young people need in order not to leave the villages?” (Part 1) took place from 20 to 23 October 2025 in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, organised by USO – CCFAS (Unión Sindical Obrera – Centro Confederal de Formación y Acción Social - Workers’ Union - Confederal Centre for Training and Social Action) in cooperation with MCL / EFAL (Movimento Cristiano Lavoratori / Ente Nazionale per la Formazione e l'Addestramento dei Lavoratori - Christian Workers' Movement / National Entity for the Formation and Training of Workers), with the support of EZA and funded by the European Union.
Without employment, there is no future. Without training and education, there is no future. Without young people, there is no future. This series of seminars in Santiago de Compostela analysed the main causes of depopulation and the role of women in retaining populations in rural areas with a focus on young people: why they leave their villages voluntarily or involuntarily, why they decide not to return, or what is stopping them from returning.
Europe is the old continent, but also an ageing continent. Our average age continues to increase, and immigration alone is counteracting the general ageing process. This is because our natural population growth is declining as the number of births continues to reduce. All the countries represented at the seminar shared the same problem: a coastline or some more dynamic inland capitals versus extensive interiors or mountainous, sparsely populated areas.
But this demographic “winter” is spreading across the globe. The measures must therefore be global, and we must develop a regional strategy that studies numerous factors if we want to pave the way for progress. The seminar days focused on these measures.
The analysis kicked off by looking at the cause of the first exodus of young people, which is a lack of opportunities in education and training.
The various seminar modules highlighted in particular vocational training, a type of training with a high rate of employability and which would be easier to achieve in the regions. The issue is not to create universities or higher institutes in every town, but to provide training opportunities to those who want to stay in their town or village, and who prioritise this over other options. People who generally leave their town or village for education or training will generally specialise in a field that will provide no employment for them when they return, so they cannot return, even if they want to.
All the countries attending the seminar reported an increased commitment to this type of training and education, particularly with the implementation of dual training. Dual training is not the only solution to the problem, but success stories are emerging where students are managing to integrate into the local labour market while still pursuing their studies.
Depopulation and ageing are nothing new. This trend goes back decades, and no strategy has yet been implemented, only specific policies.
Rural areas share many of the same problems as urban areas, but they are magnified in rural areas due to their size. Housing in general is becoming increasingly difficult to access, which is exacerbated in towns and villages where there is little available housing.
Social services are already insufficient in the cities and are even thinner on the ground in rural areas. Services in rural areas are considered a much greater expense per inhabitant, notwithstanding that to maintain 5, 10 or 20 inhabitants in a sparsely populated area may have a much higher social value than maintaining the same number in the city.
However, social services are essential if people want to remain in villages and are also a source of employment in care, health, hospitality, social centres and education.
The rural environment per se can offer opportunities in the agriculture, forestry, craft, tourism, ethnography and energy sectors. Many of the above may not attract young people, but are crucial to prevent towns and villages from becoming extinct and to act as guarantors of the culture and tradition of that country.
Many presentations at the seminar therefore emphasised that population policies must go hand in hand with immigration policies. And, above all, policies addressing the demographic challenge must start in the villages, not in the urban centres.
The seminar therefore reached the following conclusions:
The demographic challenge is a global problem and, as such, must be addressed with a strategy that is supranational, and not localised.
These policies and solutions must not be proposed or imposed by large cities and decision-making centres which have no knowledge of the region. These policies must be built from the bottom up: from the villages, even if they are coordinated by regional, national or European institutions at a later date.
A social change and a change in mindset must occur, which we must pursue: the village is not a failure, it is a life choice which is as valid as any other. However, to achieve this aim we will have to make it easier to live in rural areas, with training and entrepreneurship facilities and access to housing.
Social policies in rural areas are more expensive per capita, but should be viewed as an investment and not an expense.
These include care for the elderly and children to facilitate a work-life balance, schools and healthcare. We cannot consider the viability of a rural school in the same quantitative terms as a classroom in a city. Primary school and secondary and vocational training are vital to keep young people in villages and for older people to consider returning to have a viable future for themselves and their children.
Finally, the participants in this seminar agreed to record the specific proposals to ensure that the various demands and proposals reached the different territorial areas of government through the youth representatives.