With the support of the Municipality of Concordia, the Local Innovation Network (RIL) and the Varkey Foundation are carrying out the Annual Meeting of the Education Community, under the theme “Youth well-being: school coexistence and mental health in young people”.
The activity, which brings together officials and governments from different cities in the provinces of Entre Ríos, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, aims to work on one of the main current challenges: promoting youth well-being and addressing the mental health of adolescents and young people, through the exchange of experiences and local intervention strategies.
During the opening, Mayor Francisco Azcué highlighted the importance of joint work and training to address issues related to school coexistence and mental health: “we are proud to belong to this Local Innovation Network, which is a community that is dedicated to improving governments through different tools, as in this case, a meeting on education but emphasizing school coexistence and mental health”.
These are spaces “for training, education, sharing and growth for everyone. These are issues that must be addressed from different sectors, each with the commitment that corresponds to them, sharing experiences and building ties. We are sure that we will emerge enriched from this meeting”, remarked Azcué.
For his part, Eduardo Viñales, coordinator of the Education Cities Program of the Local Innovation Network (RIL) and Varkey Foundation pointed out: “we understood that it was a priority to bring this topic, so we are very grateful to Concordia for being able to be here. From our position, as a community of municipalities committed and active in the educational field, we have been holding these meetings precisely to exchange and enrich experiences because we know that local governments have a fundamental role because they are in the day-to-day life of their communities and know closely the challenges they face”.
Natalia Rosón, Director of Professional Teacher Development at the Varkey Foundation, maintained that “these spaces allow for the articulation of different organizations together with the Education areas and the municipalities. The idea is to generate an exchange of good practices, share experiences and challenges, and see how each one, from their place, can do their best with the resources they have”, she stated.
Finally, Damián Smith, member of the General Council of Education, stated that from the Government of Entre Ríos “we are working on transversal policies, precisely to address these problems, such as digital consumption and mental health. We have specialists who go to the territory to train, chat, dialogue and inquire because there is no recipe and it is important to listen”.
The activities will continue this Wednesday at the Convention Center where the Directorate of Social Strengthening Policies will present the Municipal Program for Integral Health and Healthy Bonds of Concordia, an initiative that is implemented in the city's schools. As a closing, the meeting will move to Parque San Carlos, where young people will be the main protagonists, sharing their projects, experiences and initiatives in an open talk.
The event is supported by the Mixed Technical Commission of Salto Grande and the Government of the Province of Entre Ríos.