The European Committee of the Regions has identified the Trapezistak Programme as a successful model for addressing critical challenges, particularly in the context of demographic change.

• During the first half of the year, 58 individuals from the Trapezistak programme successfully attained their emancipation objectives.
• The number of young women served has increased by 100% compared to the previous year, from 17 to 35.
• 38% of our clients have obtained administrative regularisation, 81% have obtained a census registration that coincides with their address, and 90% have obtained the Individual Health Card

Vitoria-Gasteiz, 12/10/2024

The Trapezistak programme, which supports young people without a family support network in their journey towards social inclusion and transition to adult life, has received European backing. The European Committee of the Regions has identified ten success stories in its Annual Report on the State of EU Regions and Cities. These are presented as follows: democracy, green pact, industrial transition, social protection and social services, climate resilience and health, cohesion and just transition, demographic change, rural development and agriculture, enlargement, and finally investment and the EU budget. One of the ten EU-wide success stories highlighted in the report is that of Trapezistak, which has demonstrated effective policy in addressing demographic change.

The report’s objective is to provide an overview of the most critical challenges currently facing regions and cities across the European Union, with a view to informing EU policy decisions. The resolution and the report's recommendations reiterate the crucial role of local and regional authorities in the planning and implementation of European policies.

The report (p. 40) identifies Trapezistak, meaning "tightrope walker" in Basque, as a programme to develop and apply comprehensive and personalised processes to support the inclusion and transition to adult life of young people, mostly immigrants, without a family support network in the Basque Autonomous Community.

In March of last year, Councillor Melgosa presented this programme at the 10th Summit of Cities and Regions, which adopted the slogan 'Building Inclusive Communities”,

It took place in Mons, Wallonia (Belgium).

58 New Success Cases

The Trapezistak programme is continuing to meet its objectives. A review of the data for the first half of this year indicates that 12% of participants have completed their stay, thereby achieving the programme's emancipation objectives. They are 58 people. Furthermore, only 6.3% (31 people) have exited the programme without attaining the desired emancipation outcomes. The personalised accompaniment process offered by Trapezistak is continued by 81.7% of participants, representing 397 individuals.

A total of 486 young people without a support network have been assisted by the programme partners during the first six months of 2024.
During this period, 86 new entries were registered. Furthermore, including the entries from the second half of 2023, the programme has welcomed 204 new members in the past year. Some 42% of the remainder are in the early or very early stages, and this is a project that will take time to build these individual and personalised itineraries.

Trapezistak is a collaborative platform built on public-social networks. It is a programme that was born in the pandemic and has managed to take root and grow.
The network, comprising 25 entities from the Third Social Sector in Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, has extensive experience in social accompaniment. It has been developed with the support of the Department of Welfare, Youth and Demographic Challenge of the Basque Government. Thanks to this network, Trapezistak is present in municipalities across the Basque Country, including Laudio, Amurrio, Gasteiz, Hernani, Tolosa, Donostia, Barakaldo, Getxo, Etxebarri, Arrigorriaga and Bilbao.

Trapezistak also faces a challenge from a gender perspective, with the objective of increasing the participation of accompanied young women. In the first quarter of 2023, the percentage of women who received assistance was 3.88% (17 out of 438). During the same period this year, the figure stands at 7% (35 out of 486).

In this first quarter, the most common trapezista profile is that of a male (93%), with an average age of 23.2 years, who is a lone migrant from Morocco (87%), and has been settled in the Basque Country for over 18 months. He resides in an urban setting, is registered as a resident there, has a health card, and is developing his social support network.

From January to June, 38% of accompanied persons achieved administrative regularisation with a residence permit; 81% achieved census registration address in line with their actual address; and 90% accessed the Individual Health Card. The figures show an increase compared to 2023 for all the following: regularisation (29%); registration (78%); and access to a health card (85%).

Trapezistak’s objective is to design and pilot a model of support, framed within standard youth and migration policies, based on a positive action programme that offers accompaniment to young people without a family support network in their social inclusion and transition to adult life. The programme is based on three criteria for action: personalisation, comprehensiveness and intersectoral cooperation.

The Trapezistak programme forms part of the Basque Social Pact for Migration and is part of a wider network of initiatives that make up the Basque Model of Reception. Effective institutional coordination with participating town councils is a fundamental aspect of this model. Basque institutions promote coexistence, full inclusion and multiculturalism to facilitate the integration of migrants into Basque society.

Six Dimensions
Trapezistak's approach is based on six core dimensions, which are designed to facilitate the social inclusion and transition to adult life for young people. These dimensions are administrative/functional; educational/training; housing and cohabitation; personal development and autonomy; social and community capital; and employment and income.

The programme addresses the issue of training for access to the labour market, which is the key to achieving community and social integration. The breakdown of the first quarter of the 486 individuals accompanied during the first half of the year. The figures show that 33% of the group have earned a professional certificate, 20% have gained a Basic Vocational Training qualification, 10% have obtained an Intermediate or Higher Vocational Training qualification, 69% have continued in training processes leading to an official qualification, 31% have high levels (B2 or higher) in Spanish and 14% have medium levels (A2) in Basque.

Fifty young people have entered a regularised full-time employment contract. Almost eight out of ten, 39 people in total, have been offered permanent contracts.