LACalytics is a programme that facilitates interregional cooperation between students and young professionals from Europe (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It develops in-depth analyses of current issues in LAC and the EU regarding politics, economics and civil society as well as EU-LAC relations from the point of view of young people, offering a unique perspective. The aim of the program is to foster bi-regional awareness and understanding, and to promote the young generation’s impact on policy-making.

LACalytics develops – in a rhythm of two years – the publication of articles on general themes, such as economics, politics, environment and civil society. The articles are written by a bi-regional team of young thinkers from the EU and LAC. The contributions are published on the open think tank ifair.eu and other online platforms. Additionally, the best articles are featured in a printed policy publication and presented by their respective authors to high-level stakeholders of the EU-LAC partnership during a final conference, held in a major European city.

With LACalytics, IFAIR pursues three main objectives:

1. To strengthen the historic bi-regional relationship between the EU and LAC; to foster the understanding of policy-makers on matters of relevance for the young generation; and to raise the interest of the civil society for the respective other region.
2. To form an open platform for connecting young people from both regions in order to work together on important issues; fostering interregional understanding on a personal and professional level as well as on the level of civil society; and raising the impact that young experts have on policy making in general, and especially on the governance of bi-regional partnerships.
3. To inspire dialogue and stimulate collaboration between the LAC-region and the EU.

The first edition of LACalytics, which was greatly supported by the Federal Foreign Office and the EU-LAC Foundation, took place from 2015 to 2016. The programme attracted the interest of more than 200 applicants from 33 countries and brought together bright talents from Europe and Latin America. It produced twenty-three digital analyses on four general themes (economics, politics, environment, civil society) written by teams of young thinkers from the EU and LAC. The best twelve contributions were additionally featured in a multilingual digital and printed publication of a series of policy papers under the title: “EU-LAC Cooperation in the 21st century: Combining efforts in a globalized world” (English and Spanish/Portuguese). The articles of the printed publication were presented to high-level stakeholders of the EU-LAC partnership during a final conference held in Hamburg, Germany, from 22nd to 25th of October 2016.

Due to the success of the first edition of LACalytics, IFAIR has been working on a second edition: LACalytics 2018. The 46 participants of the programme were selected from more than 260 applications received from over 40 countries and the bi-regional author teams were matched. The 23 teams of young thinkers from Europe and the LAC region co-wrote articles on Politics, Economics, Environment, Civil Society & Culture as well as Science, Technology and Innovation. Selected contributions were additionally featured in a multilingual digital and printed publication of a series of policy papers under the title “Strengthening EU-LAC Cooperation: Sharing Experiences for Present and Future Developments” (English and Spanish).

The authors of the best articles were invited to the conference of the programme, which took taking place from the 20th to the 24th of October in Hamburg, Germany. The overall theme of the conference, drawing upon the title of the LACalytics publication, was “Strengthening EU-LAC Cooperation: Sharing experiences for present and future developments”. During the conference, the LACalytics participants got the change to exchange ideas, discuss their articles and to finally meet their co-author, with whom they had worked together for more than half a year.

The final event of the conference offered a platform for the LACalytics participants and other stakeholders to discuss the current developments, challenges and advancements relating to the EU-LAC cooperation in various fields ranging from politics, to economics and environment.

For more information about the authors of the best articles and the participants of the conference, please have a look at our participants’ brochure.

For more information on LACalytics, do not hesitate to contact us: lacalytics@ifair.eu.