Applications open this Wednesday, February 12, for the Youth Talent Scholarships, a programme promoted by the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão to encourage the promotion of youth talent and to promote the municipality as a territory of talent and innovation. 

The programme is aimed at young people between the ages of 16 and 35 who have lived and/or studied in the municipality of Famalicão for at least three years. 

The main objectives of this programme, launched by the municipality, are to enable young people to discover and develop their creative and innovative potential through experimentation, identification, knowledge and stimulation of their talent; to make young people aware of the importance of developing their personal, vocational and social skills; and to project the image of Vila Nova de Famalicão nationally and internationally as a territory of talent and innovation.

The projects to be submitted, on an individual basis, must include an activity or a set of activities to be developed preferably outside the municipality, in a national or international context, to develop the talent of young people in various areas such as the environment, culture, architecture, science, technology, social sciences, the arts and health.

In the first year, six grants were awarded, with projects supported for internships at the UN, the Portuguese Embassy in Seoul, advanced training at the Ballet de Catalunya, the International Youth Parliament session in Czech Republic and in Romania, and a project to produce and direct a short film, totalling 7096 euros.

The municipality's budget for this programme is 15,000 euros, and support for each project can be up to a maximum of 1500 euros.

The programme's regulations, applications and forms are available online on the Famalicão Made IN Portal, at www.famalicaomadein.pt, and on the municipality's Youth Portal, at www.juventudedefamalicao.org .