"Young people and their values are the embodiment of our greatest hopes."

King of Spain visits Fundación Bertelsmann

King Juan Carlos speaking in Madrid at the Dialogue and Action congress organized by the Fundación Bertelsmann.

Rights: Fundación Bertelsmann / Photgraphers: Josep Maria Llobet and Miquel Taverna

On November 4, 2009, King Juan Carlos opened the Fundación Bertelsmann's fourth Dialogue and Action congress by remembering the Fundación Bertelsmann's late founder, Reinhard Mohn. "He was without a doubt one of the most outstanding personalities in the publishing and audiovisual industry, one whose special affinity for Spain and its culture we will never forget," the king said. Juan Carlos also praised Mohn's life work, describing him as an "untiring philanthropist and entrepreneur" who "understood how to use his foundation to communicate the values of solidarity and cooperation that true corporate culture is based on."

The Dialogue and Action campaign focuses on helping young people increase their entrepreneurial awareness and efforts - a particularly timely topic in Spain - as a response to the current lack of employment opportunities, which is impacting young people in particular. In his remarks, Juan Carlos noted that the country's young must be encouraged to get involved, especially "at a time of economic crisis such as the current one, which is having a serious impact both on those who have just lost their jobs and those who are trying to enter the labor market for the first time."

The monarch's participation shows the significance that the royal family ascribes to the topic as addressed by the Fundación Bertelsmann. In addition to Juan Carlos, Liz Mohn, president, of the Fundación Bertelsmann, and Spanish Education Minister Ángel Gabilondo were also in attendance.

During the congress, the three high-level guests presented the "Premio Fundación Bertelsmann," a prize honoring initiatives and institutions that promote both civic engagement and a culture of entrepreneurship among young people. "The prize we bestow today recognizes the desire among Spain's youth for social integration," Mohn said. "We are thus honoring outstanding initiatives for young people that play an exemplary role both economically and socially." The prizewinners were the Saragossa-based Asociación Ilógica and Valnalón, a public corporation from Langreo (Asturias).

The Fundación Bertelsmann also presented the results from the survey "Profile of Spain's youth and its relationship to entrepreneurial culture," which show that almost 60 percent of young people in Spain have considered establishing their own business and almost half have wanted to start their own company in order to realize a business idea of their own. The survey also shows that 6 percent of the respondents have already founded their own business, thereby overcoming the greatest hurdle to doing so: securing start-up capital.

In the area of social affairs, the findings reveal that 72 percent of Spain's youngsters would like to work either in charitable initiatives or institutions dedicated to ecological and environmental issues. Other organizations of interest are those dedicated to human rights (67 percent) and sports (57 percent), as well as civic initiatives such as those dealing with community or consumer affairs (56 percent). Finally, the country's young people say they would also like to get involved in church organizations and political parties.

The "Dialogue and Action" congress was partially funded by the EU's "Youth in Action" program and by institutional partners dedicated to promoting entrepreneurial culture among young people.