"VAN" (Europe Bureau - Aleksey Vesyoliy) :: Participation is a fundamental right and one of the guiding principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that has been reiterated in many other Conventions and Declarations. Youth active participation is critical building civic capacity and long term community sustainability and peace and should be accessible to young people from all backgrounds, communities and social groups. Through active participation, young people are empowered to play a vital role in their own development as well as in that of their communities, helping to learn vital life-skills, develop knowledge on human rights and citizenship and to promote positive civic action. To participate effectively, young people must be given the proper tools, such as information and education about an access to their civil rights.
Study Visit "Boosting Youth Participation in Decision Making at the Local Level 3" gathered youth field activists, civil society activists and representatives from municipalities from Finland, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, The Republic of North Macedonia and Turkey to share and get in touch with practices and models of involving young people from geographically isolated areas in decision-making processes at the local level.
Young people are often referred and seen as "citizens in the making", "future leaders" and are never fully integrated and actively engaged in solving socially relevant problems contributing in creating the society at large. Meanwhile, young people are a major human resource for development and key agents for social change, economic growth, peace building and technological innovations. Today almost half of the world’s population is under the age of 24. This is the largest youth population the world has ever known. Throughout the world, more than 600 million young people live in fragile and conflict affected contexts and face violence, poverty and armed conflict in their daily lives. Young people more often feel frustrated with policy makers incapability providing them with the opportunities and support they need to progress from youth to adulthood due to the fact that the transition from youth to adulthood is a period characterized by greater economic independence, political involvement and participation in community life. Meanwhile, the socio economic and political environment in which young people live can have a serious impact on their ability to engage. For girls, the barriers to participation are even higher. Young people across the world are encouraged and have the right to take part as active citizens in creating the communities they belong to, locally and in society at large. Youth active participation has a direct economic, political, social and cultural implications, and it requires the availability of institutional channels for active engagement in community and public life.
The global pandemic has increased risks of social exclusion of young people and especially the most marginalized groups deepening pre-existing inequalities. As psychologists worry that the global pandemic has triggered a loneliness epidemic, new researches suggest feelings of social isolation are on the rise and that those hardest hit are children and young people. Adolescence and youth are transitional moments when people seek to define their identity and through active participation, young people are empowered to play a vital role in their own development as well as in that of their communities. If young people are involved the youth group activities are more likely to be relevant and enjoyable for young people. This means young people are more likely to attend, and display good behaviour when they do.
The engagement of young people in local politics is crucial to raising awareness of youth-related issues and demanding change. The active engagement of youth in sustainable development efforts is central to achieving sustainable, inclusive and stable societies and to averting the worst threats and challenges to sustainable development, including the impacts of climate change, unemployment, poverty, gender inequality, conflict, and migration. It is very important to explore different examples of good practices promoting sustainable development and reflect on how to include them boosting youth participation in decision-making at the local level.
How youth can promote sustainability?
Some suggestions shared by youth leaders from Latvia Mārtiņš Priede and Ernests Pētersons: "We think youth should firstly be educated about the practices that provide sustainability, for example circular economy which strives to remove disposals of materials, resources, and goods. The education can be implemented in all shapes and forms, but the younger the audience, the better. It could be as simple as a subject in school. But providing information is worthless unless the youth care about this subject, so the question we should be asking is – how to make the youth care about sustainability? This can effectively be done by providing active-involvement and critical thinking requiring lessons. We shouldn’t tell them how to be more sustainable, we should let them figure out by themselves how to be practically more sustainable. This would give them the attachment to this topic by letting them be directly involved in figuring out the solution, because people will really care about something only when they have figured out the importance and purpose of something by themselves. Caring about sustainability will also make them more likely to implement the best practices in their lives and to also share their experiences with others. Another practice that can motivate people to care is giving them feedback – for example in airports the taps with which you can fill your bottles count and show how many bottles of water have been saved by people using the tap. This feedback should be applied to more things in our regular life and for youth it would be also more relevant if it was gamified, because the positive feedback would make choosing sustainable options a habit. How the gamification is implemented most effectively and most welcoming is up for debate."
Globalisation and an ever-expanding virtual world are generating further diversity. With this increasing diversity, it is even more necessary to expand the concepts of participation and democratic citizenship beyond conventional forms of representative democracy. There is more to democracy than formal institutions and there is more to political participation than voting and supporting parties.
It is often voluntary and community-based nature means that youth workers and youth organisations have a better chance than most to make contact and build trusting relationships with young people on the margins of society. Youth participation is important for the young people themselves, and the community as a whole. Young people become more confident and enthusiastic when they see that their views are being taken seriously and acted upon. They feel increased ownership and responsibility for activities they initiate and implement. Their self-esteem improves, they gain skills, and they become more likely to actively participate in other areas of their lives, for example their local community, school, politics. If young people are involved in planning and decision-making, the youth activities are more likely to be relevant and enjoyable for young people. This means young people are more likely to attend, and display good behaviour when they do. Young people are also able to develop certain attitudes towards themselves as well as in interacting with others.
How to make youth participate in decision making?
Some suggestions shared by youth leaders from Latvia Mārtiņš Priede and Ernests Pētersons: "This is really a sales question, because what we try to achieve is to sell the idea of expressing your voice about things happening in your area. Because participation is a physical form of expressing your opinion, getting people to understand the importance and effect of expressing their opinion should be dealt with first. When people will care about expressing their opinion, they will also take steps to resolve the problem. So how do we get youth to express their opinion? We think it should be made a regularity from childhood to make youth express their concerns, problems, and how they want to see the world in the future. But it won’t make them care unless they see that their voice has a power. We think that in schools pupil should be questioned about some real changes that could be implemented in the schools, so they could start at a very small scale, but would see the power of their voice. That would also transfer to making them care about broader things in their area. The next step would be to encourage them to not only express their opinion, but also to start implementing some changes by themselves. This could also be started at school level. For older pupil it could be a subject once a month, where they discuss what would have to be done to satisfy the collective opinions on the problems. They could plan things that should be done to resolve the problem and then divide it into smaller tasks which then could be done by smaller pupil groups or individuals."
There is a need for a collective and better understanding of what youth participation involves, and how it can be implemented for all youth ages. It is very important to promote inclusive and meaningful youth participation focusing also on youth from the marginalized groups such as youth with disabilities, youth affect by conflicts, HIV etc. Creating a nurturing environment offering possibilities for youth, specifically with fewer opportunities, to participate can build a strong sense of ownership and belonging of a community and foster active participation. Communities, society at large can greatly benefit from the rich diversity. Calls for investments in young people have increased dramatically in recent years. These investments are not only essential to enable young people to enjoy their rights, but also to learn to take responsibilities not just about their own lives but also the environment protection. Caring for the environment is an important way to care for all the beings that depend on it for their existence.
Youth leaders and youth organisations should be considered as important actors promoting sustainable development as they work close to the grassroots, and bring the realities and needs of young people to decision and policy making process. It is our responsibility to promote active participation in decision making processes also for young people with special needs including mental and physical limitations/ disabilities. However often it is not recognised that young people with special needs can contribute decision making processes and their participation is limited or they are not represented at all. Focus on diversity and inclusivity will strengthen local communities and sustainable development at large.
Recent researches suggest that young people learn about participation by doing it. Youth participation includes a wide variety of practices such as civic education of young people, volunteering and community activism. Youth learn participation through formal education such as schools and through non-formal education such as youth clubs and civic organisations and through local and regional youth councils and parliaments. Learning opportunities to participate have to be available to young people with barriers reduced and support provided to develop skills. Schools and other educational institutions play an important part in the development of democratic identities, as well as youth clubs and civil society organisations, strengthen a culture of the ongoing practice of democratic participation. Educators in formal and non-formal environment need to be equipped with the capacities for developing and implementing processes that encourage the learner’s ability to develop motivation and competences for participation.
Recent studies have highlighted the decline in voter turnout, membership of political parties, interest in politics and trust in political institutions amongst young people. Youth’s distrust of institutional politics has been seen as a widespread problem within Europe. One of the key drivers for these policy developments at both a European and a national level has been concerns about young people’s apparent declining interest in politics. Participation is an essential element of citizenship in a democratic society and a democratic Europe. European institutions and organisations repeatedly emphasize the importance of youth participation to foster young people’s active citizenship, enhance their integration and inclusion and strengthen their contribution to the development of democracy.
Youth participation is important and has benefits for the young people themselves, and the community as a whole. Young people become more confident and enthusiastic when they see that their views are being taken seriously and acted upon. They feel increased ownership and responsibility for activities they initiate and implement. Their self-esteem improves, they gain skills, and they become more likely to actively participate in other areas of their lives, for example their local community, school, politics. If young people are involved in planning and decision-making, the youth activities are more likely to be relevant and enjoyable for young people. This means young people are more likely to attend, and display good behaviour when they do. When empowered and given the right opportunities, youth are effective drivers of change. The development of youth leadership is critical building civic capacity and long –term community sustainability.
The Study Visit is part of the framework of the project "Boosting youth participation in decision-making at the local level 3" which aims to visit, analyze, experience and explore practices of youth participation in decision-making processes with a special focus on the inclusion of marginalized youth, such as young migrants and young people with a migrant background and youth in geographically isolated/low-density areas, and especially to share practices that are already being implemented to adapt them to one’s own reality and reinforce existing programs.
DYPALL Network (Developing Youth Participation at Local Level) is a European network of over 50 civil society organizations and local authorities from more than 30 countries, that aims to involve young people in decision-making processes at local level, and thus enable municipal and regional authorities to address the needs and interests of youth, engage young people as active actors of problem-solving and increase the level of ownership, commitment and involvement of an important part of our communities.
ADYNE Netherlands is the Dutch extension of the African Diaspora Youth Network in Europe. AYDNE Netherlands promotes youth participation at local level, social entrepreneurship and provide methods and tools for the integration of immigrants in The Netherlands. They advise on the role former refugees and immigrants may play to assist newcomers who settle and aim to participate in a positive way in their respective municipalities. Furthermore, they assist asylumseekers to find appropriate legal assistance. ADYNE Netherlands also provides training courses to immigrants and migrant organizations.
"Donum Animus" was participant’s organisation from Latvia. "Donum Animus" is a member organisation of DYPALL Network and the only Non Governmental Organisation from Latvia holding Special Consultative Status of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. "Donum Animus" is a Member organisation of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum WG4 "Contacts between People".
The activity is co-funded by the Erasmus + Program of the European Union, implemented by the Dutch National Agency for the Erasmus+ program. Erasmus+ KA1 program provides opportunities for individuals to improve their skills, enhance their employability and gain cultural awareness. Beneficiaries are able to spend a period of time in another participating country gaining valuable experience of life, study and work with the aim of increasing the opportunities available to them in the future. KA1 is the largest action in Erasmus+ with focus on increasing mobility and skills.
Responses
Leave your comment