Local youth councils should be a bridge between local authorities and local youth – on one hand it should consult with young people ideas and actions of local authorities, on the other – collect the ideas from youth and pass them on to local authorities. The process should teach youth critical thinking and youth councils should be consultative bodies for local authorities so their decisions could correspond to the needs of young residents. Unfourtanetly there is still low representativeness of youth council members and – more often – youth councils are not treated as an active participant of the decision-making process.
The general purpose of this project was to increase the participation of young people in the co-decision making process concerning local issues. Just as important was strengthening the capacities of local Youth Councils (YC) by co-creating the new approach and methods which help them to have more influence on the decision-making process. We worked on a youth council model that encourages inclusion of young people from different social groups, including these with fewer opportunities.
We invited youth councillors (as well as those who do not participate in YC yet, but interested in engaging in public life), youth workers engaged in working with YC (as well as youth work in broader spectrum), representatives of municipalities responsible for cooperation with YC (as well as engaged generally in youth policy). During the project participants were involved in the process of creating and conducting the research and the trainings. They have been taking part in all multipliers and dissemination events (more info in Local & International tabs).
Researches, trainings, study visits and multiplyer events took place in Poland (Warsaw/Piaseczno), Spain (Valencia) and France (Angoulême). As a result the Manual for youth councilors and representatives of local authorities is published as a free-download online publication in 4 languages (English, Polish, Spanish and French). The second output is an online course (in the form of MOOC). All available on this website.
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