Young people to the Congress: “Let us create partnerships”
Strasbourg, 19 October 2016 – What can be done to engage more young people at local and regional level? What is causing the decrease in the participation of young people that currently stands at only 13% at local level?
These were some of the questions raised during today's presentation of youth delegates' work between the 30th and 31st sessions of the Congress. Thirty-six youth delegates carried out projects over six months that involved more than 3 000 young people from around Europe and reached 120 000 more through different communication channels. Surveys, presentations, workshops and seminars were conducted to inform young people about the Congress' policy instruments and programmes targeting young people, promoting active youth engagement in communities and fostering their participation in decision making at all levels.
The youth delegates did not just list problems: together with the Congress members, they put forward constructive recommendations stressing the need for more civic education, better participation structures and more direct dialogue between young people and local authorities in order to strengthen their inclusion in decision-making processes. Using youth-friendly language and new channels of communication would be important steps forward, they underscored.
The young people called on the Congress to use them in its activities in order to spread the word farther to their peers and help Congress members reach out to them. “Let us create partnerships”, they concluded.
Surveys, presentations, workshops and seminars were conducted to inform young people about the Congress' policy instruments and programmes targeting young people, promoting active youth engagement in communities and fostering their participation in decision making at all levels.
At its 31st Session, the Congress hosted 36 youth delegates, aged 16 to 30 years, from 36 different delegations : Albania – Armenia –Austria –Azerbaijan –Belgium – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Bulgaria –Croatia –Cyprus –Czech Republic –Denmark –Estonia – Finland – France – Georgia – Germany – Greece – Hungary – Iceland – Ireland – Lithuania – Montenegro – Netherlands –Poland – Portugal – Republic of Moldova – Romania – Russian Federation – Serbia – Slovenia – Spain –Switzerland – "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" – Turkey – Ukraine – United Kingdom
List of participants to the 31st Session