Conference "Hear my voice! Making youth participation powerful"

Background: In a number of countries, the European Parliament election results revealed an increase in support for nationalist, anti-European and xenophobic parties – some of which now have a presence in the European Parliament. There appears to be a sense of dissatisfaction with what is considered the “European Project” – as well as with the functioning of liberal democracy. This produces a dangerous amalgam that is gaining force in almost every country across Europe. It is therefore time to redefine the participation of young people in a democratic Europe – previously considered a mere nice-to-have option for youth NGOs and interested youth workers. Learning to participate in practical and effective ways in daily life, and experiencing that one’s opinions and activities can actually shape the political dialogue with those in power, may be a highly effective way to prevent young people from becoming too discouraged and apathetic to make their voices heard in a democratic society. That said, political decision-makers, too, have to learn to open to an early dialogue about political decisions that involves target groups of all ages on all levels. Is that a naïve vision? Or is it the state of the art of good governance? Objectives: This European/international conference will discuss the findings of two processes: on the one hand the recommendations worked out by the “Reflection Group on Youth Participation” organized by the Youth Partnership of Council of Europe and European Commission and on the other hand the recommendations of the multilateral peer learning project “Participation of young people in the democratic Europe” in which five partner countries (Germany, Israel, Lithuania, Poland and the United Kingdom) worked together during the last two years. The conference aims to put these findings in common recommendations on youth participation and to hand them over to stakeholders such as the European Commission, the Council of Europe, members of the European Parliament, the Council of the Regions and others – to give youth participation a big push for the next years. The conference has therefore the character of an intensive discussion & working seminar of international experts on youth participation.