How can we create a vibrant youth democracy where more young people have a say in their own lives and the communities they are part of? A total of 55 young people from five municipalities have spent over 2,000 hours addressing this question in the Young Influence Youth Citizen Collection. The Young Citizens’ Assembly is now publishing its 14 recommendations for concrete initiatives and actions that can strengthen youth democracy.
You can find all the recommendations and their justifications in the recommendation report at the bottom of the page.
The recommendations are wide-ranging. From proposals such as setting up youth councils in all municipalities for young people between the ages of 15 and 25 to crediting absences for democratic participation, the young people in the citizens’ assembly have come a long way. “It’s clear that young people want more opportunities to participate in democracy. And it’s important that when you want to involve young people, you have to give them a say in real issues that affect their everyday lives.
The Youth Citizen Gathering has been a long and intense engagement process in which young people have gathered knowledge, collaborated and developed ideas to create a vibrant youth democracy. The Youth Citizen Assembly is composed to reflect the young people in the five participating municipalities. At the beginning of the project, We Do Democracy carried out a stratified draw among all participants to ensure as accurate a representation as possible in terms of age, gender, education and experience. parameters of age, gender, education and previous volunteering experience. This is important, because with their different backgrounds, the members also come with their own focus and key issues. Bertram, 18 years old, from Nyborg Municipality and an apprentice carpenter, says:
“It’s great that the members come with different points of view. Mikkel and I, for example, would like to bring the “business voice” and talk from inside the business world, which is often overheard in relation to high schools.
Another member, Lucie, 22 years old from Herning, explains:
“My focus is mostly on helping vulnerable young people because they don’t have a big enough voice. There aren’t many of them, but they also need to have a say. They also need to get the help they need. As a democracy, we need to help those who need it – those who may not be able to use their voice.”
The project is initiated by We Do Democracy and the Tuborg Foundation and run in collaboration with Herning, Vejle, Nyborg, Greve and Guldborgsund Municipality. The aim is to improve the way we currently involve young people. Klara Sørensen, project manager of the project explains:
“Many people talk about the political involvement of young people as something particularly difficult. The will is there, but for us, it seems that those who have to do the youth engagement lack ways to do it. Good engagement is a skill and knowledge that needs to be trained. We want to help municipalities feel better equipped to engage young people to ensure that the voices of the future are heard in today’s policy making.”
On February 24, 9:00-10:30 am, an open webinar on the Youth Citizen Assembly will be held. Read more about it here. In the coming period, launch events will also be held in all five participating municipalities.
- Guldborgsund Municipality: January 8
- Greve Municipality: January 19
- Nyborg Municipality: January 27
- Herning Municipality: February 3
- Vejle Municipality: February 25
More information about the local events can be found on the websites of the individual municipalities. You can read more about the project itself here.
Read the Young Citizen Assembly’s recommendation report here: Youth Citizen Assembly Young Influence – Recommendation Report
In appendix 1, you can find some of the intermediate calculations made by the members of the Youth Citizen Assembly before the recommendations were made. It is an insight into the process that preceded the recommendation report.
Appendix 1 can be read here: Appendix 1 – What we can learn about youth participation