The organisation and practice of local youth work needs …

to stimulate and support young people to be active citizens and exercise influence in society, including taking part in political decision-making.

We know from research that young people are interested in societal issues and politics, even when not engaged in party politics. Their voices are also crucial in order to inform politics on their needs, experiences and ideas, as well on how structures and processes should be designed in order to open up for young people’s political engagement.

Even if youth workers sometimes are asked, or feel the need, to speak on behalf of young people, they must always bear in mind that this is a second-best solution and strive to be replaced by the young people themselves.

Discuss & assess
Here you find the questions you need to ask yourself to know if you need to develop and the assessment function
Set objectives
Here you describe what you want to achieve.
Needs
Here you describe what you need to acquire, develop or change.
Actions to take
Here you describe the actions you plan to take.

Remember! Development is far from always a linear process! It needs to start with discussions, but the first ‘Action to take’ might be to gather more knowledge before setting aims for development and deciding on further actions to take. Dare to be both flexible and to take one step back before taking two steps forward!

References & tips

“The active participation of young people in decisions and actions at local and regional level is essential if we are to build more democratic, inclusive and prosperous societies. Participation in the democratic life of any community is about more than voting or standing for election, although these are important elements. Participation and active citizenship is about having the right, the means, the space and the opportunity and where necessary the support to participate in and influence decisions and engage in actions and activities so as to contribute to building a better society.”
Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, 2015
The European Youth Forum has gathered a lot of information on young people’s participation and civil engagement on their web page.
Democracy Reloading is a strategic Erasmus+ Youth/European Solidarity Corps National Agency cooperation project that started in 2015 with the aim to empower municipal workers to engage young people in decision-making.
Dypall is a European network of civil society organisations, municipalities and research institutions dedicated to improving democracy through youth participation.