Rapporteur: Brith FÄLDT (Sweden)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

The Conference “Young People - Actors in their Towns and Regions” was held 7-8 March 2002 in Krakow (CF Final Declaration - Appendix). It was organised by the Culture and Education Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE), in partnership with the Council of Europe’s Directorate for Youth and Sport and at the invitation of, and in co-operation with, the City of Krakow. Moreover, the Conference constituted a contribution to the Council of Europe Integrated Project “Making Democratic Institutions Work”.

This Conference was organised at the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life and the general purpose was to evaluate the progress made in the field of youth participation during the Charter’s ten years of existence, while discussing ways of further promoting youth participation, amongst others by disseminating good practices.

Perhaps the most important decision taken by the participants was to request the CLRAE and the Advisory Council on Youth Questions of the Council of Europe, to:

- appoint experts to prepare proposals for amending the European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life in order to make it respond to the challenges of the 21st century;

- prepare a manual of good practice on the functioning of youth councils at local and regional level.

Following this request, three working meetings were organised consisting of experts representing the CLRAE on the one hand and the above Advisory Council on the other hand.

Ms Brith FÄLDT, Municipal Councillor, Pitea (Sweden), was appointed as Rapporteur by the Committee on Culture and Education at its October meeting 2002.

The experts were:

M. Didi BAENZIGER, "Swiss Council for youth activities", President of the Working Group on the revision of the Charter
M. Jon ALEXANDER, European Youth Information and Counselling Agency (ERYICA), (France)
M. Claude CASAGRANDE, Former President of Youth Planet, Former Vice-President of the CLRAE
M. James DOORLEY, National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI ), (Ireland)
M. Mikael GARNIER-LAVALLEY, Representative of the Board of the National Association of Children and Youth Councils (ANACEJ), France
M. Jean-Claude RICHEZ, Head of the Research, Study and Training Unit of the INJEP (National Institute for Youth and Community Education), (France)
Ms Anca SIRBU, UNITED for Intercultural Action, (Romania).

Ms Frédérique LOUTREL, Municipal Councillor (Strasbourg), in charge of children in difficulty, also took part in a meeting of the group.
The Secretariat of the CLRAE (Mr. Ulrich BOHNER, Deputy Chief Executive;
Mr. Jean-Paul CHAUVET, Secretary of the Culture and Education Committee; Mr. Mats LINDBERG, Secretary of the Culture and Education Committee of the Chamber of Regions), as well as the Directorate of Youth and Sport (Mr. Michael INGLEDOW), also participated in the debates of the meetings, and assured the secretariat of the Group.

The expert group held its first two meetings on 5-6 September and 25-26 November 2002 and the third and final one on 15-17 January 2003. It is out of the deliberations of this expert group that this revised Charter is born. The present version of the Charter has a more logical structure. It has been divided into three sections. The first provides local and regional authorities with guidelines for how to conduct policies affecting young people in a number of areas. The second part lists the tools for furthering the participation of young people. Finally, the third section provides advice on how to provide institutional conditions for participation of young people.

The revised Charter (see Appendix to the draft Recommendation, CG (10) 6) contains new chapters on some policy areas that have emerged as entirely new, or have gained in importance with a view to encouraging the participation of young people in local and regional life. An example of the former is the information society, including the use of the Internet, which has become potentially a most powerful tool in developing the participation of young people. The authors of the revised Charter recognise the enormous potential that new technologies have with a view to promoting participation by young people, but they also realise the risk of exclusion run by young people who are left without access to these new tools.

Urban insecurity and violence are phenomena which regrettably have become more prominent over the past decade. The authors wish to emphasise the necessity of finding new ways of tackling these disturbing phenomena.

The authors of the revised Charter also wish to reiterate, below, some of the main messages of the Krakow Declaration while adding some further considerations which they regard as essential, some of which also appear in the Preamble to the revised Charter.

The active participation of young people in decisions and actions at a local and regional level is essential with a view to building 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.

Local and regional authorities - as the authorities closest to all people, including the young - have a very important role to play in promoting youth participation. In doing so, local and regional authorities can ensure that young people not only hear and learn about democracy and citizenship, but also have the opportunity to practice it. However, youth participation is not solely about developing active citizens or building democracy for the future. It is vital if participation is to be meaningful for young people, that they can influence and shape decisions and actions when they are young and not only at some later stage in life.

It is particularly important to ensure that all young people have a real possibility of participating and not only the ones who are naturally inclined, and have easy access to means which enable them, to be active in society. It follows that special measures should be undertaken to support the participation of categories of young people, who for one reason or the other, have particular difficulties getting involved in local and regional life.

When local and regional authorities support and promote youth participation, they also contribute to the social integration of young people, helping them to deal not only with the challenges and pressures of youth, but also with the challenges of a modern society where anonymity and individualism are often predominant. Any policy or action designed to promote youth participation must ensure that the cultural environment is one of respect for young people and must also take into account the diverse needs, circumstances and aspirations of young people.

The Rapporteur of the present report would also like to emphasise that Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), whatever their aims, have a fundamental role to play in promoting participation of young people as citizens. The Rapporteur hence wishes to recall the lessons learnt at the Budapest conference held on 28 February-1 March 2003 on “NGOs and local and regional democracy : the role of NGOs in promoting participation in local politics”. One of the four workshops of the Conference was dedicated to discussions about the participation of young people in local and regional life.

Soon the revised Charter will be accompanied by a "Manual of good practices", providing examples of successful ways in which young people are participating in the life of European municipalities and regions.

APPENDIX

CONFERENCE

Young people, Actors in their Towns and Regions
Krakow, Poland
7-8 March 2002

FINAL DECLARATION

Gathered together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Council of Europe Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life on 7-8 March 2002, the Conference “Young People, Actors in their Towns and Regions” adopted the Krakow Declaration.

1.  PARTICIPATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN LOCAL AND REGIONAL LIFE

1.1. Young people are citizens in the municipalities and regions where they live, in the same way as any other age group, and must therefore have access to all forms of participation in society. Reaffirming and promoting the role of young people in the development of a democratic society, in particular in local and regional public life, must be a continuous process;

1.2. Participation of young people is not only a matter of active involvement in decision–making in various institutions, but also of taking part in cultural life and all kinds of community events;

1.3. The participation of young people in local political life requires the political will and commitment of elected representatives to develop a permanent dialogue;

1.4. Young people are concerned by decision-making in all policy areas, such as education, housing, environment, urban and rural questions, employment and health;

1.5. The youth councils that exist in most Council of Europe member States are excellent means for involving young people in decision-making. The time has come to undertake a European-level overview of the number, structure and activities of these councils;

1.6. Youth Councils must be open to all young people, regardless of their social and/or ethnic origins;

1.7. More contacts and exchange of experience, on a European level, between the youth councils, through developing networks, would be desirable;

1.8. Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), whatever their aims, have a fundamental role to play in promoting participation of young people as citizens. The role of NGOs in promoting participation in local politics will be further elaborated at a CLRAE conference scheduled for 2003.

2. EARLY PARTICIPATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN DEMOCRATIC DECISION-MAKING

2.1. Early participation of young people in institutions such as youth councils, fosters understanding of political life and of democratic procedures, and helps bolster democratic values. Hence it is logical that the present conference, in the organisation of which both the CLRAE and the Council of Europe Youth and Sport Directorate have participated, constitutes a contribution to the Council of Europe Integrated Project “Making Democratic Institutions Work” and serves as a prime example of such an integrated approach;

2.2. Early participation forges a sense of citizenship and belonging which provides young people with a better knowledge of society and with a sense of security, which helps them to face the pressures of growing up in a modern society;

2.3. Early participation of young people in democratic decision-making is likely to lead to active involvement in community matters at a more mature age;

2.4. In many countries lowering the age limit for voting in local and regional elections could encourage the participation of young people in democratic life.

3. RESPONDING TO NEW CHALLENGES TO PARTICIPATON FACED BY YOUNG PEOPLE IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY

3.1. Young people face challenges in contemporary society which have increased in recent years or which did not exist at all in previous times. These are, inter alia, the information society, precarity of the labour market and urban insecurity in a growing context of globalisation;

3.2. One way of fighting urban insecurity is the creation of networks of associations and projects promoting anti-violence projects and tolerance both in school and out of school;

3.3. Some young people, face bigger challenges to participation than others because of socio-economic conditions, discriminatory attitudes or other factors. It is of utmost importance to support these young people to become active citizens, not least to avoid negative phenomena such as exclusion and the negative behaviour like violence and drug abuse that risk marginalising them;

3.4. Positive experiences in this field have been gained in municipalities in certain countries where young adults, themselves from these same environments, have been engaged by the municipality to act as role models and as contact persons, while promoting constructive behaviour and stemming violence and other undesirable expressions of urbanisation and modern life;

3.5. Participation of young people in various organised community activities is likely to increase their interest in political life as well;

3.6. In the context of democratic society, an involvement of young people in different forms of political life (parties, associations, clubs) can allow them to face up to their convictions concerning local, regional, national and European public life;

3.7. The European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life should be amended with a view to making it respond to all new challenges faced by young people today.

4. THE PARTICIPANTS

4.1. Request the CLRAE and the Advisory Council on Youth Questions of the Council of Europe, to:

-  appoint experts to prepare proposals for amending the European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life in order to make it respond to the challenges of the 21st century;

-  prepare a manual of good practice on the functioning of youth councils at local and regional level;

-  promote a European network of cities and regions with youth councils;

4.2. Invite the CLRAE to prepare a report on the recommendations of this conference to be examined at its mini-session in March 2003, to approve the new text of the Charter and then to propose it to the Committee of Ministers;

4.3. Call on the Committee of Ministers to support the principles of the Charter and invite governments to promote the Charter and remove any legal and financial obstacles to young persons’ participation at local and regional level.

5. THE PARTICIPANTS APPEAL TO LOCAL AND REGIONAL AUTHORITIES TO:

5.1. Make efforts to encourage young people in particular, to participate actively at all levels of local and regional life;

5.2. Promote access to elective responsibilities as of the legally-allowed age;

5.3. Try out new, innovative ways of involving young people in decision-making;

5.4. Create mechanisms for seeking the opinion of young people about all policy areas, including the policy issues listed in 1.4;

5.5. Provide the tools for participation in the Information Society to all young people, for example by providing easy access to Internet terminals, be that through libraries, media centres, schools etc;

5.6. Reach out especially to all young people and particularly to the most marginalised, who face particular challenges to participation;

5.7 . Ensure the implementation of the Charter, and to supply information required for drafting regular reports on its implementation.