The debate on youth engagement as the driving force for change, during which youth delegates reported on their projects, once again showed that youth involvement is good for democracy.

With over 2 223 direct participants, the 33 projects carried out in 2023 in 32 countries by the Congress' youth delegates have generated partnerships between young people and local and regional authorities, as well as with NGOs and academics. In the form of content development (reports, maps, statistics), digital projects (podcasts, databases and other online resources), as well as face-to-face events (debates, training courses and gatherings), the projects reached over 200 000 young people from a variety of social, economic and educational backgrounds. Five of these projects were presented to Congress on October 25, 2023, during its 45th session.

With the aim of comparing participation in public life in two Latvian towns, Ljepaja and Daugavpils, the project presented by youth delegate Jānis Ievins highlighted the need to better inform and train young people by offering them meaningful opportunities to get involved in local democratic life. The lack of real willingness to include young people in the decision-making process, identified by Albanian youth delegate Selina Çomo's project, should be overcome, she believes, by monitoring Albania's implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government and the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life.

According to Portuguese youth delegate Catarina Semedo Madail De Oliveira, deconstructing clichés about the role of politicians at local and regional level is essential to make young people understand that getting involved in politics does not mean becoming a corrupt white-collar worker. Realising the extent to which negative stereotypes are a barrier to youth participation, she modified her project along the way to make videos showing examples of local elected representatives whose work has delivered tangible benefits to different groups of young people, and in so doing demonstrated that a fruitful partnership between young people and local councillors is eminently possible. On a more playful note, the series of podcasts produced by youth delegates Hannah Sattlecker and Simon Golombek also involved co-operation between young people and local elected representatives, including Strasbourg mayor Véronique Bertholle, deputy mayor of Strasbourg and deputy thematic spokesperson for the Youth Congress, who was invited to comment on the measures her municipality has specifically designed to include young people in the city's decision-making process.

Lastly, the project developed by Slovak youth delegate František Brezo focused on finding solutions to prevent the mass exodus of young Slovaks leaving the country in search of a better future, both economically and socially speaking. Organising a series of gatherings in schools and, in particular, a student parliament over 3 consecutive days, which also included an online question-and-answer session between students and Mathieu Mori, General Secretary of the Congress. He reached 8 000 people in the hope that some of them will be more motivated to stay in Slovakia and actively seek ways to influence local and regional policies in the interests of creating a better future for themselves in their homeland.

The problem of the exodus of young people from the Western Balkans was also highlighted in a speech by Antonella Valmorbida, Secretary General of the European Association of Local Democracy (ALDA). Celebrating 30 years since the creation of local democracy agencies in the Balkans, ALDA is working closely with the Congress to promote youth participation in local and regional democracy. According to Ms Valmorbida, involving young people in the development of public policies, not only within the framework of institutions, but also through practical community projects, is the key to successful youth integration policies. In the Western Balkans and Ukraine, youth participation in public life is essential not only for democracy, but also for the establishment of reconciliation and peace processes. In this respect, the speech by Ukrainian youth delegate Yaroslav Morozov underlined the need to train young Ukrainians so that they can play an active role in the post-war reconstruction of their country.

Encouraged and enthused by what the young delegates had to say, Congress members took part in the debate with a strong sense of commitment.

Laura Lauro (Italy, EPP/CCE) drew attention to the issue of young people between the ages of 18 and 26, who are neither in work nor in training, suffer from social isolation and make up no less than 12% of Europeans youngsters. She also spoke of the plight of 13-18-year-olds who lock themselves up at home and represent 7% of their age group in Europe.

Some delegates recommended lowering the voting age in member countries, after the example of Scotland, while others called for closer practical co-operation between youth delegates and national delegations to the Congress. Pascale Pfeiffer (France, ILDG) was keen to tell colleagues about the Démopratique project developed in secondary schools in Alsace, where pupils are trained to participate in local democracy through role-playing. Véronique Bertholle (France, SOC/G/PD) went so far as to suggest that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and even the European Parliament emulate the Congress’s example of working with youth delegates.

A pioneer in integrating young people into political debate, since 2014 the Congress has invited youth delegates - activists, working people, students - to take part in its sessions and exchange views with Congress members on the issues on the agenda. Since 2016, their participation has included the development between sessions and the presentation in plenary of projects at local and regional level that aim to stimulate young people's engagement in political and social life.

 Mediabox interview with youth delegates Zacchaeus Hayward and Stepanka Slamova

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45th Session
Agenda – Web file – Multimedia (Live webcasts, interviews, videos and photo)