This recommendation aims to serve as a helpful guide for local and national authorities committed to improving the opportunities for citizen participation in the life of the local community. It contains general advice and identifies basic principles and practical measures that could form the basis of a local democratic participation policy in any European country. There are five recommendations to Council of Europe member states’ governments on: framing a policy; adopting measures to improve the legal framework for participation and ensuring that national legislation and regulations enable local and regional authorities to employ a wide range of participation instruments; co-operating with authorities on different levels; reviewing policies related to the participation of citizens in local public life and ensuring the translation of the recommendation into national languages.
The appendix is divided into two parts: Section A sets out the basic general principles of a local democratic participation policy. These should guide policymakers at national level in the drafting of a framework for participation and should also be subscribed to by local and regional authorities; Section B outlines steps and measures that could be taken by the competent public authorities. Part IV.4 of Section B describes steps to encourage and reinforce the participation of children and young people such as: developing school as an important common arena for young people's participation and the democratic learning process; promoting children's councils and youth council type initiatives at municipal level; encouraging youth associations and support, in particular, the development of flexible forms of and structures for community involvement, such as youth centres, making full use of young people's capacity to design projects themselves and to implement them; and considering lowering the age of voting in or standing for local elections.
Youth specific: Partially
