Youth Participation In Decision Making Erasmus Project

Project Title

Youth Participation In Decision Making

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Inclusion – equity; Rural development and urbanisation

Project Summary

The main objective of the project is to encourage young people get involved in regional policy making through the establishment of 5 Youth Parliaments in the Czech Republic, Estonia and Georgia.
In particular, the project aims at mobilizing groups of youngsters to become active in their local region which is envisioned to be achieved by giving them the chance to
1. express their opinion on the current problems identified in their regions;
2. have their voices heard by local municipalities; and
3. get involved in the implementation of their own action plans to improve the situation.

The project is comprised of five local action groups coming from 3 countries: two from the Czech Republic, two from Estonia and one from Georgia. The participating organizations, which have successfully cooperated in national and european projects in the past, are located in rural and peripheral areas and they all struggle with very similar societal problems, with brain drain of youth and the low participation of the young generation in local community activities to be some of them. The main outcome of the project relates to the establishment of a so-called Youth Parliament in every single local action group. A Youth Parliament is a consultative body for municipalities the role of which is to provide a space for young people to express their opinions on issues affecting their local community and the quality of life in it. The youth members of the Parliaments will initiate internal discussions with the view to design and develop strategies of youth which will later on be adopted by the local municipalities. The strategy will reflect the interests of young inhabitants about the current problems in their region as well as solutions to be taken to overcome the situation. As a result, a Handbook of Participatory Budgeting which aims at providing concise and in lay language information on budgeting is foreseen to be developed.

It is expected that, the project target groups will exploit the gained experience, knowledge and ability in real world scenarios in order to create innovative projects that will ultimately reflect the Youth Parliament work, the developed strategy and the Handbook of Participatory Budgeting and as a consequence they will facilitate the effective development of the regions of the Czech Republic, Estonia and Georgia.

The project has several component objectives linked to the project activities:
1. Creation of the international cooperation of young people from rural areas of three different countries;
2. Establishment of a network of local government organizations, policy-makers and other relevant stakeholders;
3. Setting up five Youth Parliaments in the Czech Republic, Estonia and Georgia.
4. Development of strategies of youth
5. Development of a Handbook of Participatory Budgeting

Aiming at sharing the project outcomes in a wider national and european context, a number of dissemination activities have been envisioned including the development of and continuous update of the project website and its associated Facebook account as well as the establishment of cooperations with local newspapers for the direct dissemination of the project results in the regional community and thus raising awareness about the project among the general public and citizens. This “bottom up” approach ensures that the information about the project will spread from the local level through regional and national mechanisms to the transnational and European level.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 91100 Eur

Project Coordinator

MAS Šumperský venkov, z.s. & Country: CZ

Project Partners

• Sdruzeni SPLAV, z.s.
• Pärnu Lahe Partnerluskogu
• Kazbegi Development Group Kazbegi Local Action Group
• Tartu County Development Association