ANNEX I

REFERENCES

ANNEX II

SUPPORTING ABSTRACTS TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SUBTHEMES 1-5 OF THE 9TH CYCLE OF THE EU YOUTH DIALOGUE:

The implementation phase of the 9th cycle of the EU Youth Dialogue (EUYD) built on the five subthemes selected by the participants of the EU Youth Conference in Strasbourg, France, in January 2022. The analyses of the implementation phase took place in February and March 2023, providing insights and concretisation of the two main areas of the implementation reporting, namely the range of implementation activities, and the impacts identified as a result of the implementation activities of the 9th Cycle of the EUYD. The implementation phase report (1) served as a basis for the discussions at the EU Youth Conference in Växjö, Sweden, in March 2023.

This annex contains the supporting abstracts to the recommendations for subthemes 1-5 of the cycle that were drafted by the participants of the Conference.

1.   Information and education

‘The aim of our recommendation is to secure trustworthy and inclusive information on sustainability and climate change. Such user-friendly information accessible to people from different ages/stages of life help us achieve a greener Europe. We need to integrate information on these topics into all types of educational content, both non-formal and formal. It is important to learn together and from each other, taking different perspectives into consideration like various cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. Therefore, climate justice should be taken into consideration. It is not fair to burden young people with the consequences of the policies that they, themselves, did not make. We must have all generations actively involved in education about climate change and the solutions needed.

Young people need the skills, knowledge, and platforms to take meaningful action. It is important to utilise the potential of non-formal education and recognise the practical benefits. We foresee the implementation through an interdisciplinary approach and make use of the potential and knowledge of youth organisations and youth information services already available. It is necessary to provide resources for educators to receive the appropriate training and capacity to perform their role. As this is a living process, it needs to be a continuous process of evaluation, monitoring and improvement.’

2.   Action and empowerment

‘Time and time again young people are disregarded and excluded in decision making processes that have a grave impact on their future. In order to tackle this issue, we urge the betterment of local bottom-up participation mechanisms through empowering young people, especially those with fewer opportunities.

Although these [advisory boards] currently exist in some countries such as Finland, Estonia, and Sweden, we recognise the need for a Europe-wide framework to establish more efficient models for effective co-decision processes between local youth and decision-makers. This approach needs to be taken in a sustainable and intersectional lens, to ensure both the continuity of the processes, and the inclusion of youth from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. Taking an intersectional approach implies that a person might be experiencing several forms of discrimination and marginalisation at the same time.

These boards shall be formed through democratic and youth-led processes in which young people choose their own representatives. The exact process and its logistics can be reflective of the respective local context. The members of the boards will act as the voice of the local youth before, after and during the local policy making processes.

It is crucial that Member States prioritise the inclusion and representation of young people in decision-making processes. By implementing independent advisory boards on a local level and empowering young people, especially those with fewer opportunities, we can create a better future for all.’

3.   Governance

‘The consultations of the 9th cycle of the EUYD showed a high level of mistrust among young people towards the effectiveness of policy making mechanisms regarding economic, social, and environmental policies. Despite aspirations and efforts to include young people in these policy making processes, young people report that their engagement is unlikely to bring about political change.

The purpose of this recommendation is to make sure that young people are included throughout the policy making process, making their voices heard, while monitoring and providing follow-up and feedback to young people on actions taken by policymakers following participation activities and publicly reporting on changes achieved or justifying the lack of changes by given deadlines. This will help increase transparency and accountability at all levels of policymaking.

The recommendation contributes to the empowerment of the role of youth bodies, including local, regional, national and European youth councils, the strengthening of the EUYD and the introduction of impact assessment tools such as the youth tests. This enables better targeted policies that are impactful, work to reduce inequality gaps and support current and future generations.’

4.   Mobility and solidarity

‘As part of the European Year of Skills 2023, an urgent need was emphasised to promote the mindset of reskilling and upskilling the workforce, contributing to sustainable growth and leading to a well-equipped formal education sector and competitive labour market. Therefore, we strongly encourage the participation of European youth in volunteering and learning mobility as an active learning-process for further skill development. In parallel, there is a growing misunderstanding not only from youth, but from policy decision-makers, formal education institutions and the labour market, preventing the recognition of the value that these experiences have or the competencies that European youth can develop from them.

Mobility is not accessible for a majority of young people due to lack of information, language barriers, insufficient financial resources and other personal duties. Hence, there is a necessity of having youth friendly and accessible information, from a trusted source, as well as a general awareness raising campaign, for all young people in Europe to recognise these opportunities, empowering a more inclusive society, according to Youth Goal #3.

The European Commission should initiate a process engaging Member States to have consultations in order to develop national action plans, in a 2-year timeframe, focusing on making volunteering and learning mobilities more accessible for young people, particularly the ones with limited opportunities. Moreover, Member States should create a framework to recognise the competences and skills learned during short and long-term volunteering and learning mobilities as part of their action plans, acknowledging these experiences as beneficial to their work and curricula.’

5.   Access to infrastructure

‘Despite existing transportation discounts, due to regional differences, transportation is still an obstacle in the daily life of many young people, especially in rural areas due to it being old and/or insufficient. Transportation affects studying, work, and the daily lives of the youth. Availability, affordability, and universal accessibility are key to advancing our public transportation systems. Utilising public transport by youth decreases rural to urban migration. This helps maintain rural population by decongestion and incentivizing youth to stay while promoting sustainable housing in both rural and urban areas.

The Youth Climate Ticket initiative aims at implementing a simple system for providing young people with accessible, affordable and available public transport on a regional, national and international scale. We believe in a holistic approach to social and environmental sustainability. We also aim at enabling young people to choose sustainable travel options more frequently and for Member States to build more sustainable infrastructure in the long term and enhance mobility and solidarity between Member States.

The EU Youth Climate Ticket is a pilot initiative that works on creating a single digital platform on three different levels: regional, national and international. The first two would be optional, supported by the European Commission only in willing Member States. The international level would be subject to EU harmonisation. The platform will have the function to adapt to national prices and will serve as a forum to showcase best practices. When it comes to sustainable public transportation, we want youth to thrive and not just survive.’

(1)  Bárta O., Moxon D. (2023). EUYD9 Implementation Phase Report. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7696299.