Shaping youth politics!
In Generation Europe more than just an international network of youths and youth work institutions develops. At the same time, the programme supports and further develops youth political strategies in Europe. In a steering committee, those active in the project meet funding partners and other experts. As part of the conferences and networking meetings we also host international stakeholder meetings. Here, we will gather and connect representatives of different political levels with other actors of youth politics. Additionally, the project partners develop a guidance paper for transporting European youth politics to the location. They will include political and institutional actors on the regional, national, and European level into this process as well.
Through all these measures, Generation Europe enables opportunities for encounter and exchange between those active in the youth projects at grassroots level and those defining the institutional framework. In such debates and discussions, youths and the participating professionals become actors of youth politics themselves.
This youth-political process has positive effects for all participants: Stakeholders, that is political decision-makers and representatives of the other participating institutions, gain even better insights into the needs of organisations at the location. Such feedback is crucial for appropriate decisions and further development of strategies in youth politics. The process is equally fruitful for the participating youth work institutions. They can formulate their needs and contribute to improving the frameworks in which their own work takes place. The youths active in the individual projects also directly profit from this contact: They develop insights into how the political process works, develop opportunities for intervention, and thereby experience what it means to not just be an object, but subject of youth politics.