1.4 Youth people as active citizens and leaders

1.4

Young people as active citizens and leaders

Not all youth participation is based on involvement in decision making. Another important approach is young people being active and doing things for themselves. Rather than relying on the decision makers to implement the change young people want to see, young people can be change makers and implement things directly.

For youth information services, this can mean working in partnership with young people to enable them to plan, deliver and evaluate youth information activities. This can involve peer-to-peer delivery of youth information, young people creating youth information content themselves or other things where young people are active in the delivery of youth information services.

It is also important for young people to be able to take a leadership role within the participation activities that are run by youth information services. By taking the lead in youth participation activities, young people can shape and direct the way that youth participation occurs within youth information services. This helps improve the quality and youth-friendliness of youth participation activities, shares power with young people, and makes sure youth participation activities meet the needs and interests of young people themselves.

These approaches link non-formal education methods and experiential learning closely. In these methods, young people learn by leading and implementing their own solutions and ideas, working collaboratively with youth information services to do so (See Chapter 2). supporting young people to be leaders

“Young people shouldn’t be a part of the project just to deliver certain results, instead you should inspire them to actually lead the process. They should be given a chance and opportunity to really go and work on something. Because some young people are very eager to help and could have this hidden potential. But if they don’t have the place to express that, then things go unseen. So create more opportunities, let’s say smaller pieces of projects, or something that they can really work on. This allows them to develop ideas and express themselves and build their leadership skills.”

Rafaela, Croatia ERYICA Youth Ambassador

supporting young people to be leaders

“To participate in a governing body of an organisation requires, first of all, appropriate social skills. People who are resilient to criticism can handle difficult situations and can face any challenges will certainly do well in such a function. You also need a goal, and perhaps even more: a mission that will make you strive for the best possible solutions.”

Anna, Poland Eurodesk young journalist