Definition
Youth participation is an essential part of youth work. It could defined in a various ways; each stakeholder has its own definition, though it refers to the same cause and aim. The definition of the youth participation is defined in the legislations and strategic documents of international organizations like EU or Council of Europe as well as states has their own view on what is youth participation on national level. In addition, the term youth participation is explained by the number of famous scholars in the field like Hart, Lauritzen and others.
In the module, you will find the most relevant definitions and explanations of the term youth participation that will be enough for the student to get a comprehensive understanding what is youth participation according to the official definitions of different stakeholders.
In addition, the module will provide you with basic understanding of what kind of forms; types and principles of youth participation exist in Europe, based on the resources and interpretation of Council of Europe and European Commission.
In addition, there will be part dedicated to the definition of youth reflected in various documents of international organizations like UN and EU.
At the end, you will find link to the useful resources as well as videos concerning the topic of the module. The knowledge gained in here will be self-assessed via open and multiple questions given at the end.
Theoretical material
Some actors in the youth work field states that youth participation is mainly concern the participation of youth in the affairs and issues related to the youth and others offer the participation to the any issues related to the society.
Youth participation, also called youth involvement, has been used by government agencies, researchers, educators, and others to define and examine the active engagement of young people in schools, sports, government, community development and economic activity.
In 1975, the National Commission on Resources for Youth in the United States defined youth participation as:
...Youth participation is the involving of youth in responsible, challenging action that meets genuine needs, with opportunities for planning and/or decision-making affecting others in an activity whose impact or consequence is extended to others— i.e., outside or beyond the youth participants themselves. Other desirable features of youth participation are provision for critical reflection on the participatory activity and the opportunity for group effort toward a common goal.
As defined in the preamble of the revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life (Council of Europe):
“Participation in the democratic life of any community is about more than voting or standing for election, although these are important elements. Participation and active citizenship is about having the right, the means, the space and the opportunity and where necessary the support to participate in and influence decisions and engaging in actions and activities so as to contribute to building a better society.”
“In a nutshell participation means to be involved, to have tasks and to share and take over responsibility. It means to have access and to be included.”
“Participation is about talking and listening, expressing your own views and listening while others express theirs. It can mean working together for a solution or a course of action. Participating doesn’t just mean becoming a young activist, it can also mean taking advantage of opportunities that are being offered, like joining clubs to learn a new skill, or groups that feel strongly about an issue.”
Marc Jans and Kurt De Backer present the Triangle of Youth Participation. This suggests that young people will actively engage with society when presented with three specific dimensions; firstly they must have something to challenge. Following this, they must feel they have the capacity to make a difference and finally must be able to connect with others in order to tackle the issue effectively.
While EU in its strategy 2019-2027 defines youth Participation as follows:
… recognizing that all young people are a resource to society, all policies and activities concerning young people should uphold young people's right to participate in the development, implementation and follow-up of policies affecting them by means of meaningful participation of young people and youth organizations. In this context, policies should be built in recognition of the changes brought about by digital communication affecting democratic and civic participation.
Principles of participation: Earlier in this chapter it was mentioned that there exist different ways of understanding what youth participation is and different ideas about how to support youth involvement. It is maybe a bit less controversial to agree on a set of principles that ensure that youth participation in organisations or communities can be meaningful and effective.
According to Marc Jans and Kurt De Backer youth participation is based on the three main principles:
- Challenge - here means a theme that should be directly related to the daily reality of young people and which should be engaging or interesting for them;
- Capacity - Young people need to have some knowledge and skills in order to get involved.
- Connection - “Young people have to feel connected with and supported by humans, communities, ideas, movements.
Forms of participation: There are many ways in which young people can participate in taking decisions about issues important to them and to the whole local community. Some forms of participation seem to be more appealing to young people than others; some can be more relevant in a specific context than others and each has some potential as well as its limitations.
The most common forms of youth participation observed in contemporary European societies are as follows:
- voluntary work
- participating in different forms of non-formal education;
- peer education – involvement of young people in educating their peers (for example, health promotion programmes, awareness-raising campaigns, etc.);
- being active in an organisation/club and taking responsibility for some areas of its work;
- youth councils, parliaments, fora, boards and other structures – a traditional way of participating in decision-making processes in the framework of international, national, regional or local authorities, schools, clubs, NGOs, etc.;
- co-management systems existing in some institutions (for example, in the Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe) where the decisions are taken by representatives of young people or youth organisations and representatives of the authorities on an equal basis;
- consultations – used in decision-making processes to voice needs and concerns and to make proposals;
- different levels of participation of young people in projects and activities
- campaigning activities;
- membership of political parties, unions, interest groups;
- taking part in elections (both to vote and to be elected).
These are traditional ways of participation but recently a new forms of participation has been emerged and identified:
- peer-to-peer networks;
- discussion fora;
- signing petitions;
- participation in so-called “new social movements”;
- support groups;
- boycotting of products;
- demonstrations;
- international meetings;
- using the Internet to gather information, express views or influence decision-making processes
There is no universally accepted, global or pan-European comprehensive definition of youth. The period of transition from childhood to adulthood can vary depending on the socioeconomic context. The age range currently used varies. For example the UN World Programme of Action for Youth sets an age range of 15-24. The AYC defines youth as 15-35 while recognising those aged 15-17 as minors. Within Erasmus Plus youth program it is defined 13-30 years for Youth Exchange projects. More recently UN Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015) on youth, peace and security defines youth as 18-29. This info tool focuses on the rights of young people aged 18 and over, particularly given that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides comprehensive protection for children and minors below the age of 18. Though there are age limit in term of youth definition, we could not find any age limit for youth workers.
Useful resources and links, additional literature
https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/documents/youth/fact-sheets/youth-participation.pdf
Analytical paper on Youth Participation
Policy Paper on Democracy and Youth Organisations
Videos
The Audiopedia channel – definition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7-TD8ukTRU
Interview, Tomi Kiilakoski from the Finnish Youth Research Network discusses youth participation and examples from Finland. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te5wUyvxAWg
Inspiring Youth Participation in Politics | Amelia Womack | TEDxKeeleUniversity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGm7SXJwzWg
Youth participation in youth policy #MOOCYP webinar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTZ8ATTZSrk&t=31s
Youth Participation in Decision Making – Kosovo project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgi87VOPIuk
Hear my voice! Amplify participation of young people in Europe! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUHpGEEEHSM
A Young Person's Guide to Political Participation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNc2S3u5XQA
Youth engagement in politics indifferent or just different? | Jacob Helliwell | TEDxYouth@Victoria https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdDFLzyk94k
Youth participation forms and value https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPAVD0zhgM0
Explore the Diverse Forms of Youth Workers' Mobility Projects https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27-FGA8sCEc
Open ended questions.
What does youth participation mean?
What should be the age limit for youth worker and why?
Write down five forms of youth participation
Which are the new forms of participation?