Source: Liselotte van der Meijs / imagebank.sweden.se
Nordic examples of youth engagement
Various approaches and methods are employed by municipalities and NGOs in the Nordic countries to promote the engagement of children and young people. This overview highlights the examples presented during the webinar.
Tierp municipality, Sweden
Tierp municipality (21,000 inhabitants) has recently introduced two initiatives aimed at engaging young people and making better use of their knowledge and insights. As part of its strategy to tackle local social sustainability challenges, Tierp has focused on improving access to health services and social activities in the municipality. These efforts target several SDGs, such as Good Health and Wellbeing (SDG 3).
A five-step dialogue on mental health
Given that mental health is an important concern for many young people, Tierp municipality initiated a project dedicated to mental health and wellbeing. The initiative aims to increase mental health literacy, involve young people in identifying and implementing preventive measures and evaluate the effectiveness of such interventions. The ultimate goal is to develop improved methods for addressing mental health issues while empowering young people.
The dialogue process employed in Tierp was developed by the NGO Tillia and consists of five steps:
Figure 1. A five-step process to foster a dialogue on mental health in Tierp municipality. It was carried out from March 2022 to March 2023.
- Initial workshops in schools: The first step involved organising workshops in local schools, engaging 15-30 students per session. The workshops began with a broad discussion about wellbeing and mental health, gradually narrowing down to pinpoint specific actions for improvement.
- Formation of a youth expert group: A group of young experts was then created to ensure that the ideas, opinions and suggestions captured during the workshops were accurately understood and incorporated into a report.
- Report writing: The third step involved writing a report and sharing the findings with various stakeholders in the municipality.
- Policymaker engagement meeting: The fourth step was to hold a meeting with local policymakers to discuss the report’s findings. That meeting led to both short-term and long-term commitments from decision makers to act.
- Follow-up: Three months after the meeting, the participating policymakers were requested to provide a written follow-up to the young people, outlining what actions had been taken (or not) since the last meeting.
Among the specific suggestions raised by young people were improvement in the school environment and school meals, better adult understanding of mental health issues, ideas for leisure time activities and improvements in public transportation and healthcare services, especially for young people.
Source: Tierps kommun 2023
Introducing the app “Young in Tierp” featuring a digital youth panel
Launched in spring 2023, the “Young in Tierp” app features a calendar of events and a directory of activities and youth friendly meeting places, as well as information about school meal options. Additionally, it offers guidance on where to access psychological and social support services. Besides providing information, the app aims to actively engage young people in local governance by encouraging them to submit their ideas on community improvement. Moreover, it includes an integrated digital youth panel, where young individuals can take part in brief surveys on various topics, such as climate initiatives, and influence local decision making. These surveys help inform municipal authorities about youth perspectives on key issues. The app was developed in collaboration with a company that also distributes it to other municipalities.