Source: Liselott van der Meijs / imagebank.sweden.se
Last but not least, youth voices
How would youth like to be engaged in local development?
Besides collaborating with municipalities and facilitating peer learning, Nordregio hosted a workshop for Nordic youth in May 2023 as part of the Gen Z Agency project: Mobilising young people to strengthen Nordic rural areas (financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers). The aim was to gather their views on youth engagement and sustainable living. Below is what the group recommended municipalities to do – reconfirming several previously noted learnings from the webinar:
Make youth councils mandatory in every municipality. Young people should have a genuine impact on decision making by being insiders in the process.
Involve young people in the early stages of local development projects to gather their insights and ideas.
Democracy: consider youth-driven referendums on key issues.
Utilise schools as platforms to ensure all students are engaged and informed about local issues and decision making processes.
Include sustainability issues even in primary school curricula. Boost sustainable innovation in schools through projects and working groups.
Encourage eco-friendly initiatives such as "Green Flag" schools and workplaces.
Housing: seek young people’s opinions on housing market development.