Actively promote a political culture of participation, anchor the participation of young people in decision-making processes, make youth participation a must, not just a nice extra! The partner organisations of the Interreg project GaYA brought these political recommendations to the politicians of the Alpine countries.

How can youth participation in cities and rural areas be promoted? What innovative ideas and projects are there? What can politicians and decision-makers do? More than 200 participants from all Alpine countries travelled to the GaYA conference in Chambéry, France, to answer questions on youth participation. In interactive sessions, young people, politicians and interested parties from various Alpine countries exchanged ideas. In addition, the event offered music and alpine cuisine as well as films produced by young people, which were presented as part of an alpine-wide film competition.

The conference was part of the Interreg project GaYA - Governance and Youth in the Alps that aims to involve the younger generation more closely in political decision-making processes. The event also marked the end of the two-year project. Besides the international exchange and the political recommendations, the project partners presented a toolbox for youth participation and a comparative study on participatory democracy in the Alps.

Information project GaYA: www.alpine-space.eu/projects

Questions are to be addressed to:
Maya Mathias, Project Assistent CIPRA International, +423 237 53 15, [email protected]