- Strengthening local youth councils in participating municipalities by building their capacities for advocacy and cooperation with decision makers - Analysing the current situation of the local youth councils in the partners’ countries, their methods, legal frameworks and the youth policy system - Delivering recommendation packages to improve youth councils’ effectiveness and work quality - Organising two Study visits to Norway and Lithuania for local youth council representatives and local decision-makers in order to share practices and experiences, map mutual challenges and opportunities and further develop the capacities of their local youth councils to advocate for quality youth representation and participation - Increasing the participating organizations’ international experience and promoting European values at the local level.
According to a recent survey on youth participation by the EU-Council of Europe Youth Partnership about the new forms of youth political participation, published in 2023, there is an increasing political apathy among young people. Their declining interest in representative political processes, reluctance to engage in political and civic matters, and low turnout for political elections demonstrate this alarming trend. Therefore, these challenges should be addressed by increasing the quality of youth participation, the impact of young people on policy making, and their involvement in decision-making. In this sense, local youth councils play a huge role not only in voicing the needs of young people, but by being the bridge between them and more institutional organisations and higher levels of decision. However, different contexts require different approaches, and the needs of each local youth council may differ even within their own country. One special way of increasing youth political participation is by improving the quality of the local youth councils, but in order to achieve so, there needs to be a comprehensive analysis of the several different variables that surround them.