Citizenship and Participation are essential, if not the most important principles for democracies. European institutions and their member states as well as non-governmental organisations have repeatedly emphasised the importance of youth participation to foster young people's active citizenship, enhance their integration and inclusion and strengthen their contribution to the development of democracy.

Youth participation has been on the agenda since the first days of European youth policies and today it is said to be ever more relevant. However, a decline in traditional ways of participation, in particular political participation, has often led to wrong judgments regarding young people’s interest in contributing to shaping their environment.

Numerous political and research documents on all forms of youth participation exist, also many examples of good practices; nevertheless it is relatively difficult to keep track of the state of affairs in the discussions on the subject. This section provides some basic information as well as links to key documents from policy, research and practice. It also informs on activities of the EU-CoE youth partnership on participation and citizenship that have been implemented over the past years.

You will find:

• An introductory policy sheet on Citizenship and Participation, informing particularly on policy initiatives promoting youth citizenship and participation in the past two decades by the Council of Europe and the European Commission
• The results of the EU-CoE youth partnership Reflection Group on youth participation (2014)
• The joint results  stemming from the EU-CoE youth partnership Reflection Group on youth participation and the Multilateral Co-operation Project (MCP) “Participation of young people in the democratic Europe” (autumn 2014), presented in:
  • a brochure
  • a short film.
• A policy sheet on more recent developments in the field of youth information and counselling
• An introductory policy sheet on Youth Information, considered being a prerequisite for participation and active citizenship
• An introductory policy sheet on Youth Participation in Contemporary European Social Movements

More country information on youth partnership resulting from earlier EU-CoE youth partnership activities:

• EU-CoE Youth partnership (2012): Analysis of the replies of EU Member States to the questionnaires used for the European Youth Report
• Summary report: EKCYP country questionnaires on participation (2011)
• Country information on participation provided by EKCYP correspondents (2011)

Related activities of the EU-CoE youth partnership

• Seminar on youth participation in the context of Eastern Europe and South Caucasus, Moldova 2014
• Symposium with EECA countries on the role of youth work in education for democratic citizenship and participation, Armenia 2013
• Conference “Youth in 2020”: Report from the working group on youth participation (2013)
• Workshop on youth participation and social media, Tunisia 2013
• Seminar "Youth and Citizenship", November 2013 Jordan
• Symposium 'Arab spring: Youth participation for the promotion of peace, human rights and fundamental freedoms', August 2012, Tunisia
• Research Seminar Young People and Active European Citizenship, November 2006
• Research Seminar : "Revisiting youth political participation: challenges for research and democratic practice in Europe", November 2003