Illustration by Daniela Nunes

The Youth Action Week

 by Andreas Andreou 

How did young people from across Europe and beyond work on revitalising democracy and access to rights, meaningful youth participation, digitalisation and peace? What did the Call for action they prepared with 50 proposals for action addressed to young people, youth civil society, member states and the Council of Europe entail?

In 2022, the Council of Europe youth sector was celebrating its 50th anniversary. It was also the year that the Democracy Here | Democracy Now youth campaign took place. The campaign was launched in March 2022 by the Council of Europe’s Youth Department and it was aiming at revitalising democracy through strengthening mutual trust between young people and democratic institutions and processes.

The Youth Action Week was the flagship event of the campaign and it took place in Strasbourg on 28 June to 1 July 2022. It was organised under the patronage of the Irish Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, in partnership with the European Youth Forum and the city of Strasbourg. It was the first large-scale activity organised by the Youth Department after the COVID-19 pandemic and in the harsh realities of summer 2022 against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. Moreover, the Youth Action Week constituted an important opportunity to reflect on the achievements and relevance of the work of the Council of Europe youth sector and make proposals for the future.

The Youth Action Week’s main objectives were to:

• discuss and deepen the understanding of the current challenges and attacks on democracy and their impact on young people and society;
• design and plan interventions, activities, actions and projects in the youth campaign with a focus on revitalising democracy, meaningful youth participation and digitalisation;
• celebrate 50 years of the youth sector of the Council of Europe and reflect on its relevance for young people, youth policy and the mission of the Council of Europe to promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law;
• give impetus for joint action and co-operation in the framework of the Democracy Here | Democracy Now campaign at local, national and international levels.

During the week, 450 participants had the chance to explore and share challenges faced by young people in the current political, social and economic context, learn from experts and from each other, explore solutions, and draft 50 calls for action addressed to young people, youth civil society, member states and the Council of Europe.

The Youth Action Week was opened in the hemicycle of the Council of Europe by Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Ambassador Breifne O’Reilly, Permanent Representative of Ireland and Chair of the Committee of Ministers, Spyros Papadatos, Chair of the Advisory Council on Youth and Véronique Bertholle, Deputy to the Mayor of the city of Strasbourg, in charge of international and European relations.

The Youth Action Week was intended as an experience of democracy through consulting, listening and involving young people in the process of building, shaping and implementing the campaign. In that regard, the programme was structured in three major settings:

• opening and closing plenary sessions in the hemicycle of the Council of Europe which gathered all the participants to the event;
• thematic plenary sessions were organised according to the four themes: access to rights, meaningful youth participation, digitalisation and peace. Each thematic plenary identified some of the factors relevant to the campaign themes and collected the proposals for the Call for Action;
• workshops within each of the thematic plenaries were broken down into a series of workshops where specific issues were explored in depth from the participants’ perspective. Participants were encouraged to bring life experiences and inputs to the discussions, and to identify commitments and opportunities for engagement. The proposals from the workshops were grouped together into the thematic plenaries on the final day. Overall, 22 parallel workshops were held during the programme.

 The participants of the Youth Action Week presented the Call for action in 50 proposals on the last day of the programme. Have a look at them!

The event was closed with reflections and concluding remarks by:

• Shane Griffin, Deputy Permanent Representative of Ireland
• Thomas Andersson, Chair of the Current Affairs Committee, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
• María Rodríguez Alcázar, member of the board of the European Youth Forum
• Miriam Teuma, Chair of the Joint Council on Youth
• Matjaž Gruden, Director of Democratic Citizenship, Council of Europe

At the end of the day, over 500 people celebrated together the 50th anniversary of the Council of Europe’s youth sector. “As the cake celebrating the 50 years of the youth sector of the Council of Europe was being cut by the youngest participants, a sense of hope and determination pervaded the corridors of the Palace of Europe."

In conclusion, the Democracy Here | Democracy Now youth campaign was one of the milestone events of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, especially in the last few years, taking into consideration the restrictions that were forced upon everyone due to the pandemic. The Youth Action Week is strong proof that when stakeholders come together and join forces, a lot of important and inspiring things can happen. The work of that week on some of the most pressing issues young people must deal with today (revitalising democracy and access to rights, meaningful youth participation, digitalisation and peace) culminated in 50 proposals for action addressed not only to young people but also to youth civil society, member states and the Council of Europe. The first step was successfully achieved and as the “well begun is half done”, it is now up to every person and initiative/entity/organisation individually and collectively to reach the goals that we all must embrace for a society in which democracy is revitalised, access to rights is guaranteed and strengthened, and young people meaningfully participate. In political life, digitalisation is a tool for positive changes, and peace prevails.

The Democracy Here | Democracy Now campaign is now currently in its third phase with activities taking place at local, national and international levels to strengthen youth participation in democratic processes and institutions.

Read more about the campaign