Participatory exercises involving young Europeans can help them better understand democratic processes, but there are palpable worries that the intergenerational divide and the lack of real follow-up can limit their impact, according to young people who took part in such events.
Europeans are increasingly called upon to take part in decision-making processes at the local, national, or EU level, to weigh in on decisions impacting their lives and communities.
The Brussels French’speaking parliament, for instance, introduced a deliberative commission, where 36 randomly selected citizens were called to discuss with 12 parliamentarians the role of citizens during crises.
According to Ariane De Backer, a 22-year-old participant, the experience helped her better understand the politics of her country.
Building trust
“This process could be a good tool to create better trust between young citizens and their politicians,” she said during the Public Participation and Deliberative Democracy Festival organised by the European Commission in October.
At the same time, bringing citizens together can help identify the problems affecting a specific community or region.
Ilias Qacham, 26, who took part in a citizen convention in Occitanie, a region in southern France, said the experience helped him understand the issues affecting the region where he lives and how politicians work to solve problems.
In his view, participatory exercises can help “reconcile young people with politics and make them feel involved”.
Follow-up
However, according to Quentin Madi, a 27-year-old member of the environmental committee in the Paris citizens’ assembly, the experience was a “blow in the wind” as “nothing is changing” following the citizens’ input.
This feeling is shared by many of the participants of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), a major EU-wide series of debates where citizens were called to propose recommendations to shape the future of the EU.
Joy Clara Schäflein, 23, who took part in one of the citizens’ panels, said participants are still waiting on the EU to act on the recommendations presented in May.
“It is up to the politicians to continue the process,” she said, adding that she is “very worried” the recommendations will ultimately be disregarded by EU institutions and member states.
Intergenerational divide
Moreover, according to young citizens, the age of participants in these initiatives can affect decisions taken during the assembly.
“In Paris, there is a distance between young and old people when it comes to ecological issues,” Madi said, explaining that young participants were pushing for more green spaces while older citizens stressed the need for car spaces in the streets.
According to Schäflein, a similar problem is also affecting her country, Germany, where young people tend to feel ignored by the older generations.
Others, however, argue that intergenerational exchanges can help solve problems and drive change.
“We’ve explored it with young people and they have told us there’s a value in that space,” Dermot O’Brien from the National Youth Council of Ireland told EURACTIV, adding that different generations might share the same concerns although with different perspectives.
“They have recognised that there might be added value in that type of dialogue between generations about something like climate change or about how we see diversity and inclusion,” he added.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
Source: euractiv.com
