Our observations indicate that young people are still not particularly interested in civic engagement. It can be illustrated by their low turnover in the 2019 European Parliament elections on the level of 41%. The EU Youth Strategy (2019-2027) encourages authorities to engage in joint activities aiming at shaping policy for young people, but our observations show that many local governments do not treat these activities particularly seriously.
We would like to partially address this challenge by strengthening the voice and engagement of youths living in Mikołów and Rybnik (Śląskie province) and other towns interested in this issue. We will start from preparing a summary of various youth activities in the country and around the globe which we will present to youth town councils and youth groups that we will recruit for the project. We will run consultations devoted to their needs. We will train leaders, youth group supervisors, and town representatives to raise their social consultation skills. We will also run a workshop for youth councils to raise their soft skills and prepare them to hold social consultations. Each group will then work on a consultation model adjusted to the profile of their town, and will run consultations with support of their supervisors. After consultations youths will establish contact with decisionmakers and together they will discuss their outcome.
Our partners include Youth Town Councils of Mikołów and Rybnik that will support us with their know-how and will help us recruit young people.