Building bridges to enhance youth participation at local level in Mediterranean countries

Partnership-building activity (PBA) “Building bridges to enhance youth participation at local level in Mediterranean countries” was organised by DYPALL Network within the framework of University on Youth and Development (UYD), from 17th – 24th September in Mollina, Spain.

The PBA brought together representatives of civil society organisations and municipalities from Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Malta, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Spain to explore the topic of youth participation in decision-making processes at the local level and to develop ideas for cooperation projects in the field.

During the week, the participants were sharing the realities of their home countries and municipalities and identifying the common needs and challenges in terms of youth participation in decision-making.  Some of the results of the week were:

* Exchange of realities and good practices in terms of cooperation between local authorities and civil society in the region and dissemination of partners’ methodology and tools for youth participation at the local level;

* Joint project ideas developed between youth organisations and municipalities from both shores of the Mediterranean;

* DYPALL Network’s scope enlarged to the Mediterranean countries and concrete follow-up project ideas developed to mainstream its methodology and enhance spaces of shared decision-making in youth policy development at the local level in the region.

Furthermore, the PBA was organised as a part of University on Youth and Development (UYD) which provided space for more than 200 participants coming from different corners of the world, to interact and work together. The joint activities around the topic of “Developing global identities” created opportunity for sharing and debate among the participants, thus enriching their learning experience and broadening their perspectives.

The PBA was organised with the support of DYPALL’s partner from Spain, Novisi Elkartea, within the framework of Erasmus + programme.