Global issues exchanges with policy-makers at the domestic level

 

Young People in Politics Project - Participating for a Global Citizenship (Projeto Jovens na Política - Participar para a Cidadania Global)

The Young People in Politics Project - Participating for a Global Citizenship has as main goal the promotion of young people and youth parties' Global Citizenship so that they integrate in their programmes of activity the problems linked to the development education.

In its activities, this project includes a wide range of initiatives of knowledge exchange between several actors:

• Meetings with all youth parties that have a sit on Youth City Councils;
• Preparation of policy motions to be presented in Youth District Councils;
• Meetings with several Parliamentary Committee - Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities; Education and Science; National Defence; Employment and Social Security; Culture, Communication, Youth and Sports;
• Participation in national meetings with different political parties.

The project is coordinated by AIDGLOBAL, in a partnership with the Centre of International Studies of the ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon, the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ, I.P.), the Portuguese National Youth Council (CNJ) and the National Federation of Youth Associations (FNAJ). The project is co-funded by Camões Institute for Cooperation and Language.

 

Participatory Budget in Schools gives a voice to students

 

The Participatory Budget in Schools (Orçamento Participativo nas Escolas)  is an initiative to promote civic participation and give a voice to students to answer to their needs and interests.

The school must coordinate the proposal submission processes and assist students in the development and submission of their proposals.

It is targeted at students of the 3rd cycle of Basic and Secondary Education that, in a democratic manner, can decide the improvements to be implemented in their educational establishments.

 

Youth Participatory Budget Portugal

Within the framework of the promotion of participation using formal, non-formal and informal education tools and methodologies, it is important to highlight the Portuguese Participatory Youth Budget.

Youth PB is a democratic participation process in which citizens aged between 14 and 30 can present and decide on public investment projects. In the three editions of the Programme (2017/2018/2019), the total investment amounted to 1 300 000 euros.

The several editions of the Programme are regulated by a Resolution of the Council of Ministers. The first edition was regulated by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers no. 130/2017, the second edition by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers no. 67/2018 and the third edition by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers no. 59/2019.

This initiative aims to contribute to the improvement of democracy through innovation and the strengthening of forms of public participation by young citizens. It has the following objectives:

a)    To strengthen the quality of democracy and its instruments, valuing participatory democracy within the framework of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic;

b)    Encourage the active and informed participation of young citizens in decision-making processes, favouring the existence of a strong and active civil society that pursues cohesive economic and social development and the corresponding increase in quality of life;

c)    Promote the participation of young citizens in the definition of public policies appropriate to their needs and in accordance with their opinions;

d)    Reinforce education for citizenship and a sense of belonging to the community as a whole, encouraging responsible citizen action, by promoting privileged contact between young citizens and public bodies, involving them in the permanent definition of res publica.

The projects admitted to the Portuguese Participatory Youth Budget in the 2019 edition covered the areas of the domains and key themes of the National Plan for Youth, approved by the Council of Ministers Resolution no. 114-A/2018, of 4 September, namely: Formal and Non Formal Education, Employment, Housing, Health, Environment and Sustainable Development, Governance and Participation, and Equality and Social Inclusion.

In the 2017 edition, 424 proposals were submitted, of which 167 were transformed into projects put to a vote. The areas of Social Innovation and Environmental Sustainability are those where the highest number of proposals were submitted. The thematic areas of Social Innovation and Education for Science are those where the largest number of projects were put to vote. In the projects put to vote, 7 winning projects were selected.

In the 2018 edition, 393 proposals were submitted, of which 232 were transformed into projects put to vote. The thematic areas of Cultural Innovation and Environmental Sustainability are those where the highest number of proposals were submitted. The thematic areas of Cultural Innovation and Intergenerational Dialogue are those where the largest number of projects were put to vote. In the projects put to vote, 7 winning projects were selected.

In the 2019 edition of the Portuguese Participatory Youth Budget, 437 proposals were submitted, of which 232 were transformed into projects put to vote. The thematic areas of Environment and Sustainable Development and Equality and Social Inclusion are those where there was the highest number of proposals submitted and projects put to vote. In the projects put to vote, 7 winning projects were selected.

Partnerships with civil society organisations are encouraged and prescribed in a broad sense and, consequently, are transversal at all levels.

 

Youth Parliament

The Youth Parliament programme, approved by Resolution No. 42/2006 2^nd June, is an initiative by the Assembly of Republic targeted at secondary education young people from State, private and cooperative schools from Continental Portugal, the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira and the circles in and outside Europe. In 2018/2019, the theme was "Climate Change: Reversing Global Warming".

The Programme is coordinated by the Assembly of Republic. The partner entities are the Ministry for Education, Secretariat of State for Youth and Sports (IPDJ, I.P.), Secretariat of State of the Portuguese Communities and the Regional Secretariats which supervise education and youth in the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira.

The Parliamentary Education, Science and Culture Committee is responsible for monitoring the Programme, defining the real guidelines on the Sessions’ model and their preparatory stages, as well as the annual themes under debate.

 

Phases of Youth Parliament

The Youth Parliament process unfolds into several phases throughout the school year, which are similar for the basic and secondary education’s sessions. In the first phase the school debates the annually proposed theme, internally only or with guest speakers (local entities, experts, etc.). Besides this debate the school may also organise a special one with the participation of a Deputy from the Assembly of Republic, by means of a formulary provided for this purpose in the Youth’s Parliament website. This debate will take place preferably on a Mondays.

The schools from the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira may likewise invite a Deputy from their own Legislative Assembly, and they should address the invitation to the services of that Assembly to that effect.

In the electoral process are included the formation of lists candidate to the deputies’ election, the campaign and the election of deputies to School Session. Lastly, the School Session is held, where the approval of the School Recommendation Project takes place and the representatives of the Sessions are elected, by district and region. 

The second phase occurs in the District or Autonomous Region, the District/Regional Sessions are held, where the deputies that represent the schools of each district or autonomous regions convene so as to approve the Recommendation Projects which are to be submitted to the Youth’s Parliament National Session and to elect the deputies that will represent them in that same Session.

In the third phase the Youth’s Parliament National Session takes place in the Assembly of the Republic, where the young deputies from all over the country represent each district or autonomous regions, during which is approved, afterwards the debate in Committees and in Plenary, the final Recommendation on the theme of that same Youth’s Parliament Edition.

Participants

The schools’ delegations in each National Session must be composed of two permanent deputies, a teacher and a journalist. In case the participant schools in the National Session have a school newspaper, a radio station or a television broadcast, or any other medium, the form teacher may enrol a student to cover the National Session as a journalist/photographic reporter, and he may apply to the Youth’s Parliament Report Award.

 

Youth's Parliament - Secondary 2018/2019

Enrolled schools	474
Classes engaged	2342
Participants in the electoral lists	11545
Voters: elections school sessions	68645
Elected deputies: school sessions	7042
Elected deputies:	1450
districts/regions
Elected schools: national session	65
Elected deputies: national session	130

 

 

How to involve youth in the causes of Global Citizenship?

Under the Wake up for Global Citizenship (Despertar para a Educação Global) project and the European Youth Forum, in March 2016, a dinner-debate was held which was organised by the Portuguese Institute of Youth and Sport, I.P., AIDGLOBAL and Marquês de Valle Flôr Institute.

With the name of "How to involve youth in the causes of Global Citizenship?", the goal was to debate and think about strategies to motivate young people to actively participate in society. This debate was attended by members of the European Youth Forum and youth organisations.

Among other topics, the themes of Global Citizenship - Cultural Identity and Diversity, Respect for Human Rights, Responsible Consumption and Alternative Economies, Migrations and Refugees, Climate Change and Global Inequalities were discussed. 

The participants had the opportunity to address two of these themes and, in the end, share conclusions with all the guests.

As a product of the meeting, a guiding document was created with recommendations and/or suggestions on how to involve and motivate young people to actively participate in society.

 

Global issues exchanges with policy-makers at the international level

Let' s take care of the planet

The Let's take care of the planet project's goal is to encourage the mobility of young Europeans for a sustainable development. 

The intention is to build a space of dialogue and debate, and give young people the opportunity to be hard by the political and economic bodies and international entities.

The idea is that international experience makes them more capable to act locally.

The project was the result of the International Conference "Let's Take Care of the Planet", that took place in 2010 in Brazil. This conference gathered young people from 47 countries, that wrote a reference document together - "Let's Take Care of the Planet" Youth International Charter.

The project involves more than 15 European countries that locally develop their projects and then present their results in the joint conference that takes place annually, which results in a set of tools.

The project is coordinated by the non-governmental organisation Monde Pluriel since 2009, which supports participating countries in the national development processes of projects and the implementation methodology, in collaboration with the European Methodological Committee, which is composed of members of the national coordination of each country.

The project is funded by the Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation, and its national and local implementation has counted on a diversified number of funding throughout the years, including: the informal education programme - Youth in Action (2012); the Committee of the Regions which represents the local and regional authorities of the European Union (2012 and 2015); the European Economic and Social Committee, an advisory body of the European Union (2015).

In Portugal, this project has been coordinated since 2014 by ASPEA - Portuguese Association of Environmental Education and counts on the participation of 8 partner schools (Valença, Barreiro, Monção, Aveiro, Nelas, Tondela, Mangualde and Galicia).

 

The Biggest Lesson of the World (A Maior Lição do Mundo)

The Biggest Lesson of the World initiative arose under the Everyone Project, a project that counts with the association of organisations such UNICEF and UNESCO, as well as world-wide personalities.

This initiative was created under the Sustainable Development Goals and intends to involve children and young people in the promotion of an active global citizenship and a greater awareness of the role of each of them in building a safer, healthier and more sustainable world.

The initiative involves every year the Ministries of Education of the associated countries, that must be responsible for the promotion of open classes that lead to the reflection an discussion of the themes linked to the Sustainable Development Goals. Both students and teachers must be involved in these classes.

In Portugal, the Biggest Lesson of the World is promoted by the Portuguese Committee for UNICEF and the Directorate General for Education - Ministry of Education, in particular through the development of resources adapted in Portuguese.

 

Children and Young People Forum

The Children and Young People Forum was established in 2010 under the Commemorative Platform for the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The purpose of the forum is to develop a network, by creating a space for dialogue, exchange of ideas, knowledge and views between organisations working with children and young people.

The objective is to contribute to the defence and promotion of social, cultural, economic and civil rights of children and young people.

 

Youth Dialog - European Union

This is a process that promotes the debate between young people and public decision-makers about priorities, implementation and monitoring of the European cooperation in the youth field. It is a mechanism of inquiry and listening that must sustain youth policy, both at the European and national level.

The big impulse that lead to its implementation took place with the Council resolution on a renewed framework for the European cooperation in the youth field (2010-2018), of 27th November 2009, as reviewed by the Resolution of the Council and the representatives of the Member States meeting within the Council establishing guidelines on the governance of the EU Youth Dialog – European Union Youth Strategy 2019-2027 (2019/C 189/01). Within this scope, young people are recognized as a resource of society and the importance of defending young people's rights to participate in the creation of policies that affect them is highlighted, due to a permanent structured dialogue with political decision-makers and youth organizations.

In the context of European cooperation in the youth field, the youth dialogue arises as an implementation instrument, which must serve as a permanent forum of joint reflection on priorities, implementation and monitoring of cooperation in the youth field. The themes of the dialogue must align with the general objective of this European cooperation and the priorities of each cycle of work, in the framework of the Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and its Youth Goals.

The process is organised in cycles of 18 months, corresponding to the EU presidency trios, thus implicating the division of each cycle in three phases of six months each. In this way, the continuity and consolidation of the legislative processes will be ensured.  In each Member State, a National Work Group is appointed, which is responsible for carrying out local and national consultations, as well as producing a report of the country.

In the case of Portugal, the work group is coordinated by the Portuguese National Youth Council (CNJ), comprised of representatives of entities, such as:

- Government (youth field);

- National Youth Council;

- Youth organisations and local and regional youth councils;

-Youth workers;

- Researchers in the youth field.

The national proposals are evaluated and consolidated in a joint report by the European Coordinating Committee of the Structured Dialogue, comprised of representatives of the:

- European Commission;

-EU Presidencies Trio;

- European Youth Forum.

The European Coordinating Committee of the Structured Dialogue is responsible for compiling the reports sent by the National Work Groups and preparing a reference document for the European Youth Conference.

European Youth Conference

The Youth Conference (one for each presidency) takes place in each of the three cycle phases of the structured dialogue, and is held in the country that is currently holding the presidency.  This conference gathers young national deputies and representatives of the official youth entities and the ministries responsible for the youth sector to develop together joint recommendations relevant to the framework of thematic priorities established, in the frameworks of the Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and its Youth Goals.

Political results

At the conclusion of each cycle of structured dialogue, it is expected that the political action is developed on the basis of the joint recommendations of young people and political decision-makers, in the Council of the European Union. The Council can adopt a Resolution or Conclusions, based on the structured dialogue process.

 

Conference of Ministers of Youth and Sports of the CPLP - Biennial of Young Creators of the CPLP

The Conference of Ministers of Youth and Sports of the CPLP, as established in 2007 (Mindelo, Cape Verde), by the ministers responsible for both domains in the countries where the Portuguese language if the official language (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Principe and East Timor), intends to assert itself as a space for cooperation, consultation, establishment and implementation of joint actions in the field of youth and sports.

The Conference meets ordinarily once a year, establishing anchor activities linked to the fields in which it operates - Sports Games of the CPLP and the Biennial of Young Creators of the CPLP.

 

Biennial of Young Creators of the CPLP

The Biennial of Young Creators of the CPLP takes place every two years, at the same place and time of the Conference of Ministers. In this way, based on the cultural perspectives of each and the respect for the different forms of expression, it becomes a meeting place between young people of the Community to promote the approach to common interest themes, artistic exchange, meetings, debates, training and dialogue between youth organisations and political leaders, where the Youth Forum of CPLP and the ministerial delegations that participate in the works of the Conference make an appearance.