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1. Formal Mechanisms of Consultation

2. Actors

3. Information on the extent of youth participation

4. Outcomes

5. Large-scale initiatives for dialogue or debate between public institutions and young people

Formal Mechanisms of Consultation

There is no single legal obligation for youth consultation across all policy areas. However, the Strategy of the Slovak Republic for Youth 2021–2028 and related policy documents emphasize the importance of involving young people in decision-making processes, particularly in education, youth work, and regional development.

Consultation mechanisms include:

• School and youth parliaments (see section 5.3)
• Roundtables and thematic forums, such as those organized for the Youth Report 2024
• Youth advisory bodies at the local level (where established)
• Project-based consultations supported by the National Institute of Education and Youth, NGOs or municipalities

Consultations are generally non-binding and occur on a case-by-case basis, often linked to specific strategies or reports rather than as part of a regular legislative process. Although there are no specific regulations on youth consultations across all policy areas, young people can participate in these processes as part of the general public.

Levels of consultations

Some youth consultations have been continuously incorporated into the national youth policy preparation processes since 2001. The majority of consultations involve young people aged 14 up to 25 years. There are no specific guidelines from the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic concerning the youth consultations.

The consultations on regional and local youth policy depend on the decision of the respective regional or local governments. Since 2020, the municipalities have the option to help to set up the youth parliament in their municipality to support the youth participation in the decision-making process on the local level (Act on Youth Work Support/Zákon o podpore práce s mládežou).

Consultation method

A general pattern on two-level consultations with youth has been developed and applied:

• Regional meetings with young people - in order to collect young people's needs and expectations as well as their ideas on planned measures and tools followed by meetings with regional youth work and youth policy representatives.
• National working groups – young people and representatives of youth organisations or institutions working with young people are invited together with other stakeholders.

In some cases, online consultations for all involved parties are incorporated into the methodology (including young people). Online consultations are frequently used within the EU Youth Dialogue (formerly known as Structured Dialogue with Youth).

Regularity of consultation

Consultations with young people are not regular; they are always linked to the preparation of essential documents (strategies, evaluation, legislative acts etc.). Youth consultations (consultation with young people) were held within preparation, mid-evaluation and/or final evaluation of relevant youth policy documents:

• in 2000: National Conception on Youth Policy towards Children and Youth till 2007/Koncepcia mládežníckej politiky do roku 2007,
• in 2007: Key Areas and Action Plans of National Youth Policy 2008 – 2013,
• in 2008: Act on Youth Work Support,
• in 2009/2010: Youth Report 2010,
• in 2013/2014: Youth Report 2014,
• in 2013: Strategy of the Slovak Republic for Youth for the years 2014 – 2020,
• in 2012 and 2014: preparation and evaluation of a financial tool to support youth work (Infokonzult 2012, Infokonzult 2014),
• in 2015: Conception of Youth Work Development 2016 - 2020/Koncepcia rozvoja práce s mládežou 2016 - 2020 .
• in 2018: Youth Report 2018,
• in 2019: Strategy of the Slovak Republic for Youth for the years 2021 – 2028.

Actors

Youth actors

Consultations usually involve two groups:

• Young people from youth organisations
• Young people from communities, youth development groups or school parliaments.

Youth organisations are represented by:

• Youth Council of Slovakia/Rada mládeže Slovenska - RmS
• Association of Regional Youth Councils/Asociácia krajských rád mládeže - AKRAM
• Association of Youth Information and Counseling Centers/Združenie informačných a poradenských centier mladých - ZIPCeM
• Platform of volunteer centres and organizations/Platforma dobrovoľníckych centier a organizácií

Active young people from community youth development groups or school parliaments are identified and contacted through financial schemes of the MESRS and by the National Agency of the EU Erasmus+ Programme. 

Specific target groups

Representatives of the specific target groups are occasionally involved in consultations, as for instance young people from rural areas during the preparation of the youth policy documents. Needs and expectations of young people with fewer opportunities are usually identified by youth workers working with specific target groups and are presented in working groups; e.g. thematic field "Social Inclusion" in Youth Strategy 2014 – 2020. Young people from migrant backgrounds have not been included yet. In 2016, the Office of the Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities started organising of local round tables with Roma youth.

Public authorities

The consultations at the national level usually involve:

• the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic as the main coordinator of youth policy preparation and implementation,
• National Institute of Education and Youth as the Youth Agency,
• various ministries' representatives, policies of which influence young people's lives,
• regional authority offices' representatives (self-governing regions /VUC/) engaged in the departments responsible for youth policy (the departments may vary from region to region).

Additional stakeholders

The consultations at the regional level involve various institutions' representatives, such as regional and local youth centres, regional culture centres, NGOs working (among others) also with young people (e.g. environment, sports NGOs), church groups' representatives active in the youth policy field, active teachers and so on.

Information on the extent of youth participation

Information on young people´s participation is collected only by the organisers and is usually mentioned in the final policy document. 

Outcomes

Main outcomes

Systematic feedback mechanisms or public reporting on how youth input is used are not consistently applied.

Public availability of outcomes

Outcomes are typically made publicly available through NIVAM's communication channels, NGOs and the Ministry of Education. However, there is currently no systematic process in place for publishing and documenting youth feedback.

Large-scale initiatives for dialogue or debate between public institutions and young people

• Youth roundtables organized by NIVaM in connection with national reports and strategies
• Youth delegate program to the UN, which includes national outreach and feedback loops
• Local youth forums supported by municipalities and regional governments
• Workshops and debates in schools, often linked to civic education or youth participation projects
• Hodnoť.to: Student Satisfaction Survey 2025: The aim of the Student Satisfaction Survey 2025 was to map the views and opinions of undergraduate students about teaching and conditions at their universities. By taking part in the survey, students were not only given the opportunity to contribute to improving the quality of higher education, but their views will also be taken into account in the financial evaluation of their university.