The GaYA project is helping to increase the quality of democracy in the Alpine region by enhancing the capacity of decision makers to involve citizens, particularly young people.
- 21 February 2019
The GaYA project addresses the real challenge that public authorities have in involving youth in the decision-making process. As our comparative report shows, there are a lot of best practices for ensuring youth involvement at every level of government. GaYA is helping to achieve this via its toolkit and policy recommendations.
Europe’s Alpine space is experiencing a brain drain. Due to a lack of professional and personal opportunities, many young people are choosing to leave the region to pursue careers elsewhere. In an attempt to reverse this trend, the EU-funded GaYA project is working to enhance the involvement of young people in regional governance and help decision makers better engage the area’s young population.
Preparing tomorrow’s leaders today
In response to economic restraints and an increasingly diverse society, representative democracies across Europe need to reconsider traditional models. Countries need to learn from what works – and doesn’t work – in other countries, and adapt accordingly. In Europe’s Alpine region, a key challenge to representative democracy is the fact that many young people feel disconnected from their government institutions. Feeling that their voice does not count, they simply choose to disengage, threatening the fabric of a functioning representative democracy.
The GaYA project aims to improve the quality of democracy in the Alpine area by enhancing the capacity of decision makers to involve the leaders of the future (i.e., young people aged 14 to 25) in the democratic system. Specifically, the project is working with youth to increase knowledge about and awareness of the decision-making process, and with decision-makers about the particular needs of today’s youth. The ultimate objective is that by making youth an integral part of the democratic process they will be more likely to remain in Alpine region.
To achieve this, the project is developing common frameworks applicable to the entire region. Although still in progress, the project has already achieved important results. For example, it has published a comparative report on democratic innovations and participatory democracy in the Alpine space. Using this report as a foundation, project researchers have started training decision makers on implementing innovative democratic methods for involving young people. These methods are currently being tested via a number of pilot projects across the region, from which a participatory toolkit will be produced.
My Alps, My Chance
GaYA has also organised a youth film competition. Open to young people between the ages of 16 and 25, the competition challenges participants to document their experiences in participatory democracy. The 15 best films will be shown at the GaYA ‘My Alps, My Chance’ film festival during the final event in Chambéry, 30 November – 1 December 2018.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Governance and Youth in the Alps” is EUR 1 092 748, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 928 836 through the “Alpine Space” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Energy Union and Climate”.