Community Engagement and Dialogue with Youth Workshop
Present:-
Keith Newton Ellon
Linda Dawson Ellon
Erland Lundqvist Stromstad
Gregor Jamieson Inverurie
Elaine Kirvichan Inverurie
Duncan Petrie Inverurie
John Sangster Inverurie
Stuart Coull Stonehaven
Fredrik Lovhall Amal
Anna Ottosson Amal
Gita Olsson Kungalv
Nikolaous Petropoulos Aeghio
A Draft Programme for the Youth Conference to be held in Ellon from 25 October to 28 October 2006 was circulated and Linda emphasised that to date not many towns had taken the chance to send young people to the Conferences although places had been allocated for delegates from all the towns. Sustainable small towns need to listen to what young people say and take forward their views along with other communities to this conference.
On 26th it is hoped that the findings from Susset can be reported and how young people can be involved and information will be shared on youth projects from the individual towns. In the evening there will be an international event with traditional food/music etc.
On 27th – Discussions will take place around the various themes of the Project – with appropriate speakers – and the format for this will be agreed by the young people themselves. The second part is to exchange methods of engagement with young people, explore possible exchanges and discuss the setting up of a network of young people. In the afternoon there will be a tour organised and decided by them. The Ellon Youth Action Group, in conjunction with a Media project looking for young people’s views of Ellon, will incorporate a digital review of the Conference and how participation of young people can be employed., A final report will be issued as part of the final package to Europe. Main requirements at present are (1) a commitment from each town to send young people; and (2) any other ideas for the programme.
Fredrik stated that a Youth Conference had been held in Amal regarding participation within the European Union and a DVD produced about what it feels to be young in the town. It was agreed that the results and information from that Conference could be shared.
It was anticipated that representatives were to attend from Inverurie, Stonehaven, Ellon, Stromstad, Amal and Kungalv, and it was hoped that nominations would come forward from all the towns involved in the project. After debate on what level of education the representatives should be; the ages; themes, form of presentation etc., the following was agreed:-
· The most effective age range would be 17/18 to allow most effective engagement as this was the age most young people are leaving secondary education and have the necessary knowledge to understand and engage in discussion on the various themes
· The level of education was not as important as being articulate and having the ability to put ideas across;
· The presentations should be approximately 10 minutes on their own town or project , and the format should be left to the young people themselves – e.g. DVD presentation;
· The themes should be set at a level to allow more creative ideas to come from the young people - e.g. positive ideas on what would make young people stay in their own towns; what would make a sustainable community for them; how to encourage young people to engage in local democracy; how to encourage young people to become more involved; what tourism means to them – rather than concentrating on the theme titles themselves.
It was agreed that as much information as possible should be sent to the individual towns to encourage maximum participation.
Discussion then took place on other forms of engagement with the community on all aspects of Susset and all projects to ensure overall best practices can be identified. The issue of identity being important in small towns was emphasised. A pro-forma would be completed by all towns highlighting engagement techniques, methods, successes and lessons learned, and Ellon as lead town would prepare a preliminary analysis for discussion. A Workshop would be organised at the beginning of 2007 with all the towns represented to discuss the findings. It was agreed that all should think about how to take forward the 3 questions identified by Cliff Hague and listed below:
- What aspects are distinctive to Small Towns?
- What is the sustainable development approach?
- What are the clear and useful results identified for the model for small towns managing change?
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