Exchange of best practices for the sustainable establishment & successful continuance of youth parliaments.

Background In recent years, democracies around the world have experienced how socio-political polarisation tests the cohesion of the population. We have noted with regret that actors have tried to emphasise differences and contrasts, focusing on confrontation but losing sight of elements of cooperation. Confrontation instead of cooperation often results in the failure of projects that would bring general added value. Above all, the participation of young people - also beyond national borders - plays a central role if we want to shape our democracies in a lively way again in the future. Thus, the Youth Parliament Initiative and the Liechtenstein Youth Council have set themselves the common goal of actively promoting political youth participation. Both associations were already active in their countries, but such a project should go beyond national borders. At the time of the application, we were sure that experiences from both countries would give the project substantial added value. Objectives BACKGROUND: With the goal clearly in mind, both associations soon realised that if change was to be created, a concrete product should be the basis for action. Thus, the decision was made to prepare a handbook containing concrete proposals for action to establish youth parliaments. The combination of young, committed people who are already socio-politically active and can contribute their experience to a project, coupled with the expertise of various institutions, politicians and non-profit associations, seemed perfect to get closer to the goal of promoting political youth participation. GOAL: The goal of the event series was to establish a plan how to increase political youth participation. Every event had a dedicated session where the group worked on a handbook with detailed steps on how to build a youth parliament The handbook will be printed and distributed among interested initiatives. Simultaneously, the group worked on a concept on how to establish an event series in the future. Implementation Every event had its special focus. During the first event, the participants met for the first time and were able to establish connections and networks. The overall aim of the event was to present the political systems of Germany and Liechtenstein/Switzerland. The second event in Cologne had a strong focus on group work regarding the handbook. Input from a specialist on intergenerational communication and exchange helped to understand additional points on how to establish a long-lasting relationship among different groups within the population. The third event aimed to exchange ideas with other youth organizations within the scope of a world café. In Brussel, at the fourth event, the group looked at different European perspectives on youth participation. The final event in Berlin was to finalize the handbook and learn more about German history and politics. Besides the work on the handbook, the group was able to exchange ideas and perspectives with several politicians, consultants, and other youth organizations. The group also visited several political institutions in Liechtenstein, Brussels, and Berlin. Achievements The conference produced four concrete outputs: (i) the handbook on political youth participation, which will be printed and distributed among interested associations and groups, (ii) a network among young people that share politics as a concrete interest, (iii) the possibility to communicate with politicians, start-ups, and other youth organizations and to establish a network, and (iv) a concept on how to continue with the conference series in order to foster this important project even after the five events already realized.