Item/Min Ref: Title of Report: Officer presenting:

European Youth Capital 19 Bid Director of Legacy

Author:

Director of Legacy

1 Purpose of Report 1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide members with an update on the development of the European Youth Capital 2019 bid.

2 Background 2.1 The ‘European Youth Capital’ (EYC) is a title granted by the to a European City for a period of one year, during which the City and Region will showcase its youth-related cultural, social, political and economic life and development. 2.2 The European Youth Forum (EYF) is an independent, democratic, youth-led platform, representing 99 National Youth Councils and International Youth Organisations from across . The Youth Forum works to empower young people to participate actively in society to improve their own lives, by representing and advocating their needs and interests and those of their organisations towards the European Institutions, the and the United Nations. 2.3 The EYC initiative encourages the implementation of new ideas and innovative projects with regard to the active participation of young people in society, and seeks to present a role model for the future development of other European municipalities. 2.4 Members agreed at their June 2015 meeting that a bid to become European Youth Capital 2019 should be submitted. Members were advised that the bidding process for EYC18 had resulted in five shortlisted bids from 20 applicant cities. This included Cascais (), Kecskemét (Hungary), Manchester (United Kingdom), (), (). On 26th November it was announced that the winning city of Cascais (Portugal) would hold the title of EYC in 2018. 3 Key Issues 3.1 Proactive engagement with our young people has been to the fore of the work plan for the EYC 19 bid. Youth engagement is about actively supporting the contribution and participation of young people in decision-making about the issues that affect them. Meaningful engagement with young people has a number of important benefits, including:

Enables sharing of diverse points of views, beliefs and experiences;

Utilises their particular skills and expertise;

Raises awareness of issues that affect them and helps them to take action;

Leads to more open and democratic decision.

3.2 With many competing demands on young people’s time this EYC19 engagement process has taken on a number of different forms which are user friendly, fun and interactive. To date engagements have taken place with:

Young people participating in the Halloween celebrations at Castle Street (Strabane) and Guildhall Square;

17 post primary schools/colleges in Derry, Strabane and Limavady through School/College Councils and an information seminar hosted by the Mayor in the Guildhall. Three local schools have not yet participated and officers are working with these schools to arrange meetings for January in addition to the Omagh schools/colleges;

Students involved in the A'Level in Journalism at the Verbal Arts Centre who participated in the video to promote engagement in the EYC19 bid by young people to young people;

Youth Focus Group involving young people from Derry and Strabane;

Young people employed in local businesses including Allstate, Learning Pool, First Source, Business in the Community as well as a range of training organisations such as Rutledge and Customised Training

Dedicated media platforms including our website http://www.derrystrabane.com/Subsites/European-Youth-Capital/What-is-EYC-‘19

Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/eyc19/?fref=ts Twitter @eyc19

3.3 Meetings have been held with both local and regional partner organisations who will be able to assist with engagement, programming and acting as ambassadors for our bid. The Department of Culture Arts and Leisure (DCAL) organised on Council's behalf a meeting with DCAL's arm length bodies to raise awareness of the bid and to seek their proactive support. This has yielded a number of positive engagements for programming and bid content. Youth and stakeholder engagement will continue to build momentum in the coming months. 3.4 The consultation from young people through the engagement on the Community Plan has helped to inform the discussions and the design of a dedicated tool kit for the engagement with young people. This tool kit will enable young people to respond both at an individual and group level. Local networks such as Neighbourhood Partnership Boards, youth clubs and so forth are being encouraged to promote this toolkit so that as many young people as possible engage in the process.

4 Financial and Other Implications 4.1 The short term financial implications in relation to the development of the Concept paper have been approved at £74,000 and the budget has now been set aside.

5 Recommendations 5.1 Members are requested to note the update on the engagement process to date and to promote the EYC19 platforms within their respective networks.