190930 FT19 Medienbericht Allgemein E
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A young potential for the Alps At the conference of the network of municipalities "Alliance in the Alps" from 20 to 21 September 2019 in the Liechtenstein member municipality of Triesenberg/Malbun, the question of what is needed for a successful participation of children and young people in communities in order to increase the quality of life, especially for the young generation, was discussed. "The challenges of our time have to be tackled together with friends and neighbours". With this plea, Liechtenstein Councillor Dominique Hasler welcomes the approximately 80 international conference participants in Malbun. She thus hits exactly the heart of the network, because under the motto "Exchange, tackle, implement", the 280 or so municipalities from seven Alpine states are currently working on an active and citizen- oriented implementation of the Alpine Convention. With the theme "Future prospects", the meeting was marked by lectures and good examples from the field of active participation of children and young people. The 16-year-old Michael Schädler of JUBEL Liechtenstein encouraged those present to view digitalization as an opportunity and to use digital channels such as Whatsapp or YouTube to provide target group-oriented information for young citizens. In her lecture, Carmen Feuchtner from the Verein Welt der Kinder/AT stressed that the participation of young people needs time and consistency. However, municipalities should not be discouraged and keep going, as even small steps can lead to success. Any required effort on the part of the communities will be rewarded in the end. By involving children and young people in the planning processes of the community, e.g. playgrounds or a pump track facility, the acceptance of such municipal offers increases. Many impressive project examples from Liechtenstein, France, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Germany have made it clear how worthwhile it is for communities to have courage and give their children and young people a space to develop their own environment. They thus increase contact with their young inhabitants as well as their parents and strengthen identification with their home community, which is particularly important in the emigration regions of the Alpine region. After intensive exchange and fruitful discussions, theory and practice were linked on the second day of the event. In Triesenberg, the Gwirbi Co-Working Space was visited, which offers young entrepreneurs an opportunity to work flexibly from their home municipality and to network with like-minded people. The Heilpädagogisches Zentrum (HPZ) Liechtenstein demonstrates how integration in a community works. The workplaces of the HPZ like the "Agra", a vegetable growing area and the vineyard "Servita" offer a perspective to people who cannot find a job for various reasons. Under special conditions, they get a job and the certainty of "being used". Integration is part and condition of a high quality of life in the community. In the PlurAlps project, the community network aims to develop a welcome culture for more attractiveness and social cohesion in rural areas. The integration of children and young people plays an important role and was discussed in a workshop at the conference. Talking not only about young people, but also with them, was particularly important to the municipality network. Thus, many young participants were represented at the conference in order to make their point of view clear to the current community representatives. The most important potential of child and youth participation lies in working together on future issues, such as climate protection, with the future generation. Young people have a chance to be heard, far away from climate strikes and Fridays for Future. Alliance in the Alps The "Alliance in the Alps" network of municipalities is an association of around 280 municipalities from seven countries in the Alpine region and has been in existence since 1997. The network offers a platform for exchange across language and cultural borders. The members are committed to an intact nature, a healthy economy and a good coexistence in the Alps. They put people at the centre, focus on the future and jointly explore new paths. alpenallianz.org .