Youth Reflections on the Young LEADER Forum
- CAP Implementation
- CAP Strategic Plans
- Generational Renewal
- Jobs, Growth and Equality in Rural Areas
- LEADER
- Long-term Vision for Rural Areas
- Networking
- Rural Development
Read perspectives from the young delegates from the EU CAP Network's Young LEADER Forum who explain what was most useful about the event and how they are using what they learned at the Forum in June.
The EU CAP Network's Young LEADER Forum (YLF), held in Finland on 11 - 13 June 2024, aimed to discuss ways to increase the power of young people in LEADER design and implementation. The Forum's two days of participatory capacity-building events proved popular with participants, and the outcomes have already fed into initiatives such as the LEADER Youth community, which has been launched by the European LEADER Association for Rural Development (ELARD).
The YLF engaged with a group of over 200 impressive young rural role models before and during the event. To gain insight into what the Forum meant for these young participants, we contacted some of them a few weeks after the event to ask for their reflections on what had been the most useful aspects of the Forum, what they had learned and how they could apply it, as well as what they hope to achieve with their newly gained knowledge.
Supporting rural youth
Maria Geuze who leads the Dutch Slow Food Youth Network gave us some insight into what YLF meant for her.
"The Youth LEADER Forum for me was useful because I learned so much from the examples that I heard. I felt stronger after going to Finland to be able to continue my own projects and build more projects from scratch.
In the Netherlands, I lead the Slow Food Youth Network and several other platforms. I took many notes during the YLF with the intention of writing a report for the local LEADER groups, which can be used to help others and spread what I have learned about involving youth in decision-making processes and other bottom-up initiatives.
For me, it’s important that we aim to collaborate with public organisations that are attractive to young people. Success will happen when we see behaviours changing and younger generations influencing public activity. That is something I want to achieve most - to help young people feel that their voice is being heard. It can be very motivational and memorable for young people when we feel valued and appreciated.”
Christian Tanti from the Beyond Youth Group in Malta, says that his group now benefits from links and contacts with other European groups that he met at the Forum.
"The whole forum was a great experience. I met people from vast backgrounds and from groups with different aims, which I found so enriching.
After the Forum, we have already discussed how to formulate and define our group’s specific target actions. Apart from its main roles, the leading team of our group is now discussing how to help widen our aims to target more environmental issues locally.”
Creating a LEADER youth community
Daniel Long from Ireland, who works with the Green Farmer Cooperative, explains what he sees as the benefits of his trip to Finland and how a structure like the LEADER Youth community might be beneficial.
"There was a lot of support by everyone at the YLF for some kind of an ambassador network, with the aim to keep people from different regions of Europe informed and to create an atmosphere where knowledge can be shared and passed on, helping to engage young people from our own local communities.
My follow-up work, inspired by the YLF, already started when I left Finland. I’ve been regularly in contact with other participants from Sweden, from Austria, and from Greece, to name a few. I am actively trying to set up a network between the people that showed interest.
The most useful aspect of the YLF was the opportunity to meet other people who are doing really interesting and cool stuff in other parts of Europe. It also provided an opportunity for us to grow our own networks across Europe and find commonality amongst ourselves.
I intend to use and apply what I learned from the Forum's two days as a basis to establish more connections across Europe and foster the seeds for a network that can be sustainable."
It needs to involve meeting maybe once or twice a year as ambassadors for our own country and our own projects, also to look for places where young people can get involved in LEADER and in its local development projects.
You can watch how the LEADER Youth Community grows and develops on the ELARD website and hear about the outcomes from the online party which kicked off the community on 2 September 2024 through “mingling, networking, and setting upcoming goals for the group”.
Encouraging Young LAG members
Lisa Rieder, a young LAG member from Austria, provides perspective on the event's impact for her.
"At our next LEADER board meeting, I will present all the exciting ideas that I got from the YLF. I hope this will help to create incentives to better integrate young people into the work of LEADER. Young people often bring new ideas and approaches that may seem unthinkable to the older generation. However, only new ideas can enable innovation and thus contribute to making our rural regions future-proof.
The most useful aspect of the YLF for me was the exchange of experiences with other young people from across Europe who are equally committed to LEADER. It was extremely valuable for me to learn about best-practice projects from other countries, which allowed me to bring new ideas back to our region. Additionally, I was able to establish many new international contacts, which are essential for interregional projects and transnational cooperation.
The motivation I gained in Finland will let me present the best-practice projects from other countries in our local LEADER region. I think that involving young people needs a long-term and permanent commitment by LEADER groups.
Young people and older people may not always agree during decision-making, but young people have equal rights and our views will eventually be taken on board. Our suggestions can help make the best use of the ‘latest new things’. This is why and how we can help in developing our communities through long-term funding support like LEADER to help us to help everyone.
I have already scheduled follow-up meetings with like-minded people from other countries, where we have exchanged ideas about innovative projects for rural areas. Additionally, we are planning an exchange trip with a group from Ireland to evaluate the pros and cons of different countries regarding agriculture, land sealing (the destruction or covering of the ground by an impermeable material), energy production, and digitalisation in rural areas, and possibly create new incentives for politics and our local decision-makers.
In my experience, people from rural areas often have different needs than those from urban regions. I find it very valuable that the EU-CAP Network, with the YLF and other initiatives, has provided a platform for young rural people to discuss the challenges of the future for rural regions. Personally, I want to use what I have learned to work on concrete projects such as decentralised innovation hubs and funding for small projects by young people. I am convinced that this is an effective way to introduce young people to LEADER at an early stage and motivate them to become the innovators and project leaders of the future."
Lars Goll from the Youth Parliament Simmern-Rheinböllen in Germany explains that he has also already begun discussing ideas from the YLF with his colleagues.
"There were many ideas about how to involve young people in decision-making in LEADER at the event. By implementing some of these ideas, we could become even better at this in Germany. Letting young people take part in decision-making allows their ideas to infiltrate local development. I have confidence that we can make my region more attractive for youngsters to stay or come back after their studies!”
We would like to thank Maria, Christina, Daniel, Lisa, and Lars for sharing their thoughts - which underline the enthusiasm, energy, and ambition that exist within rural Europe's younger generation. Send us your feedback on YLF if you were there and we'll aim to share your ideas with all our readers here at the EU CAP Network LEADER newsletter. We are sure everyone would be interested to hear more of what you thought about YLF, as well as what you think about a Young LEADER community.
