A pan-European youth seminar hears that young people's input and involvement is central to the health of communities.
If anything good came out of the civil unrest and racial conflict that flared up in Oldham, Burnley and Bradford over the summer of 2001, it was an acknowledgement that things had to change. Crucially, young people had a part to play in the healing process - as John Denham, Minister for Youth, was quick to point out: “If young people find ways of meeting together, working together and enjoying themselves and tackling problems together then they will grow up in towns and cities together."
This recognition that young people should have a greater say in their identity and in politically shaping their communities was at the heart of the Community Cohesion Seminar held in Smith Square on 28 November.
In the wake of the riots last year, the Children and Young Person’s Unit approached Peacemaker, an Oldham based community organisation which had been working with young people from different backgrounds to break down cultural and racial barriers.
The resulting video, Colour Blind, formed the basis of the seminar for wider discussion between youth delegates from Europe, as well as politicians, in a series of workshops on community inclusion and the role young people have in the political process. The video featured people from seven towns and cities talking about their sense of national identity, and will be produced as a training pack for teachers and youth workers.
Raja Miah, co-ordinator for Peacemaker, was quick to recognise that cultural interaction is vital to community strength. “Interestingly enough, in areas of conflict in our country where there is the risk of clash between communities and also where communities live and grow in isolation, that interaction doesn’t take place,” he said.
“It seemed natural to use a positive example out of a town where the riots had taken place. We can go into Oxford and get a couple of graduates to do it but it just wouldn’t be as real.”
This need for reality and practical outcomes in individual communities was echoed by the young delegates at the conference. Germany’s Marco Fitzal, 16, commented: “One instance was participation in the Youth Forum in Berlin which ended up just being a discussion. We talked about a lot of things, but at the end of the day nothing was changed.”
This Conference was a shared gathering of information, experience and opinion, endorsed by Jetze Van Der Ham, 23, from the Netherlands. “The best way to do that is to have young people talk to other young people, to have peer education,” he said.
It was also a wake up call for action. There was a determination among the youth delegates that follow up opportunities should not be lost, whether that should be training workshops related to the Colour Blind video, representation at National Youth Council and Ministry level, or promotional material in youth magazines
Sue Lewis, Deputy Director of the CYPU, talked of the need for following through, while Jitinder Kohli, head of the Government’s Community Cohesion Unit, recognised the need for positive action. “There is a lot of listening going on,” he said, “but is there any evidence that we change our behaviour as a result of that? That’s what we’ve got to prove, otherwise we lose our credibility.”
‘I would like to seem more power given to young people’
Thoughts from the Community Cohesion Seminar
Marco Fitzal, 16, Germany
"Young people should have more opportunity to learn and be prepared for adulthood in that they learn about the system or the community that they’re going into. When I go home to Germany I hope, like all those going back to their countries, that we roll out the ideas we have been raising here and try to put them into practice. This might start a larger movement in order to improve things like services for young people.
"We’ve had some successes. For example, there was an old football stadium back home that we managed to get renovated. It’s now a place where young people meet and play football. If nothing is changed, if nothing is put into practice, it is really a waste of time."
Daire Hickey,16, Union of Secondary Students, Ireland
"People become very apathetic in society, and we have to change that at a young age by preparing young people to learn to make choices.
Leah Nolan,19, Oldham
"The conference has helped us to learn more about other countries, what they have in place for citizenship programmes, and their attitude towards identity. The Peacemaker project has got a lot to offer other cities and towns. We were involved in the Inter Community Project which teams members of one ethnic community with another.
"Things have settled down from the racial conflict last year in Oldham. It’s changed on the surface, but I think we’ve still to do a lot more to do, to be more interactively involved. I do feel that it’s important for young people to be aware of the political structure that’s going on around them. The main problem is the barrier between young people and the government, those who can influence whether action is taken, or whether it is just hearsay."
Zaida Catalan, 22, Swedish Green Youth Party
"I’ve always thought it important to care about the planet. I see a world not caring and want to do something about it. I would like to see more power given to young people, real powers, political powers, for example by lowering the voting age to 16. We should have more of a grassroots democracy that gives each person a real chance to have real power in society.
"Direct democracy is everybody having equal tools. If you feel you can make a difference, you will take responsibility for your society because you feel you can create something. You have to start at the base.
About the teamThis story was produced by Louise Hardy, 16, Jasmine Stewart, 15, and Sabrina Golding, 15. It was published in The Independent as part of their Youth Matters supplement, produced in association with the Children and Young People's Unit.
