UBC Commission on Youth Issues was finally established during the VII General Conference in Klaipėda, 18 October 2003.

 Youthful Cities Commission

The tasks of the Commission are to promote youth co-operation in the Baltic Sea Region and to work towards youth involvement, youth exchange and youth participation in the UBC member cities.

It should serve as a basis for UBC contact persons on youth issues.

The commission builds upon existing youth networks of local youth structures as well as upon one youth organisation as a contact point in each member city. The network co-operates closely together with the Baltic Sea Secretariat for Youth Affairs, which is to become a consultative body for the network, as well as with the UBC Secretariat.

The Commission consists of young people as well as civil servants and politicians dealing with youth issues on the local level. Existing youth networks of the Baltic Sea Region are taken into account. The Commission will monitor the agenda of UBC from a youth perspective.

Objectives

• Create a working group and a youth contact net within the Network on youth issues

• Lobby towards nomination of a youth contact officer in every UBC member city

• Co-operate with the Baltic Sea Secretariat for Youth affairs in getting an overview of the activities of the local organisations in UBC member cities

• Monitor the agenda and documents of the UBC from a Youth point of view

A UBC Youth Conference

The focus of the annual conferences is on questions important for young people of the Baltic Sea Region. It represents a forum for young people of the UBC member cities as well as other cities willing to join in, to exchange experiences, finding partners and discuss common issues such as youth participation, EU and Baltic Sea - cooperation and youth influence on local levels. The conference is organised with regard to the UBC General Conference as well as to other for addressing youth issues in the Baltic Sea Region.

Objectives

• Work towards a conference on local youth actions within UBC member cities.

UBC Executive Board

The young people of the Baltic Sea Region consider it of great importance that the UBC Executive Board gets in contact with young people of every city they meet in, with the aim to learn about the views and ideas of the young generation concerning the life in and the future of that very city. We call upon the UBC Executive Board and the UBC Secretariat to work towards the Youthful Cities Commission.

Objectives

• The Youthful Cities Commission should be active in finding ways and follow-ups for dialogue between the UBC Executive Board and young people in the region during the UBC meetings.

1997-2001
Between the years 1997 and 2001 there was a youth exchange going on between several Baltic cities namely Gdańsk/Sopot, Kaliningrad, Panevėžys, Rostock and Kalmar. Its origin was an initiative taken by the municipality of Kalmar, Kalmar Youth Council and the Regional council for Kalmar county. The exchange was named “YCSF – Youths Concerning a Sustainable Future”, and its focus was on youth and sustainability. As the exchange went on, the young people that participated, started to focus more and more on their real possibility to influence today society and the sustainability of the future.

The conclusion was that young people’s possibility to take active part in society must start on a very local level, and that there are processes needed to support and initiate youth participation in society. The new question that was raised was, is there any organisation in the Baltic Sea Region that are interested in hearing what youth around the Baltic has to say?

2002

• A Task force for youth participation was put together with representatives from different cities: Charlotte Gustafsson, Kalmar, Stefan Birkebjerk-Andersen, Kolding, and Magdalena Marchlewicz, Sopot. The Baltic Sea Secretariat for Youth affairs in Kiel was represented by Sandra Weidemann and Kieler Jugendring. Kalmar youth council was represented by Carl Bengtsson.

• The decision was made to arrange a Youth Conference, with young people and civil servants from all UBC member cities invited. Kalmar was to co-ordinate the conference. The conference was supported financial by the National Youth Board of Sweden, Nordiska ungdomskommittén, Baltic Sea Secretariat for Youth Affairs, Municipality of Kalmar, Regional council of Kalmar county and UBC.

2003

• Young Voices of the Baltic Sea Region conference held in Kalmar, Sweden on 15th- 18th of May 2003, hosted around 100 youngsters and civil servants dealing with youth issues from 8 countries and 34 cities in the countries around the Baltic Sea. The young participants were young people active at a local level: at schools, in youth councils, or in local NGO’s. In the framework of the UBC’s co-operation project with the Lake Victoria Regional Local Authority Cooperation (LVRLAC) in Africa, a further 7 young people from the countries bordering Lake Victoria also participated. More info at: http://www.ubc-youth.org/?page_id=11

2005

• Young and active in the Baltic Sea Region. In October 2005 the second youth conference took place in Vilnius, Lithuania. Almost 100 youngsters and civil servants/politicians participated. The conference contained of five different workshops: "Youth influence at school", "Youth influence at a city level", "Priorities in life", "Demographic changes" and "Intercultural learning". The conference was financially supported by the Union of Baltic Cities (UBC), the Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs, the Vilnius Pedagogical University, the city of Kalmar, the Kumulus project and the Baltic Sea Secretariat for Youth Affairs. More info at: http://www.ubc-youth.org/?page_id=20

2007

• Under The surface. In september 2007 the third UBC youth conference took place in Pärnu, Estonia with 100 young people, civil servants and politicians from all the ten UBC countries. The conference consisted of a mix of lectures, workshops and social activities. Participants had an opprtunity to "dive under the surface" and discuss issues such as tolerande and intercultural learning, power and youth influence, NGOs and learn more about the opportunities to go as an EVS-volunteer. The youth participants also had the opportunity to come up with ideas and apply for money for a micro-project. The conference took partly place in interaction with the UBC General Conference. More info at: http://www.ubc-youth.org/?page_id=23 

2009

• Bridges over the Sea. For the forth time young people and civil servants all over the Baltic Sea Region are getting together to discuss the past, present and most of all the future of the Baltic Sea Region. On 22nd - 25th of September 2009 the city of Kristiansand in South- Norway hosted the fourth UBC Youth Conference. Those days were full of different workshops on environment and lifestyle influence on it, economy, different cultures and beliefs, EU different possibilities for youth and many other topics concerning youth in Europe and in the Baltic Sea Region. More info at: http://www.ubc-youth.org/?page_id=25

2011

• Youth Seminar “Your Lifestyle. Your Choice for Happy Life in Our World” was the fifth time when young people and civil servants all over the Baltic Sea Region gathered in Liepaja. The seminar was held in Liepaja, Latvia 4th-7th of October 2011. Over 60 participants from 18 cities participated. Various workshops and also a lifestyle fair were held. The fair was organized together at the spot – participants were invited to bring examples of activities, initiatives, best practices, projects, facilities, etc from their local community!
  More info at: http://www.ubc-youth.org/?page_id=473  

Project "Different History - Common Future"

Starting from December 2006 until November 2009 there was one main project running: "Different History - Common Future" supported by Youth in Action Program. 4 cities participated: Kalmar (Sweden), Kolding (Denmark), Liepāja (Latvia) and Tallinn (Estonia). Also Baltic Sea Secretariat for Youth Affairs and UBC General Secretariat were partners. Here: http://www.ubc-youth.org/?page_id=27 you can find more information on main activities of the project. Project itself focused on 3 areas in youth work: supporting activities and co-operation among youth NGO' s for example; engaging youth through promotion of European Voluntary Service in area but also through Tolerance Trips and last but not least - creating new places and spaces for youngsters to meet (virtually but also in real life).

Project “Life, Media and Participation – Youth in Baltic Sea Region”.
Starting from September 2012 youngsters from Sweden, Denmark, Latvia and Estonia have been involved in organizing media campaigns in topics that are generated on their own and in matters that they want to be heard of in the field of local government. The project is supported by Youth in Action Program. There are 8 cities that are participating in the project: Tallinn, Kärdla, Pärnu (Estonia); Nykøbing, Kolding (Denmark); Gävle, Karlstad (Sweden) and Riga (Latvia). The main focus of this project was to exchange experiences among youth from different cities in Baltic Sea Region about their lifestyles and subcultures. To raise youth awareness about the democratic life of their region they are living in and also increase knowledge and skills of young people in how to start their own media campaign and make their voices heard.

• More information about this Commission at: www.ubc-youth.org