YOUTH CITY OF THE YEAR 2000 IN SWEDEN

Since 1996 the city of Kalmar has run a large-scale project with the aim to increase the input and influence of young people in the city. On the 23 November 2000 Kalmar received the distinguished award "Youth city of the year". Kalmar was nominated for its relentless efforts in taking heed of the opinions of the youth and for its engagement and experience in city development. Also commendable are the long-term youth projects.

The project "Kalmar in focus - the perspectives of children and youths" is about creating a new dimension within the youth policy based upon reports taken from the UN Child Convention and Agenda 21. The influence of youths, their experiences and perspectives are both important and needed by adults. The increased influence of youths has become an important focal point and a natural step in the development of the city. Decisions will be addressed from a child's and youth's perspective, children and youth's will be able to take part in the decision making process. An important part of this project has been creating channels and outlets to enable children and youth's to voice their opinions and questions concerning political agendas. Today we work with several different "reference groups" following up with yearly studies aimed at providing a detailed picture of children's and youth's opinions and perceptions of their city. We maintain that there aren't really any specific guidelines concerning the influence of children and youth within political agendas. As a result of this we are going to introduce youth perspective policy in all sections of the municipality organisation. We have drawn up a checklist that will be used in connection with decision-making within all sections of the municipality organisation and relevant political bodies. Trusts and companies in the municipality will help set up both the long term and short-term goals for the project and educate their staff in all aspects of the UN Child Convention. As a follow-up measure all aspects of the project will be included in the city annual report. A number of youth projects have been run over years. One of these examples is "The House" a youth centre which operates as a central body for arts, recreation investments and activities and is run by youths for youths. Kalmar is also involved in a project "Youth concerning a sustainable future".

In Sweden there is talk of democracy being in a state of crisis primarily due to a lack of party political interest amongst youth. The average age in committees and organisations is increasing and the number of youth actively voting, decreasing. I don't believe that the youth of today are less interested in politics than previous generations; I do however believe that the democratic structures have yet to be developed at the same pace as society. Many of today's youth seek other ways to voice their opinions, instead of traditional ways and as a result of this it is important to continue to develop "Kalmar in focus -the perspectives of children and youths".