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Today, citizens do not feel voiced and represented by their respective democratic institutions. This also applies to youth which is often worse off because of the common feeling of not being heard or wanted by democratic governments.

The IYTT Speak Up Youth Summer Camp project, funded by the Interreg North Sea, aim to address both issues by voicing citizens and empowering youth. The IYTT fellows together with local youth, engage with citizens all over Europe through well-defined methods such as the Open Chair Democracy Talk. Following citizen engagement, both the fellows and the local youth transform the information gathered into tangible policy proposals and solutions to pitch to local policy makers. Such proposals would aim at changing the city the summer camp is held in.  

In a context of widespread political disengagement, the camp activities symbolize how valuable dialogue is for openness and democracy. For youth, the camp would serve as a democratic training, and possibly trigger a snowball effect that will increase democratic engagement in their communities. Moreover, considering the very local nature of the project, the camps also represent a unique opportunity for cities to rely on the IYTT global drive to engage local youth and citizens thus reducing the gap between them and policy makers/democratic institutions.

https://www.interregnorthsea.eu/speak-up/news/speak-up-collaborations-iytt-summer-camps-in-malmo-and-oldenburg