The Finnish Youth Council, known in Finnish as Nuva, organised a #nuvatlakiin campaign this week to promote the voice of young people in consideration of social issues. Finland’s young agitators seek to safeguard the position and operational conditions of youth councils in the country with statutes to that effect in parliament. They say that decision-makers simply advertising that they are listening to young people isn’t enough - the powers-that-be must “say yes” to youth expertise and grant them genuine influence.
There is large variance in how young people are listened to and included in municipal decisions in Finland. Young activists in the city of Hämeenlinna arranged a flash mob dance line in front of the city hall to call attention to youth disenfranchisement in political decision-making. Hämeenlinna has an active group of what it calls “Young Influencers” in lieu of a youth council.
Young influence
Tuulos resident Johanna Pispa is a member of the Lammin-Tuulos district Young Influencers group.
“We want youth councils, youth forums and young influence groups to be a component of every city’s administration. This would not only prevent decisions made exclusively by the older generation, but also discourage adults from making decisions on behalf of young people. Young people can influence decisions while working among adults, but it is a different matter all together if young people can work among their peers. It would be the perfect launching board for presenting our cases to the adults.”
“In Lammi we built a hockey arena after a successful summit meeting and in Tuulos we secured a youth centre. We have been successful at arranging several things like this. I think the city of Hämeenlinna does an astonishingly good job listening to its young residents. In my experience, we have had quite a bit of influence,” says Pispa.
