Powerful youth cooperation
Photo: Julia Lapshina
The youth cooperation in the Barents region is developing and more succcessful than ever. The Barents Regional Youth Councils work have resulted in several amazing spin offs and the number of youth initiatives within the frames of the Barents Cooperation is increasing. Recently the Youth Council had their annual meeting in Luleå and a joint meeting with the two working groups of BEAC - the Working Group of Youth Policy ( WGYP) and the Regional Working Group of Youth Issues ( RWGYI)
The Barents Regional Youth Council (BRYC) consists of one representative from each region and one indigenous representative, altogether 14 young people. Its main purpose is to strengthen youth cooperation and to empower young people to actively participate in the shaping of the Barents region and the society they live in.
The board fro BRYC consist of one representative from each country and one indigenous representative. At the meeting Ksenia Kipurova from Arkhangelsk was elected as the new chair replacing Ylva Marie Pavval from Norrbotten that was re-elected to the board as Swedish representative. John Asle Somby from Finnmark in Norway was elected as deputy chair. The Finnish representative Risto Ukkonen from Lapland was elected. Halvard Runberg was elected to the board as the indigenous representative.
Each year BRYC arranges a youth event and they used the opportunity to plan the event for 2010 when they gathered in Luleå. The event will take place in Kirkenes in November and gather 100 youths from the region to highlight the good life in the high north through creative workshops and processes that will end up with a cultural Barents Menu from which the audience can make orders.
To make the region more attractive to young people we need to be aware of how we talk about our life in the north and stop focusing on all the challenges and problems, and raise attention to the importance of talking about the good life, the possibilities and the advantages in the high north.
Several other projects were discussed and many new initiatives are coming up with its base in BRYC. The largest one being the Reggae, Rock and Rights Tour worked out by Halvard Rundberg and Ylva Marie Pavval. The tour will enthuse youth for human rights through creative workshops. A pre-project has been conducted to examine the possibilities to arrange such a tour. They are now on a pilot tour and is currently finding methods on how to work with human rights on a suitable level in the different regions. The main tour will start in 2011 in Kirkenes in February during the Barents Spektakel. For more information visit www.barentstour.wordpress.com
The joint meeting with the working groups resulted in an agreement thet they will coordinate their work better and keep each other informed and support each other’s work.
The gathering in Luleå ended with a workshop with Jens Choong. This was arranged by BRYC to increase their knowledge on group processes and make them work even better together as a group.
