Empowering Teen Voices in Local Decisions

forthcoming

ParticipaTEEN tackles the widespread challenge of low participation of teenagers (14–18) in local democratic life - a transitional age group often overlooked by children and youth initiatives, and lacking accessible, inclusive, and teen-sensitive participation opportunities. Bringing together a transnational partnership from Újbuda, Hungary and Timisoara, Romania, the project ’s goal is to co-create effective, inclusive, systemic and sustainable mechanisms with teenagers that empower them to take an active role in shaping their communities, while also addressing gender-specific barriers to participation. By combining formal and informal engagement methods with built-in feedback mechanisms and integrating them into the local municipal structures, the project aims to ensure a meaningful and lasting teen participation scenario. ParticipaTEEN will achieve its goal through co-designing and co-testing teen consultation mechanisms, teen participatory tools, such as teen placemaking and participatory budgeting, with offline and online access and co-developing integration pathways to embed teenagers’ input into local governance. The project will also aim for creating an enabling environment for teen participation through awareness-raising and capacity building of both teenagers and key stakeholders, with a spotlight on shifting the mindset of municipality staff for a meaningful collaboration and a strong emphasis on promoting gender equality, safety, and inclusivity. As a result, the project strengthens democratic engagement among young people and enhances democratic and inclusive local governance in Újbuda and Timisoara. It also delivers sustainable, adaptable, and transferable models of teen participation, to be disseminated across Europe, to inspire and support other municipalities in strengthening teen engagement in local governance and fostering inclusive democratic practices.