ASAEL LEADS A SEMINAR ABOUT YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN THE EUROPEAN FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE.

On April 29^th, ASAEL held the Seminar “Youth Participation in Europe: fighting together against climate change”, in the Urban Environment room, la Calle Indiscreta, from 9am to 6pm.

The Aragonese Association of Local Authorities (ASAEL), through the project “eCLAU”, approved under the European Program “Youth in Action”, has realized a seminar about youth participation in EU Environmental policies, particularly in the fight against climate change through new technologies.

With the implementation of this conference and therefore with the project “eCLAU”, we want to bring closer young people to the European democratic system by promoting their participation in democratic processes particularly through ICT and the use of forums. Taking the advantage of the proximity of the European elections next June 7^th and the climate change as one of the most active fields for participation.

The President of ASAEL and the Director of the Aragonese Youth Institute started opening the conference.Subsequently, the head of EU Project Department of ASAEL did a presentation of the overview project “eCLAU”.

After it followed the first round table “Participation in Europe”, that was held with the participation of the Representative of the Environment Observatory, who described the experiences in the Spanish region of Aragon in the processes of public participation in environmental management programs. We also counted on this round table with a representative of the Danish Technological Institute, specialist in eParticipation who talked about eParticipation in Europe, its current status and potential future.

The second round table was focused on “Youth and Environment” and gave the floor to a representative of the Office of the European Commission in Madrid, who talked about the Youth Program and Policy Environment in the European Union. This table showed us a good approximation on participation in Environment thanks to the presence of a representative from the Zaragoza´s Locality, the youth association and the Shire of Sargantana Maestrazgo (Teruel) who told us their experiences in citizen participation.

The third round table took place in the afternoon with the title: “The new technologies as a tool for Environment’s participation”, with the participation of an European specialist who came from the Tuscany region in Italy who presented his experience through the European project Ideal-Eu. This table was completed with the experience of representatives of the Aragonese Institute of Youth and Education and a Collective of Environmental Education who exposed youth participation in climate change and some reflections on the use of ICTs.

The event was closed by the President of ASAEL and the Environmental Education of the Government of Aragon’s chief, where they expressed the need to carry out projects like this to encourage youth participation in the fight against climate change and issues related to the environment in general.

The conference had a great impact in the Aragonese media and press, and was disseminated by sending more than 1,400 invitations to organizations and groups such as municipalities, counties, youth associations and entities representing the Aragonese society.

Given to the level of the speakers, the extensive cooperation of the Aragonese institutions and the large group of participants who attended the event, we can ensure that the conference, part of the European project e-CLAU, has been a success.