Council encourages youth participation

St Paul's Bay local council set up a Youth Local Council in November last year for the benefit of the youth in our community and I recently had the first opportunity as youth mayor to join the Maltese youth contingent that attended an EU-funded conference regarding EU youth-related projects, which was held in Cologne, Germany.

The event gave us the opportunity to share and exchange ideas with youth from other countries and entities on ways in which we can participate in society to find new solutions for problems that affect us all.

There were a series of workshops on different themes such as EU policy on education and youth participation in society.

We shared ways in which youth can give a positive contribution by involving themselves at both a local and international level.

The event included a fair where participants put up stands presenting projects and made new friends, which is very important as it facilitates communication and exchanges between youth.

My local council has given me the opportunity to share this experience and I encourage other local councils to follow suite.