Eurocities Espoo Conference '22
I was honoured to represent Manchester as one of the Future Mentors on the international stage in Espoo, Finland. The Eurocities network conference allowed young mentors to connect with each other and discuss their experiences.
Day 1
I signed into the conference and got the coveted badge with the itinerary and my name! I then had my first session with the rest of the Future Mentors from all over Europe. We began with introductions and then went into our passions for youth voice, as well as comparing the experience of young people in our respective cities. As part of the session, we had time to focus on our hopes and dreams, as well as look at the work we would be focusing on for the next couple of days. I decided to put myself forward for the panel happening on Day 2 to discuss young people and how they can become more involved in their cities.
We were then invited to the evening soirée and were able to connect with each other more. The event also included the mentees of the scheme, the politicians and officials. This was a good chance to network with others.
Day 2
The Conference continued with keynote speakers from high levels of the Finnish government, such as Tytti Tuppurainen, the Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering. It was good to hear of the need for young people to be involved in decision-making and events such as the Conference highlighted this.
After speaking to the Mentees (politicians) about the hopes and fears of young people, I sat on the panel with fellow Mentor José Mendes. The discussion was about how to integrate young people into cities and prove their opinions are valued. This was one of my favourite parts of the Conference because there was a lot of focus on the Mayors, so allowing us to feedback on the scheme was important and key to its purpose. In particular, I reinforced the need for tangible progress, as conversations with my Chemnitz delegate (Ludwig Sontag) had led to realisations that these Conferences were common, but the actions coming out of them not so much. The focus should always be on bettering the experience for young people, not merely discussing it and leaving it at that.
After a successful panel, the Mentors got started on the recommendations that would be presented to Dario Nardella, the President of the Eurocities Network. We were able to start discussions around what we held as important and what we wanted to be prioritised following the Conference.
In the evening, we had the gala dinner and Eurocities Awards Ceremony. The guests were treated to a three course meal and had the opportunity to view some impressive performances. One speaker who stood out to me was Jani Toivola, the first Black member of the Finnish Parliament - it was so interesting to hear of his journey.
Day 3
The final day! The group had discussed at length the kind of topics they were gravitating towards, so we spent hours drafting our statements and tweaking them. My favourite part about this process was the discussion; this was the first time we had the opportunity to have heated and opinionated discussions, due to difference of thinking on issues of youth voice. Whilst it was at times frustrating, I thoroughly enjoyed debating and reasoning with my fellow delegates, whom I admired for their ability to coherently defend their arguments. Ultimately, we did compromise on the recommendations to make a decision in the timeframe we had.
We needed people to present the recommendations during the General Assembly. Our group was keen to appear on stage together, as the Deputy Mayor of Vantaa had allowed us to. Ludwig as the coordinator for the discussions decided to present the conclusion, and I offered to assist with the recommendations part. Our recommendations were previously modified, so I decided to read out the original six key recommendations that the group had come up with. I believe that this was a powerful statement: young people deserve to present their original work without it being tweaked to suit adults. The image of us all on stage was definitely noticed by the audience and helped to solidify the presence of the Mentors.
The Conference was a fantastic opportunity to present our findings with how youth voice should progress in our respective cities. Now, it is time to see how we as Mentors can shape this and begin enacting positive changes for our cities.
To view the recommendations put forward by the Mentors, visit the link.
*Special thank you to Manchester City Council and Ruth for their support in ensuring the Scheme could continue in its current form
*Special thank you to Leo, who shot most of the professional photos, all rights reserved 
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