Youth participation in public life is a serious challenge in many countries, particularly given the imminent consequences of climate change on young people's everyday lives. While young people all over the world get mobilized for climate activism, their participation in decision-making pro-cesses is still rare. The simulation game focuses on the topic of resilience in times of climate change. By discussing the central question, "How to achieve strategic, inclusive, and resilient societies in the region in the face of climate change?" actors commonly develop Youth Action Plan for Re-silience (YAPR) in three main areas: Economic Participation, Education and Political Participation.
The negotiations are divided into two phases: while during phase one the participants aim to agree on a general preamble for each area, they dis-cuss actions and recommendations for the YAPR during phase two. Since a big part of negotiations takes place in committees, it is possible to have three working languages and integrate participants with diverse levels of preparation. From the findings inside the simulation game, valuable lessons can be drawn that provide an ideal basis for further concrete planning in reality.
Scenario & Procedure
The scenario takes place in the fictional region of Tara, which integrates three countries: Jayd, Bonia and Daraka. One third of the whole popula-tion of Tara are youth. According to the analysis “The Needs and Chal-lenges of Youth”, conducted by three youth-led organizations in Tara in cooperation with a regional think-tank, there is a high level of frustration among youth, arising from the widespread fear of ecological collapse and the climate crisis, combined with limited possibilities for economic, so-cial, and political participation and an impression of an opportunistic and clientelist ruling elite that is not actually caring about the ecology and the youth.
During the simulation game, the actors will discuss the new Youth Action Plan for Resilience (YAPR). The actors represent different sectors (policy-makers, business, civil society) and follow different interests regarding youth and climate policy. Thus, during the negotiation rounds they have to convince others, in order to gain their support and to make sure that the actors’ interests are reflected in the final document to the greatest possible extent.
Objectives
The overall goal is to gain a better understanding of the political dis-course surrounding youth participation in decision-making processes concerning the future of ecological and social issues. Participants will gain general knowledge about developing and negotiating an action plan to benefit youth, as well as the procedures for putting it into action. Par-ticipants become acquainted with the relevant state bodies as well as the interests, capacities, and challenges of civil society actors in this manner. As different actors from various sectors, the participants will learn how to identify common goals, reach the agreement (consensus, majority vote, etc.) and outline the results in a common resolution, embedding youth considerations in key governance areas, such as Economic Participation, Education and Political Participation.
Learning Goals
- Deeper understanding climate actions negotiations
- Overcome the prevailing mistrust between civil society actors and government/local authorities (increase mutual empathy between youth and youth-serving organizations, and policy makers)
- Increase capacity of designing and establishing a structured cross-sectoral dialogue, in which youth acts as a subject of cooperation
