EUSALP YC meets YPAC in Kamnik
News
Last week, the members of the EUSALP Youth Council went to Slovenia as part of a meeting between the different projects that allow the participation of young people from the Alpine region at the macro-regional level. This meeting was particularly longer than the other meetings of the EUSALP Youth Council as it aligned its agenda with that of the YPAC 2024 (Youth Parliement of the Alpine Convention) which took place in the Kamnik high school, about 20 kilometers from Ljubljana. We started on Tuesday, March 12 and ended on Friday, March 15. Here is a little overview of this event.
Tuesday March 12th: YPAC opening ceremony
We were invited to the opening ceremony of the YPAC 2024. The YPAC is the parliament of young people from the Alpine convention. It brings together high schools from all the countries of the Alpine space and aims to introduce young students to political methods through a parliament simulation. In this simulation exercise, the young delegates must write postulates that will be debated in a general assembly. At the end of the YPAC, the postulates are transmitted to the Alpine convention which tries to integrate them into its activities.
This opening ceremony welcomed a guest of honor in the person of the president of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar. Her speech helped to open this week with a strong message and totally aligned with the themes of the YPAC and the EUSALP youth council. She reminded that there is no planet B and that we must absolutely act collectively to preserve our environment. The delegation of young members of the EUSALP youth council was therefore ready to work for the next 3 days on the theme of water management as well as on the industrial and economic transition of the Alpine regions.
Wednesday March 13th: Fied visit near Kamnik
We started the day in the classroom to introduce the subject of our field visit through a more theoretical approach. The theme of this day was water management in relation to the natural risk it represents for local populations.
Slovenia, like many alpine valleys, has been hit by torrential rains that have destroyed public infrastructure. The state and municipalities must respond to these natural disasters by consolidating the banks of streams and modifying the urban planning of the Alpine valleys. Within EUSALP, it is Action Group 8 that works on the themes of risk management. We had a presentation of their work and concrete examples of actions they support. Then an expert in stream management talked to us about methods of preventing risks associated with torrential rains. Once some theoretical basics were acquired, we were able to go out into the field and see for ourselves the effects of climate change in the Alps. The visit began in the middle of a construction site that was consolidating the banks of a river to prevent sediment from being carried away in the water and creating mud and debris torrents... Then we went upstream of the valley to a farm to discuss with the farmer his experience with the recent rains. He explained to us how the mountain had weakened over the years due to natural disasters but also because of human activities. This field visit was very useful to illustrate the topics we discussed throughout this week.
To end the day, we worked together on ideas for proposals to better involve populations, especially young people, in water management. Among the proposed solutions, we had the development of field visits for young people, better communication about water resources with, for example, a film festival. Or even an idea of a revolutionary system that would block the large debris carried away by torrential rains.
Thursday March 14th: YPAC General Assembly
When the young delegates of the YPAC worked in different committees on their postulates that respond to the themes, they meet in a general assembly and debate the proposals. This year the YPAC general assembly was held within the Slovenian parliament. We were invited as an observer member.
But before going to observe the exchanges of the YPAC we had the chance to discover the premises of the Slovenian government's Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. We began by listening to the presentation of how the ministry works and asking questions about the tasks of the diplomats who work there. Slovenia is very involved in European policies thanks to its geographical location at the heart of 3 macro-regional strategies. Its vision and experience is very rich because it feeds from these 3 macro-regions.
Then we prepared the group work time for Friday morning in order to have some material for discussion for the next morning. Always on this topic of water resource management. How to involve young people? What public policies should be put in place to meet the challenge of climate change?
In the afternoon we therefore attended the discussions of the YPAC. The main theme of this year for the YPAC was protected natural areas. In a cross-cutting manner, they also addressed quality of life and the circular economy. You will find all the productions and information from this year on this link below.
Once the working day was over, a more festive event was organized in a bowling alley on the outskirts of Ljubljana. We presented the Pitch Your Project competition to the members of the YPAC and we also had the pleasure of being able to count on the presence of the former winners of the competition who are native to Slovenia with the Trash to Treasure project. Pizzas, friends, and strikes summarize the evening.
Friday March 15th: Workshop with YPAC and CYC members
The last day of the busy program of this event provided for a brainstorming workshop that brought together members of the 3 youth participation devices. 3 questions were asked to the group and then each group had to report back to the other groups. Despite the fatigue, the participants were able to exchange and the shared results were really interesting.
In the afternoon, representatives of the EUSALP youth council as well as a member of the CIPRA youth council visited the town of Kamnik from the perspective of the industrial transition of this region. Indeed, Kamnik had many industries. We also had a guided tour of the city museum, which is located in an old castle. We learned that Kamnik is known for its textile, food, and furniture-making industries for houses all around the world.
Below are a few examples in pictures:
We would like to thank the Slovenian presidency of EUSALP for organizing this week, the Kamnik Rudolfa Maistra high school for the welcome, all the young participants who made themselves available to come and participate in this event, the alpine regions that financially support the participation of their young people in the activities of EUSALP, and the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region for its financial support for the organization of the festive evening.
This event was organized by the Slovenian presidency of EUSALP within the framework of the European Alpine Space project "Support EUSALP".
