Have Your Say!

Youth participation is not an end in itself, but a means of achieving positive changes in young people's lives and of building a better society, in recent years a growing number of initiatives promoting and strengthening youth involvement at different levels - international, regional, national and local - have emerged. New tools have been created for different actors working in this area. One such tool is the revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life, adopted in May 2003 by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, it is a tool to support young people, youth workers, youth organisations and local authorities in promoting and enhan¬cing meaningful youth participation at local and regional level across Europe. The manual "Have your say!" answers questions such as "What is real youth participation? What do I do with the charter? Why should I be interested in this document?" and is targeted at youth organisations and young people who want to have their say as well as at governmental representatives who want to increase active youth participation.