Impact

The Youth Session promotes the participation of young people

"The Youth Session is an opportunity to experience and get inside politics, to negotiate, and to work out proposals. The project is not only educational, but also motivating and allows to remind institutionalized politics of certain things." (Lisa Mazzone, Member of the National Council, Green Party)

 "Listening to young people is not youth mania, it does not mean saying "Hello young people, I like you". No, it means taking them seriously, listening to them, contradicting them when you disagree, and establishing a dialogue with them. That is the important thing. I think young people are looking for values and friendship or even solidarity or comradeship. These are very important values in a society." (Former Member of the Federal Council Ruth Dreifuss)

"I have always said to myself that young people are the society of tomorrow, but one should rather say that young people are the society of today and we should give our opinion today on the issues that concern us or our future. The world we are building now is the world we will live in 20-30 years time. It is not those who are at the end of the cycle who will help us." (Participant of the Youth Session 2016)

 

The Youth Session promotes non-formal education of young people and a simple access to politics and commitment.

"I think it is very important for us to represent our opinion. To be heard, because we also have an opinion. I think it's mostly about knowing how to make our voices heard in everyday life so that our opinions are taken into consideration. Young people often don't necessarily know how our political system works and how to contribute, except in a vote. "
(Participant of the Youth Session 2016)

 "I believe that the Youth Session should motivate people to commit theirselves to something in particular. And that doesn't necessarily mean you have to be in a party, you can sign up for this event purely out of interest. Mostly, motivating young people to talk about something is not that difficult. But giving them the feeling that they have a voice, for example by having members of the national council visit us and talk to us, willing to realise our ideas, is something quite different."
(Participant of the Youth Session 2016)

The Youth Session enables young people to acquire and pass on important skills

"I think it's important that the Youth Session is organised by young people, and that's exactly what we do in the OC and the Forum. Before the Youth Session, we organise and write the dossiers, for example, during the session we accompany the participants and after the session we make their work known on the political stage." (Katharina Genucchi, Former Co-President OC Youth Session)