PARTISPACE Policy brief no. 3 Making Spaces for Youth Participation Accessible and Available

PARTISPACE analysed what participation means for young people in different social positions and life conditions. The findings suggest that an understanding of participation is needed that is broader and that recognises the diverse ways young people claim being a part of society. Participation implies exploring, appropriating and using public spaces in different ways.

This policy brief is concerned with the spaces of participation and the ways in which participation is connected to space. To a large extent, these issues are local in character.

The policy recommendations suggested here are first directed to politicians, administrators and youth workers at city level. However, they are also relevant to youth policy and policy makers concerned with urban development at national and European level. The aim of the recommendations is to facilitate and promote young people’s access to a diversity of spaces in which they can cope with their everyday lives and experiment with their identities, and where they are recognised as members of society.