Live reporting from the EU Youth Conf in Riga.

At the EU Youth Conference in Riga (Latvia), young representatives and policy-makers from all over Europe are joining forces for 3 days from March 24th to March 26th. They sit together to discuss youth empowerment for youth political participation.

The Youth Forum is present in Riga and will be live reporting from the EU Youth Conference to update you on the latest development!

Thursday 26 March

11 am: Closing session

Different speakers adress the delegates for the closing session of this second EU Youth Conference of the IV cycle of the structured dialogue.

Ms Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Latvian Parliament

Ms Silvia Costa, Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education, European Parliament

Mr Jens Nymand-Christensen, Deputy Director - General, DG Education and Culture, European Commission

Ms Johanna Nyman, President of the European Youth Forum

9.30 am : Presentation of the Joint Conclusions and next step

The final Joint Conclusions are now presented to the delegates. The EU Youth Conference produced 14 recommendations which are accessible below.

Sanda Bruna from the Minister of Education and Science and Deputy Director of Youth Affairs in Latvia

Sanda Bruna from the Minister of Education and Science and Deputy Director of Youth Affairs in Latvia, looks forward to the High Level debate that will take place on 18th May following the issues that were brought up at the EU Youth Conference.

The Youth Forum would like to thank to the Latvian Presidency for hosting the EU Youth Conference!

Tristan Reilly is representing the French Ministry of Youth affairs at the EU Youth Conference

Tristan Reilly is representing the French Ministry of Youth Affairs for the first time at the EU Youth Conference in Riga. He explains his thoughts and is excited to see the outcomes of the youth conference.

Ingrid, from EDS, attends to her first EU Youth Conference

The Youth Forum met with Ingrid Hopp, delegate representing the European Democrat Students. Ingrid is attending to her first EU Youth Conference in Riga

Wednesday 25 March

Hear from Delegates and Representatives on their take of the #youthconf in Riga.

4 pm: last session of workshops

This is the last session of workshops that the delegates are attending now. Taking into account the feedbacks of everyone, these workshops will produce the final documents which will be used by our editing team to write the Joint Recommendations which will be presented tomorrow at the closing of the EU Youth Conference.

2.30 pm: Agora opinion

The delegates are invited to comment on each other workshops and to give quality feedbacks to the other groups. This is the chance for all the delegates to be able to see and discuss the work from the other workshops!

A movie on the structured dialogue

Emmanuel Jesper and his crew are recording 10 movies about Erasmus+ for the European Commission. One of them will focus on the Structured Dialogue. The Youth Forum met them at the EU Youth Conference in Riga.

*The movies will be released in the summer 2015

9.30am: Let the workshops begin!

Today, youth delegates sit together with policy makers to discuss youth empowerment for political participation. Today, the delegates will be drafting their recommendations.

Tuesday 24 March

2.30 pm: an afternoon of workshops and the real discussion begins!

Youth delegates and Policy makers split into different workshops to discuss specific topics related to political participation:
- Creating a culture of participation at school
- Involving young people in political decision-making
- Enhancing policy makers' engagement and commitment with young people
- Strenghtening the role of youth work for political empowerment of all young people
- Developing youth friendly tools for political participation
-Developing direct and local democracy
- Increasing synergies and cooperation between different actors.

Thanks to all facilitators for making these workshops possible and to all delegates for these fruitful discussions. Looking forward to new debates tomorrow!

11 am: Introduction session about the EU Youth Conference objectives and processes
The delegates are introduced the different workshops and the importance of the EU Youth Conference within the Structured Dialogue.

9.30 am: Official opening

The EU Youth Conf starts now in Riga with:
Marite Seile, Latvian Ministers for Education and Science
Rihards Kols, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister of Latvia
Antonio Silva Mendes, Director for Youth and Sport, DG Education and Culture, European Commission.
Emils Anskens, President of the Latvian National Youth Council
Johanna Nyman, President of the European Youth Forum

Johanna Nyman opening the EU Youth Conference: "Political participation is not a luxury, this is a basic right"