Mock Senedd Event 20th October
On the 20th October, Cymru Global and Scouts Cymru put on their second Mock Senedd event. The theme for the day was “How to include youth voice in democracy and decision making” and it was picked by the members of scouts and cadets who attended. The day took place at the Senedd and many members of the Welsh Assembly stopped in to speak to our young people and hear more about what they thought of decision making in Wales.
The programme for the day started with members of Scouts, Cadets and schools in Wales coming together to represent different “constituencies”. They each had the task before the day started of finding out what their constituency did well in terms of youth voice, where the gaps were and the challenge of considering how we improve matters. This research contributed to their opening speeches, where we found out about the “big picture” of youth in Wales.
Key themes that came out in opening speeches were: poverty both in terms of digital access and transport to where decision making is happening. Many young people described the inclusion of their voices as “tokenistic”, with them being asked opinions but ideas not being acted on. Other ideas centred around how to improve young people’s engagement with democracy including education for decision making and how to use your vote to tackle issues that matter to you. As one young person said
“Helping young people to understand that to debate isn’t war. It’s working together to find solutions.” (young person, Y Pant School)
After opening speeches, we invited our delegates to come together to form resolutions to improve some of the obstacles they identified. To ensure their resolutions would pass the vote, it was essential they worked together to gather co-sponsorships and inter-constituency agreement. Among some of the suggestions put forward, we saw youth forums and better communication suggestions including online platforms like “you say, we do” , in which assembly members are able to show what young people are asking for and showing what they are doing to action it.
At lunchtime, it was a key opportunity for young people to speak to members of the Senedd who were passing through the main hall and for final negotiations to bleed into real conversations about what we can do to improve youth voice in Wales.
“It makes me appreciate that speaking up really inspires accountability for us to speak up more. It also means that decision makers must also be accountable about how they engage with the world.” (Scouts youth lead)
Final votes revealed agreements on more accessible youth platforms including digital responses, better links between schools and youth groups and more opportunities for those who typically feel excluded from democracy having better opportunities for engagement. This is an area of work we want to take forward into policy and projects in the future.
“I really enjoy these events and they’re such a great opportunity for our young people. The relationship between Cymru Global and Scouts is one I anticipate lasting long into the future” Kerrie Gemmell, Scouts Cymru
“The Scouts event is always one I get so much out of. You watch young people go from being nervous to being excited and empowered by the end of the day. You get to see them tell people what they want and realise they’re entitled to do that. We all need to see more people in our societies being listened to.” Amber Demetrius, Cymru Global
If you would like to engage your young people with more events like these, get in touch with us at Contact Cymru Global – Cymru Global
