The EU-Funded Youth Together for Arctic Futures project aims to empower Arctic and European youth to influence policy for a peaceful, sustainable and resilient Arctic and European future.
The challenges faced by youth in the Arctic region are acute and multifaceted. Youth in the Arctic are disproportionately affected by climate change. The Arctic is warming three times as fast as other regions of the earth. Climate change threatens Arctic ice mass, biodiversity and Arctic communities. Yet Arctic and Arctic Indigenous youth are underrepresented and underprioritized in the international decision-making process that shapes policy tackling these issues.
In response, the EU-funded Youth Together for Arctic Futures is a project that aims to bridge Arctic youth to their European peers. This initiative encourages youth to become active citizens, enhances cross-cultural understanding and connects policymakers directly with youth. By fostering collaboration and mutual learning between Arctic and European youth, the project aims to bridge gaps, exchange ideas, and collectively find solutions to common challenges. The project will allow Arctic youth better opportunities to influence their own futures and stimulate European youth to engage in this region of great importance for all of Europe.
In 2024 the European Youth Parliament, in collaboration with project partners, has launched a four-year mission with this project to provide Arctic and European youth with the necessary knowledge, skills, and opportunities to advocate for policy promoting a peaceful, sustainable and prosperous Arctic future.
Specifically, the project will involve bringing Arctic participants, including Indigenous youth, to EYP events to enhance our presence in the Arctic regions of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. It will also integrate Arctic themes into the EYP platform, promoting exchanges between EYP members and Arctic youth on global challenges that impact us differently across the continent.
The project is partially youth led, being directed by a representative Youth Board. The EYP is here represented by one member and one deputy member. The Youth Board oversees the project and participates in directing the activities and future direction of the project fostering leadership skills, project management experience and unique opportunities for youth within the project, overall furthering the objectives and aims of the EYP and project.
Youth Together for Arctic Futures is led by the WWF Global Arctic Programme (GAP), alongside Tromsø Municipality, the Saami Council, the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists, the Arctic Mayors’ Forum, the Arctic Youth Network, and us, the EYP, being the largest partner organization.
This project is funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the European Youth Parliament and partners and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
