Youth Together for Arctic

Our mission:

The challenges faced by youth in the Arctic region are acute and multifaceted. Youth in the Arctic are disproportionately affected by climate change. Climate change negatively impacts Artic ice mass, biodiversity, indigenous way of living and the political and natural stability, overall threatening Arctic futures. 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 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 provides European decision makers with access to the Arctic youth experience. 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.

Youth Together for Arctic Futures  
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 the European Youth Parliament and partners and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

Events in 2024 
The Arctic Youth Dialogue 2024 (May 11th-15th 2024) 
This event, titled “The Power of Youth?!”, focused on youth involvement and empowerment within both the Arctic and Europe.

32 young leaders met to engage in discussions about shaping the future of the Arctic.

The dialogue included pre-conference activities from May 11-13, where participants developed policy recommendations on climate and biodiversity issues.

The activities continued with the EU-Arctic Forum and Indigenous Peoples’ Dialogue on May 14-15, hosted by the European Commission.

This included sessions with Arctic and EU policymakers, leading up to the formal Arctic Youth Dialogue on the afternoon of May 15, where the youth presented their policy recommendations to policymakers from both the EU and the Arctic