Quality charter on participatory and inclusive local youth councils

An assessment tool providing concrete indicators to help local youth council members and municipality officers build, reform, or relaunch councils that are more participatory, inclusive, and impactful, including a practical companion manual that explains how to use it.

Developed by the DYPALL Network, this Quality Charter acts as a formal framework for evaluating youth engagement practices at the local level. The assessment process is structured around three core Areas of Assessment:

1. Fair youth participation: Focuses on representativeness, inclusiveness, and transparency.

2. Meaningful and impactful youth participation: Addresses capacity building, advisory/advocacy protocols, and checks and balances.

3. Sustainable youth participation: Evaluates continuous improvement systems, resources, and long-term strategic plans.

Each area includes three specific criteria (nine total), which are further broken down into measurable indicators to be rated on a scale from "Not at all"" to "Fully."

This guide, developed under the LYCIS project (Local Youth Councils at International Scale), provides a step-by-step methodology for applying the Quality Charter's indicators. It outlines the two primary use cases: assessing an already existing council or evaluating the conditions to establish a new one. The guide details a 6-step process for stakeholders to move from initial assessment to the creation of a concrete action plan.

Source: DYPALL Network
Language: English

Author: Joaquim Castro de Freitas, Bruno António, Carolina Loureiro, Marija Krstevska Taseva

Year of publication: 2023