METROPOLIS Youth is the Association’s action programme which looks to the future in order to tackle the issues that affect people’s lives in the world’s major cities. Led by the city of Mashhad, METROPOLIS Youth brings together representatives of the new generations that make a difference to their cities, and connects them at a worldwide level.

METROPOLIS Youth has the following aims, amongst others: to examine the different participation models for young people set up by the member cities; to give visibility to good practices; to contribute to the debate on intervention in urban matters, and to empower them as future leaders of the major metropolises.

During the first part of the session, Hossein Kashiri, leader of METROPOLIS Youth, gave a presentation on the work carried out in his city, Mashhad, in order to involve young people in urban management, in which he set out the contents of the workshop entitled ‘Youth Commitment to Social Development’ carried out in April 2015 as part of the programmes of  METROPOLIS Training.

he second part of the workshop was organized as a round-table discussion, in which the participants were able to set out, in a very personal manner, their experience with various kinds of youth participation in the governance of major cities. Amongst the cases debated, the participants discussed programmes launched by the local authorities (such as Berlin, Buenos Aires, and Mashhad) for them to develop their professional careers in local government. Other significant issues discussed in the conversations were the growing participation of the representatives of the new generations in metropolitan legislative bodies, and the importance of listening to their voices through initiatives that combine perspectives on the future of cities with sport, artistic expression, and sustainability (experiences carried out, for example, in Medellin and Buenos Aires).

This workshop offered a dynamic space for the exchange of experiences from different metropolises around the world with the participation of young people in urban management. There were short videos, round-table discussions, and a question and answer session. It was aimed at young people with an impact on the transformation of their city, and at persons who maintain a recognized dialogue with local authorities. Within this framework, the profile of the participants was technical, political, and administrative.