The first Youth Local Review: youth and sustainability in the Metropolitan City of Florence

Promoting the active participation of young people through the Youth Local Review (YLR) allows them to become main dirvers in the process of 2030 Agenda localisation by gathering their opinions and aspirations concerning the sustainability of territories. The YLR is therefore a Voluntary Local Review (VLR) entirely focused on young people. The Local Development Unit was entrusted with carrying out the first YLR and at the same time with drafting the guidelines for VLRs for the Italian context within the project “Local authorities and young people for the drafting of Voluntary Local Reviews in Italy”, financed through the call for initiatives supporting the implementation of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development – Vector “Culture of Sustainability” by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security.

The Youth Local Review in practice

The Youth Local Review (YLR) is a document and process specifically focused on the perspective of young citizens aged 14 to 24 in a given territory. In the framework of the project, an experimentation of the YLR process will be carried out through a pilot document in the Metropolitan City of Florence. This document will be the result of an ongoing exchange with other metropolitan cities and regions in order to share the methodology and tools used for the involvement and active listening of young people.

The Metropolitan City of Florence pilot YLR

The YLR process will involve young people through local groups, the youth working group of the Forum for Sustainable Development and a group of young people from the area selected to accompany and personally conduct the research activities.  In fact, a group of young people will be formed to personally conduct the research activities, starting with the interpretation of the sustainable development dimensions, the design and validation of data collection methods, the selection and discussion of indicators and statistical data, the conducting of interviews with key figures in the area to gather further qualitative information and the implementation of participatory meetings.

Online involvement will take place through questionnaires disseminated through various channels and a social campaign inviting young people to share what they consider important for their territory, while innovative gamification tools such as role-playing games, edu-larp, discussion games, word cafés and hackathons will be used to involve young people in presence.

The final document will be drafted on the basis of the information gathered and will contain more information on the tools used and the lessons learnt during the process. The official presentation of the YLR will take place during the High-Level Political Forum in 2024.

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