Your opinion matters!
Children and young people can influence many issues that affect them, such as services, learning environments, and activities.
You have the opportunity to participate in decision-making and share what feels good or what needs to be changed. When you participate, you learn to plan, develop, and evaluate matters concerning the city of Jyväskylä together with others and to bring about change. At the same time, you get to experience being heard and valued as part of the community.
This is how it works in practice
- Even in early childhood education, children get to make their own early childhood education plan, or VASU. Experiences from the daycare days are recorded in the VASU in words, drawings, or even pictures.
- At the age of 6–7, children also get to come up with ideas and plan their learning environment and the activities at their daycare or school.
- The ways in which they can influence things expand as they grow older and develop, but there are always ways to express their opinions!
Student council activities in schools
Student council activities in schools provide an important channel for participation among primary and secondary school pupils. Other forms of activity, such as peer support and mentoring, voluntary work, and separate sustainable development activities, complement this. At the same time, cooperation and interaction are strengthened throughout the school community. The representative bodies for children and young people in Jyväskylä are the Children's Parliament and the Youth Council.
Children's Parliament
The Children's Parliament is a channel for primary school children to participate and influence, and it is part of the participation education provided by Jyväskylä's schools and youth services. The work done by student councils in schools forms the basis for the work done in the Children's Parliament. Every primary school pupil has the opportunity to stand as a candidate to represent their school.
The purpose of the Children's Parliament is to give children the means to influence decisions that affect them and to make their voices heard more clearly. The Children's Parliament aims to increase children's opportunities to influence matters in their own local environment and to encourage civic engagement.
Youth Council
The Jyväskylä Youth Council, more commonly known as Nuva, is a channel for 13-20-year-olds in Jyväskylä to influence decision-making. Representatives are elected to the Youth Council from Jyväskylä's upper secondary schools, vocational schools, and youth centers. Other interested young people also have the opportunity to get involved by registering as candidates and participating in the autumn summit.
The City of Jyväskylä's Youth Services is responsible for the activities of the Youth Council.