The Barents Regional Youth Council was established in 2004. It is one of the key actors in international youth cooperation in the Barents Euro-Arctic Region (BEAR).
The goal of the Council is to strengthen youth cooperation in the Barents Region and to expand the opportunities for young people to be active participants in the society in which they live.
The Council consists of 15 people. They are representatives of youth from 14 administrative-territorial formations of the Barents Region (from Russia – the Republic of Karelia, the Republic of Komi, the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, from Norway – the province of Nordland and the united provinces of Troms and Finnmark, from Sweden – provinces of Norrbotten and Västerbotten, from Finland – the provinces of Lapland, Kainuu, North Karelia and North Ostrobothnia) as well as one representative of youth of the indigenous peoples of the North-West of Russia, Norway, Finland and Sweden (Saami, Nenets, Veps).
Council members are selected by the regional administrations and must meet the following requirements: age from 18 to 30 years old, knowledge of English, knowledge of the problems of youth in their Region and to be interested in the development of international cooperation.
At the Council’s meetings held twice a year topical issues of youth cooperation in the Barents Region as well as an exchange of information on work with youth in the regions included in the Barents’ are discussed. Joint projects are planned.
The Council participates in the development and implementation of the Barents Regional Youth Program which has been running since 2002 and provides young people with the opportunity to realize their project ideas, to take an active part in the Barents cooperation and the development of the Barents Region.
Since 2011 a representative of the Barents Regional Youth Council has been participating as an observer in the activities of the Joint Working Group on Youth Affairs of the Barents Euro-Arctic Region operating under the auspices of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and the Barents Regional Council.
Since 2018 the Barents Regional Youth Council has been an official member of the Barents Regional Council.
Source: collection "30 years of state youth policy of the Russian Federation" (30 years of state youth policy of the Russian Federation / MIREA – Russian Technological University. – M., 2022. – 340 p.)
