Dr. Melanie SULLY, professor of Political Science and Director of Go-Governance Institute – Vienna, is building a book on the highly successful conference 2015 held in Yerevan, Armenia, based on the theme of Good Governance and Participation, one prerequisite for future participation being youth engagement. The book will be published with the help of the Austrian Foreign Ministry and the City of Vienna.

The contributions on youth topic, of different countries and regions, presented in this book, deal with best practices or case studies, and the themes cover:

• civic participation by young people, in NGOs, civil society;
• the role of social media / e-governance in reaching out to young people
• young people in parliaments, governments, local and regional politics, Europe;
• engagement or otherwise in elections, referenda;
• youth initiatives in cultural projects with civic message, publications, projects;
• learning from the past and youth experiences in summer schools, events, etc.

For several years, AER has developed a traditionally fruitfully cooperation with the Go-Governance Institute, so its involvement in this book project seems very natural.

Based on the political report, lead by Lilla Merabet, Vice-President of Alsace region (FR) and Chairwoman of the AER Sub-Committee on Youth, with the help of the following regions and associations: Alsace, Alba, Donetsk, Fribourg, Nordland, Sankt Gallen, Vojvodina, Vasternorrland, Dolnoslakie, ALDA and Congress of the Council of Europe, AER contribution focused on good and interesting practices from its members, illustrating the benefits of an increased involvement of young people in democratic life. The purpose was to underline the fact that integrating the youth from our regions into decision-making process must be a priority, which will certainly benefit to political leaders in orienting their positions towards the needs of the concerned citizens.

The book will be promoted at events, on Facebook and editors’ – contributors’ Homepages, free copies being available for AER and its members after its issue.