4 July: An online poll was launched today which will give young people across Scotland the chance to determine which global issue Scotland should take action on. The poll is an advanced part of the process for a Youth Politics event at this year’s Festival of Politics and will lead to guaranteed action at the Scottish Parliament based on the outcomes of the event.
The entire process is youth-led, beginning with young people involved at the CIVICUS Youth Assembly in mid-June, taking in the online poll and eventually finalised at the one-day event taking place on Saturday 23rd August.
The poll is hosted at www.syp.org.uk, www.sccyp.org.uk and www.youngscot.org with all results combined to give the Youth Politics Festival its shortlist of 4 topics. The poll will be live from 4 - 14 July.
The Youth Politics Festival: Think Global; Speak Local (Saturday 23 August 10:30-16:00) will be a dual-campus event, hosted concurrently in Carnegie College in Dunfermline and in the Scottish Parliament, joined together by video-link technology. To register an interest in attending the event, young people should contact info@carnegiefestival.com.
The poll and the event are strongly supported by the Scottish Parliament’s Presiding Officer, Alex Fergusson MSP. Speaking on Friday as the poll went live, the Presiding Officer said: “This is an exciting opportunity for young people to put the issues that matter to them to the top of the political agenda. Festivals are about new ideas and new experiences and I would encourage as many young people as possible to log on and join in the debate.”
Charlie McConnell, CEO Carnegie UK Trust said:“Helping to give young a voice has been at the heart of much of our work over the past decade through the Carnegie Young People Initiative and the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust’s local grant programmes. We have had longstanding links with Young Scot, YouthLink and the Scottish Youth Parliament and are delighted to be working in partnership with them to deliver the 2008 Youth Politics Festival . We encourage all young Scots to join in the debate."
The Youth Festival is a joint project between the Festival of Politics, the Carnegie Festival, YouthLink Scotland, Scottish Youth Parliament, Roars not Whispers, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People and Young Scot.
The Festival of Politics programme 2008 is available on the Scottish Parliament’s website www.festivalofpolitics.org.uk and the Carnegie Festival Programme will be launched on 17 July www.carnegiefestival.org.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
- The Carnegie Festival 2008, Dunfermline 21 August-7 September is delivered in partnership with the Carnegie UK Trust, the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust and Carnegie College and Fife Council and aims to celebrate the eclectic legacy of Andrew Carnegie with events over several themes: Politics, Film, Innovation and Enterprise.
- Now in its fourth year, the award winning Festival of Politics runs from Wednesday 20 to Saturday 23 August and features twenty eight sessions many with famous faces from the world of politics, the arts and the media including: Annie Lennox, Denis Healey, Douglas Hurd, Simon Callow and Mark Tomas. As the National Youth Work Agency in Scotland, YouthLink Scotland aims to be the collective voice of youth work and to represent the needs and interests of the youth work sector with regard to policy and practice, to government and other stakeholders.
- The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) provides a voice for Scotland’s young people. Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) are elected volunteers from across Scotland who seek to represent the views of young people in national decision-making. It is led for young people by young people and is made up of 14-25 year olds elected to represent constituencies and voluntary organisations. It is NOT party political and seeks to work with people and parties of all political persuasions.
- Roars not Whispers is a partnership project between the Scottish Youth Parliament and Oxfam in Scotland. It addresses issues of local and international social justice through peer education work in Scotland and the hosting of the CIVICUS Youth Assemblies.
- The post of Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People was created by an Act of the Scottish Parliament in 2003 and the Commissioner, Kathleen Marshall, began work in April 2004. She is independent of both the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government. The Commissioner’s basic remit is to promote and safeguard the rights of children and young people, with particular emphasis on the rights set out in the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. She also monitors the law, policy and practice for effectiveness in relation to the rights of children and young people and promotes best practice by service providers working with children.
- Young Scot is the national youth information and citizenship agency for Scotland. They provide young people between the ages of 11 and 26 with a mixture of information, ideas and incentives to help them become confident and active citizens. For more info, see www.youngscot.net
For further information please contact:
Morag Pavich
Head of Communications
Carnegie UK Trust
T: 0(044)1383 721445 M: 07749 505071
E: Morag@carnegieuk.org
