IX Conference - Reggio Emilia - Italy
18, 19 and 20 november 2009

Presentation of the programme

Besides the information related to the content, the OIDP website displays the provisional programme of the 9th Conference that will be held in Reggio Emilia on November 18, 19, and 20th under the heading “Youth and Participatory Democracy”.

The programme we present is provisional. We will keep you updated as we receive confirmation of the titles of the different experiences that will be presented and the persons who will be presenting them. We expect to have the definitive programme by mid-September; the inscriptions will start in October.

The main subject of this conference focuses on young people’s participation in all the sessions (the same as the adults); they take on their role as main players who enhance life in cities and overcome the idea of talking about young people without taking them into account.

The idea is also to be as rich and heterogenic as possible by combining interventions –coming from different places and with different ideas, respecting the criteria of gender parity – of political representations, theoretical-academic specialists in different fields, and the presentation of specific experiences, all the while setting aside time for debate and dialogue in all the sessions to listen to the participants. On the other hand the objective of the conference is to promote constructive and participatory thinking in a specific, way based on a joint work session conducted by specialists, and that will address the different subjects.

The sessions dedicated to each subject will allow us to delve into specific aspects of the general subject by approaching it from four different perspectives. The sessions will start with the introduction of the person who will be coordinating each session; At this point the practical cases or experiences will be incorporated and presented as useful elements that could positively affect other local contexts. It will be followed by the debate with the participants from the corresponding workgroup.

At present, both the Reggio Emilia Commune and the Technical Secretariat are working to prepare the conference area on the OIDP website which, besides the programme and the contents- will contain practical information about lodging, simultaneous translation, and other practical issues. We expect to be able to publish this information during the month of September.