Community / Shetlander gives youth a voice at European Rural Parliament event
A SHETLANDER represented the isles at the sixth annual meeting of the European Rural Parliament (ERP) in Aberdeenshire last week.
Forty countries were in attendance at the event, which was being hosted by Scotland for the first time.
Ellie Ratter travelled down to Aberdeenshire to represent Shetland, with a whole day of the event dedicated to European rural youth.
Countries from within the European Union and neighbouring countries were encouraged to provide youth delegates to speak at and contribute to debate about rural life in Europe for young people.
The ERP said people in Scotland were “ideally positioned to examine the issues of the EU neighbour countries”, despite no longer being part of the EU.
Ratter explained she got involved after applying to join the youth advisory board for the ERP six months ago.
“I then attended monthly meetings with 19 other young people to plan the event,” she said.
“We were tasked with organising and leading sessions on topics which we felt were important to rural youth.”
During the day session of the European Rural Youth Parliament, Ratter co-led a discussion on ‘Safety and Youth friendly spaces’, as well as another on how depopulation in rural areas could be addressed.
Ratter also asked key decision makers attending the event – including Council of Europe’s Eva Kotnik and Scottish islands minister Mairi Gougeon – what they saw as the most urgent priority for strengthening rural youth participation in decision making.
She added that the members of the youth advisory board which she is part of presented a closing speech to the ERP’s adult delegates.
In it, Ratter said, they told them young people want “less discussions and more action”.
Ratter – who is one of the founding directors of the Brae rural energy hub project – said she had joined in on general discussions, listened to panels and talks, and met delegates from across different countries over the ERP event.
She said she had taken away a lot from the event.
“I feel refreshed in the knowledge that rural areas all across Europe are facing similar issues and working towards solutions together,” she said.
“From networking and attending a study trip focussed on community-owned energy, I have returned with so many ideas for our local areas and getting the community involved.”
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