The Skellefteå Youth Declaration 
 

On 11 - 13th of August 1999, 60 youth representatives from all 13 member regions and the indigenous people of the Barents Euro-Arctic Co-operation met in Skellefteå, Västerbotten.

After open and extensive discussions, we have agreed on the following statement:
 

We envisage a region with increased trade and economic opportunities and improved possibilities for the exchange of knowledge about the culture, youth policy, society, language and history of the region. Increased co-operation between the countries and sub regions in the Barents area can increase the possibilities for making use of and developing our common resources. Co-operation in the Barents region must be inclusive and not preclude co-operation with other regions or other countries.

The Barents region has much to offer in the fields of education, nature, tourism, culture, economics etc. However, in order that the youth of today might benefit from this potential in the future, appropriate measures must be taken now. 

To compensate for the special circumstances prevailing in the Barents Euro-Arctic area, and in order to stimulate increased cross-border co-operation, we propose the following actions:

• simplify procedures for young people, engaged in exchange programs, conferences or meetings agreed upon within the boundaries of the Barents region, crossing the border between the Nordic countries and Russia, and exclude them from visa charges;
• improve better conditions for youth mobility in the Barents region including special exchange programs, reduced youth fares and better travel conditions;
• promote the creativity and entrepreneurship of young people, partly via incentives for new jobs by young people and for young people, and include their input and ideas in future regional development programs (the Barents Program, Interreg etc.);
• for co-ordination of youth work and creating co-operation it is essential that the EU funding program Youth for Europe is available also for non-member countries in context of the Barents youth co-operation;
• policies and development plans in the region should always take the youth perspective into consideration and all work  programs and reports conducted within the Barents Co-operation should contain a youth impact assessment (YIA);
• the Governments of the Barents Member states should offer certain advantages for the young people to stimulate them to move north and to start their own business;
• young people should always be represented at Barents Euro-Arctic meetings and all ministerial meetings should ensure that encounters take place between youth representatives and the meetings' chairperson;
• due to the long distances, linguistic and cultural differences and the poorly developed infrastructure linking east and west, it is important that special Youth Offices be established in the Barents region to deal with the special needs of young people including, organising of language courses, exchange programs and educational visits, the construction of websites on the Internet etc.;
•  to form within the Regional Barents Committee a permanent working group for youth questions and youth policy.

 Follow up

Youth matters cannot be regarded as merely a policy concern restricted to the interests of young people. If we wish to attain sustainable development in our region, all development aspects must include a youth perspective. We recognise the different forms available for a dialogue between young people and the generation presently formulating development policies and programs for the Barents Euro-Arctic Region. We believe that the concerns of young people are best served by the overall guiding principle of mainstreaming all actions and programs in favour of youth. In practice, this means that all activities in the region facilitate the participation of young people in all decision-making processes.

Regional conferences like this one in Skellefteå should be held at regular intervals, e.g. in preparation for Barents Council meetings. The next will be held at the same time as the Barents Ministerial Council in Oulu in April of 2000. Until the next such youth conference, a special contact network - the Barents Regional Youth Forum - will be responsible for the follow-up of the Skellefteå meeting. This network will consist of the following members:
Russia: 
Andrei Rezvij, Archangelsk region 
Evguenia Egorova, Murmansk region
Indigenous people: Vladislav Peskov, Nenets autonomous okrug Klemet Erland Hytta, the County of Finnmark.
Finland: 
Pyry Suonsivu, the County of Northern Ostrobothnia
Suvi Juntunen, the County of Kainuu.
Sweden: 
Birgitta Nilsson, the County of Västerbotten.
Norway:
Roger Skarvik, the County of Finnmark.
 

The participants of the Skellefteå Conference appeal to all authorities concerned, at all levels, to facilitate the work of - the Barents Regional Youth Forum - and to contribute their resources to its work.
 

 Three themes have been discussed during the Conference; young entrepreneurship, co-operation between youth projects and co-operation between NGO's. The conclusions concerning these subjects are;

1.  The conditions for entrepreneurship in the Barents region should be:
Focus must be drawn to the following areas:
 

• exchange of knowledge
• exchange of experience
• exchange of education
• exchange of network
• exchange of business information
• exchange of training programmes and mentorship

Structural change in order to encourage and improve the condition of young entrepreneurship, respecting the specific conditions of the region, for instance:
 

• long distances
• financial problems
• bureaucracy
• attitudes

2.  The conditions for co-operation between youth projects in the Barents region should be based upon our common as well as different features concerning culture, nature, travelling, tourism and the involvement of youth. Therefore, we wish to start a concrete travelling project, a way for young people to travel around the Barents region. This could create an interest to travel and to go on adventures in the Barents region, the east-west direction instead of only north-south.
 

3.  NGO's in the Barents region would like to establish a Youth Forum/Youth Union of Barents region. Youth Union of Barents region should have following duties:

• They should meet before ministerial meetings and discuss the agenda in order to give youth the possibility to impact the decision making process. 
• They should also have the possibility to add subjects to the agenda.
• Information centre: Gather information regarding youth organisations in Barents region.
• Increase co-operation between youth organisations in the region.
• Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia have the responsibility to establish national networks of interested youth organisations in each country.


The regional conference in Skellefteå would like to mention that other conferences have been held on youth questions in the region;

• the Nordaction Seminar, Ivalo, Finland, September 1995,
• the Youth Seminar, Kirkenes, Norway, October 1996,
• the Barents Youth Meeting, Kiruna, Sweden, September 1998, 
• the Seminar on the Barents Euro-Arctic Region Co-operation in the Youth Field, Saaris„lk„, Finland, Murmansk, Russia, September 1998.