The Highland Youth Convener is delighted to announce the Highland Youth Parliament’s Annual Conference scheduled to take place on Friday 23rd June.
Announcing the conference, Caitlyn Munro said, “It is great that this year’s Highland Youth Parliament Conference will once again take place in Canal Park. And we are once again grateful to High Life Highland for allowing all attendees to get an opportunity to utilise the sports facilities at Inverness Leisure throughout the conference.
The Youth Convener explained, “Highland young people are focusing on five different priority areas this year which includes, education, mental health, rural accessibility/transport, skills for life and participation. All of which will be featured at the conference.
“The topic of Education was requested by young people as they always have questions or issues to raise around education. For this reason, we will once again have education group work sessions on SQA/Exams, e-learning, equality/equity and mental health support in schools, which will be followed by an Education Q&A panel where young people have the opportunity to raise their issues and questions.
“As education is such a huge part of their lives, the education Q&A has become very popular conference session over the years, and we are delighted that there is a team of key decision-makers from The Highland Council’s Education Service participating which will be led by Councillor John Finlayson, Chair of the Education Committee.”
“The young people attending will also have the opportunity to feed in to the Highland Council’s transport strategy, as well as being able to receive training on life skills/budget planning to support them now and into their futures.”
Highland Councillor, John Finlayson, Chair of The Highland Council’s Education Committee said, “I am pleased to have been invited by the Highland Youth Parliament and looking forward to attending its 2023 Conference and getting a chance to speak with the attendees.
“It is so vital that the voices of young people are genuinely heard and acknowledged, therefore it is great to see the return of the Education Q&A session at the conference. I know the session is always very well-attended and brings about some really lively discussions, debates and views which my panel colleagues and I always welcome and from which, we take something away.
“I am sure that this year’s conference will be every bit as good as previous years and I look forward to the chance to meet up with young people from across the Highlands to hear about their successes, their aspirations and their hopes.”
In addition to accessing Inverness Leisure, the group will also be offered access and sessions at Highland Archive Centre and Inverness Botanics where some fun and interesting activities for young people will be offered throughout the day.
The ‘Youth Marketplace’ which will take place over lunchtime recess will provide young people with additional information from a wide range of youth partner organisations such as Inspire Highland, The Highland Council’s Elections team, High Life Highland Leadership programme, Duke of Edinburgh, The Bridge and Mikeysline.
Hamish Nott, Chair of Highland Youth Parliament added: ‘Young people have also been vocal about the need to improve access to and quality of services across Highland, especially in rural areas.
“To help address this, there will be opportunities for discussions around a number of areas, such as rural accessibility, ferries, under-22 [year old] free bus travel and service reliability, all while continuing to promote a sustainable future.
“Helping to start these conversations, we have a great range of partners, services and young people coming along to deliver workshops and share information, allowing young people to become the true driving force behind education and transport developments in Highland.’
Before the conference, Highland young people can participate in a number of online pre-joining sessions, provided by a range of partners such as Scottish Youth Parliament, The Highland Council and Education Scotland.
The online sessions cover a range of topics such as what it means to be a Highland Youth Parliament member, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, elegant challenging and campaigning online.
Speaking ahead of the Conference, HLH’s Chief Executive said, “I was lucky enough to attend and speak at last year’s conference, so I am thrilled to have been invited back to the 2023 Conference.
“I am delighted that once again High Life Highland has been able to support the team in organising the conference and to offer those coming along the chance to take part in activities in Inverness Leisure, Inverness Botanic Gardens and the Highland Archive Centre.
The Charity Chief Executive concluded, “I wish Caitlyn, Hamish and the team every success with this year’s event.”
The conference is expected to have over 100 people participating at the annual event with representation from across the Highlands.
