The Artois Metropolitan Pole has for several years pursued an objective of increasing public involvement in its work. He created in 2021, as part of the Euralens labeling process, the Youth Committee which offers young people from local high schools, from second to BTS, to explore the notions of ecotransition and to discover projects embodying these notions in their area of life, with the aim of participatory democracy.
The 2023 edition of the Youth Committee took place on Thursday October 19 at the Miners' Union House in Lens and brought together nearly 80 young students from 8 high schools located in the three urban communities making up our Cluster. On the occasion of this day hosted by the consultation cabinet res publica, the young participants were able to discuss their vision of the ecological and social transition by notably carrying out frescoes of the ecotransition of the territory . This exercise made it possible to question a panel of young residents of the region on the challenges that it must meet to meet their expectations and thus strengthen its attractiveness. In this context, the young people were able to exchange with the president of the Pôle Métropolitain de l’Artois, Alain Bavay, on the concrete achievements of the territory to succeed in its transition and discuss the efforts to continue. In order to concretize their morning discussions, the high school students discovered in the afternoon, 8 projects that contribute to the transformation of the territory (ESS, sustainable construction, change in productive systems, etc.) and were invited to discuss with their leaders. These projects are candidates for Euralens label, which distinguishes initiatives embodying the dynamism of the territory in terms of ecological, economic and social development. The high school students evaluated these projects with regard to criteria of understanding, participation in the ecological and social transition of the territory and youth involvement, their opinion will be taken into account in the analysis of the projects for the award of the Euralens Label.
