Skills building seminar: Young policy voices for our future - building intergenerational bridges
Authors:   Organised by: European Health Forum Gastein, EUPHA (PHPP) Chair persons: Dorli Kahr-Gottlieb - Austria, Dimitra Panteli - Germany
Published: November 2019

Building bridges in policymaking is a vital concept to facilitate intersectoral collaboration and bring about change in many areas such as health workforce skill-mix, social and commercial determinants of health, or urgent health and environmental challenges with input from a wide spectrum of stakeholders. Yet, beyond breaking up horizontal silos, another issue urgently needs to be addressed: strengthening intergenerational bridges within the health policy arena. While valuing the younger generation’s new ways of communicating and sharing innovative knowledge, systems which encourage intergenerational partnerships and foster a reciprocal exchange need to be facilitated. This will allow for young voices to be increasingly heard and considered in policymaking. Though young professionals in public health and beyond are ideally placed to move this collaboration forward with a perspective that is passionate, inquisitive, dedicated and unbound by paths already taken, these often hierarchical systems usually offer limited incentive and room for experimentation and innovation.

The objective of this interactive workshop is to highlight the need for incentivising intergenerational relations in policymaking and for young voices to be heard. We hope to inspire a fruitful intergenerational debate by presenting three case studies that display effective cross-generational work.

These insights will be followed by a participatory format allowing the participants to jointly consider and develop concrete suggestions on how increased intergenerational cooperation in the policymaking arena could be reached for the benefit of all, and to leave the room with innovative ideas to take home to implement in their work environments. The debate will not shy away from also critically reflecting the benefit of youth involvement and whether “young voices” can even be seen as one entity.

The three international cases showcased in this workshop will highlight how alternative non-hierarchical intergenerational models can be organised without threatening existing systems and enabling system transformation. Each case will focus on one of the headings: Unexpected learning from intergenerational collaborationForming alliances for a stronger youth voiceRemoving barriers for true intergenerational connection

The presentations will be followed by active audience involvement using the World Café, involving topic champions and allowing for participants to share their own experience, connect to current and future needs, and jointly develop ideas for action to be taken at different levels. The workshop will conclude with a 15 min plenary, where participants will share insights from their conversations. A graphic harvest will take place during the workshop to visually capture the spirit of the conversations, support knowledge sharing and inspire action.

Key messages

Developing alternative non-hierarchical inter-generational models. Building intergenerational bridges as a vital concept for future policymaking.