I have the best job in the world. That’s what I was thinking in January as I was sitting on a bus somewhere on the border between France and Germany. It was the end of an intensive four-day study visit to Strasbourg, together with youth politicians from different Finnish parliamentary parties.
It was not the first time I had this thought, and far from the first time I had travelled with Finnish youth politicians. On second thought, I might even be one of the most experienced experts in Finland when it comes to guiding multi-party study and training visits for young people! My first experiences were from 2014 and 2015 when Demo Finland coordinated youth mobility projects supported by the EU’s Erasmus+ programme, and since 2020 I have participated in five Democracy Academy study visits to different destinations. In total, quite a few current and former active members and chairs of the boards of political youth organisations have participated in these visits, as well as a few former youths who have since become members of Parliament.
Facilitated dialogue and joint study visits were identified as particularly good practices for learning about democracy and promoting multi-party co-operation.
Study visits are only a small part of Demo Finland’s activities, as the core work consists of various trainings, meetings and workshops in different programme countries on a multi-party basis, without any glamorous travelling. However, study visits often have a great impact, as shown for example by Demo Finland’s internal evaluation of Democracy Academies in 2024. It identified facilitated dialogue and joint study visits as particularly good practices for learning about democracy and promoting multi-party co-operation.
As democracy support organisation, Demo Finland has a unique mandate to also work with Finnish political parties. We recognise that democracy and multi-party dialogue need development and nurturing everywhere, and our experience with Finnish political parties provides us with good practices that we can use in other contexts. Sometimes it goes the other way around, and Finnish parties can learn from our experience with political parties elsewhere.
Democracy Academy is Demo Finland’s training programme for youth and student organisations of Finnish parliamentary parties. It brings together representatives of these organisations to learn, discuss and share experiences of democracy. The aim is both to increase understanding of the state of democracy and how to support it internationally and to strengthen dialogue and co-operation between parties. In most cases, the Democracy Academy has included a study visit with one representative from each party.
Democracy Academy breaks down prejudices
This year, our delegation headed to Strasbourg, where we learnt in particular about the work of the Council of Europe to strengthen democracy, human rights and the rule of law. We also visited the European Court of Human Rights and the European Parliament. The aim was to increase understanding of how these institutions work to promote democracy and also to raise interest in foreign policy issues.
During the training weekend before the study visit, participants learnt about the state of democracy in the world, why and how democracy is eroding, how democracy can be supported, Demo Finland’s work, the role of political parties in democracy and the link between democracy, climate change and natural resources. The programme also included a facilitated Timeout dialogue on participation. The “guest star” of the weekend was Gil Mulhovo, Director of Demo Finland’s Mozambican partner organisation IMD, who spoke about the current political situation in Mozambique and the importance of parliamentary oversight of natural resources.
Several participants said that they had increased confidence that co-operation is possible despite differences.
It was a weekend of lively discussion and a good atmosphere. As staff members, we watched as participants with different political opinions got to know each other, listened to each other’s views and asked questions about each other’s experiences.
At the end of the training, several participants said that they had increased confidence that co-operation is possible despite differences. They also told they had been encouraged across party lines and found that there are great people in all parties. Prejudices were broken. In addition to all this, the weekend brought insights and new knowledge about the state of democracy and its components.
There and back again – visiting Strasbourg
The study visit kicked off at 4.40 am on the morning after the training at Helsinki-Vantaa airport. Team spirit was good from the start, as the participants had already spent the whole weekend getting to know each other. The four days together also included discussions on topics where opinions differed.
The aim was not to agree on everything – different views and even heated debates are an integral part of democracy. Nevertheless, it is important to be able to have a respectful discussion and also to find things that unite. Today’s youth politicians may also one day find themselves in the government or parliamentary committee, where they should be able to make compromises.
A joint statement was published in which the participants encourage political youth organisations to engage in constructive dialogue.
The study visit left everyone with a wealth of new information to digest. The Council of Europe is not very well known in Finland, and for understandable reasons it is easily confused with, for example, various EU institutions. I am grateful that the Permanent Representation of Finland to the Council of Europe and Ambassador Sini Paukkunen-Mykkänen, as well as Judge Juha Lavapuro, who had just started his term at the European Court of Human Rights, and former Demo Finland board members and current MEPs Jussi Saramo and Sebastian Tynkkynen, among others, took the time to meet our group.
In addition to all the meetings, our programme also included some time to work together. Facilitating multi-party dialogue is at the heart of Demo Finland’s work. I was impressed that at the end of a long day, the participants still got actively engaged in dialogue and looking for common ground. As a result, a joint statement was published in which the participants encourage political youth organisations to engage in constructive dialogue and remind them of its importance beyond campaigning and public debate.
Why I have the best job in the world
When working on democracy support, you don’t need to question the importance of your work. However, it becomes concrete when you get to see how young people from different parties and sometimes completely different political views find a way to work together in a constructive way. I wonder if perhaps the employees of Demo Finland’s partner organisations in different countries feel the same way because after all, it is the same kind of support for multi-party dialogue that we do elsewhere. It’s just as amazing when young people at the Tunisian School of Politics become friends across party lines, or when the technical working group set up in our programme in Kenya brings together actors from different parties to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities.
I have had the chance to see the creation of cross-party networks and the breaking down of prejudices between Finnish youth politicians on several occasions during visits to different countries in different continents. I never get tired of it.
The glimmers of multi-party co-operation are a reminder that all is not yet lost.
As the global state of democracy deteriorates, polarisation increases, hard security takes over from human security issues, and the devastating effects of climate change are seen around the world, confidence in a good future is not always high. But the glimmers of multi-party co-operation are a reminder that all is not yet lost.
Political debate will continue to be needed, but I think politics is better when the debaters can go out together afterwards and have a pint.
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The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Demo Finland.