La Mesa de Juventud - A platform for active citizenship and community building among the Colombian youth?

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis was to explore how a newly founded Youth Platform in Colombia, called La Mesa de Juventud, could affect the youth community in promoting and capacitating organizational skills, youth citizenship rights and youth influence in public policy making. The study emanates from the region of northern Cauca situated in the South Western part of Colombia which is an area where youth are especially exposed to social exclusion and marginalization. The central questions and theoretical framing of the investigation derive from the conceptual understanding of youth organizing looking at three levels of impact; the individual level, community level, and societal level. The methods used to realize this case-study have been of qualitative character including semi- structured interviews, field observations and participatory observations. Additionally, a comprehensive documentation review was conducted consulting both primary and secondary sources such as law and policy documents as well as theoretical literature concerning youth civic engagement, and youth organizing. The main results from the investigation highlighted the challenges of the Youth Platform to achieve the processes and outcomes of the three levels of youth organizing analyzed in the study. A main point concerning the specific context of the case illuminated the need of a broader inclusion and understanding of the youth culture, taking into consideration the different ethnic and cultural identities.