Genuine youth involvement strengthens the vitality of the entire region. Young people are not just the future – they are the developers of today, it was found Young Bridge Builders – The Other Side of the Kvarken Project at the first international meeting in the Liiveri region in February 2026. The meeting brought together representatives and board members of the youth divisions of Leader Liiveri, Leader Suupohja and the Swedish Leader Lappland in the Liiveri region. The core of the three-day visit was youth participation, international cooperation and youth projects, as well as the stories of young entrepreneurs.
During the visit, they learned about practical examples of supporting youth entrepreneurship in the 4H associations of Seinäjoki and Jalasjärvi, and heard about young people's experiences with the Youth Leader funding of the Development Association Liiver.
– Low-threshold funding, personal sparring and a local network are crucial factors in the realization of young people's ideas. Even a small amount of funding can be a decisive impetus for young people's entrepreneurship, because it shows that someone believes in the young person's idea, Liiver's youth coordinator Noora Riippi says.
The EU Information Centre of the Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia Eeli Salmela The workshop on EU opportunities led by the Finnish Youth Council strengthened the understanding that we are part of an international community and that young people have the opportunity to make an impact.
– In the workshop, young people got to brainstorm ideas for citizens' initiatives for the European Union in groups and learned about the EU's operating methods.
The visit to Rytmikorjaamo was one of the highlights of the meeting. Getting to know the Seinäjoki Elävän musiikin yhdistys Selmu ry, Provinssi and Preppaamo activities made it visible how the cultural sector offers opportunities for participation for young people in our region and builds community. It was particularly inspiring to hear concrete examples of how young people have been involved in activities.
– The volunteer work at the Rhythm Repair Center is a great example of how young people are active volunteers when the topic and community feel like their own.
The meeting taught the young people that with international guests you always see your home region with new eyes. In addition, when communicating in a foreign language, you have to focus more on the content, and the comments and discussions that arise in the group make the visits to different destinations memorable.
The cooperation will next continue in Sweden, when the youth divisions of Liiveri and Suupohja will travel to the Leader Lappland region for the project's international meeting in April 2026.