“Young people are empowered to lead and have a voice in protecting the Yorkshire Dales National Park,” the National Park Authority has agreed at a meeting.

The undertaking is set out in a “Statement on Youth Participation”, which puts into words the public body’s vision and commitment to young people.

The National Park Authority currently works with more 2000 young people each year to help deliver its purposes, including by supporting youth volunteering programmes such as Up Skill Down Dale (see picture).

At a full Authority meeting held yesterday, Members voted to agree the statement on youth participation as a means of embedding youth work in the culture of the organisation and to make sure young people are involved in all aspects of decision making.

Katie Norgate, one of the Authority’s co-opted young Members said: “This is a clear and strong commitment to youth involvement with specific, measurable targets that make the commitment feel actionable and accountable, which gives real confidence that this policy will lead to meaningful change.

“Involving youth and giving them the opportunity to be co- creators will directly shape the Authority’s work”.

Member Champion for Promoting Understanding, Neil Heseltine, said: “We run educational and skills-based activities for young people alongside our volunteering programmes for young people and our apprenticeships programme. We’ve also co-opted youth members to our Finance and Resources committee and involved nine young people in the drafting of the new Yorkshire Dales National Park Management Plan.

“What we didn’t have, until today, was a concise summary of our vision and commitment to young people. Our ‘Statement of Youth Participation’ is intended to inform our approach to youth engagement, encourage collaborative working with partners, inform bids for project funds to do more work with young people, and assist in advocating for enhanced roles for young people on National Park Authority boards.

“Many young people want to use their time to conserve and enhance the environment, and to be outdoors in nature. We want to harness that energy to help make the National Park and even more accessible and beautiful place.”