Young Voices 2016 will involve two distinct projects that will build on the positive momentum of Structured Dialogue in Ireland.Project 1: National Implementation Project: 'Youth Empowerment for Political Participation'With all of the positive progress made during Cycle 4 of Structured Dialogue it is our intention to continue the important work beyond the current Cycle. We believe that the outcomes from the Luxembourg EU Youth Conference present us with an opportunity to work with young people and decision makers to design concrete, implementable actions that will support 'youth empowerment for political participation'. We will host a number of facilitated and dynamic meetings over a five month period and invite 20 young people from all backgrounds and all corners of Ireland to participate. This project will support young people to identify real areas of action alongside decision makers. During this process they will consider the full picture of Cycle 5 and the journey from beginning to end. They will also consider the national reality and the positive potential for collaboration with decision makers both within formal structures and outside of them. The young people will maximise the possibilities for using existing frameworks and strategies that support youth participation. By the end of this project we anticipate having a group of young people who are equipped on an individual level to enhance their own political participation but more than that we expect to have ideas for actions that will support young people across Ireland to be activated to use the structures that are available to them and also to be more informed about the possibilities and confident that these possibilities are accessible and available to them. We expect that decision makers in Ireland will embrace the opportunity that Structured Dialogue facilitates in terms of enabling young people to connect with policy level conversations. With 2016 being an Election Year we feel that there is an opportunity for young people across Ireland to engage with the political process and to ensure that value is placed on the Young Voices within that process and beyond into the future.Project 2: Structured Dialogue Cycle 5 The beginning of Cycle 5 of Structured Dialogue presents us with an opportunity to build on the experiences of Cycle 4 and to implement the learning from our work with young people and decision makers. The profile of Structured Dialogue (Young Voices in Ireland) has increased during Cycle 4 and more young people see it as a structure where they can have their voices heard on a European Level but also a structure where its possible to use the conversations among young people at EU level to inform and inspire ideas for action at a National level. The flow of Cycle 5 will involve a 'launch' in February where we expect to invite a group of 40 young people, youth workers and decision makers to Dublin and present them with the new theme along with a piece of research that we hope to have completed which will provide a current picture of the theme within an Irish context. We will begin the first conversations about the new theme and also invite applications for the first EU Youth Conference in the Netherlands. Following the first EU Youth Conference we will carry out a series of interactive Focus Groups around Ireland for a total of 100 young people and youth workers that will facilitate an opportunity to consider the guiding questions coming out of the EU Youth Conference in the Netherlands. This will give us a broad insight into the thoughts and ideas of young people throughout Ireland and will give us valuable feedback for the report that will inform the preparations for the Slovakian Youth Conference.Following the EU Youth Conference in Slovakia we will invite 40 young people to come together in Dublin and reflect on the recommendations from the Slovakian Youth Conference. This meeting will begin the process of considering which recommendations might be most relevant to Ireland.We see the outcomes of this project manifesting throughout the whole journey of Cycle 5 of Structured Dialogue. The fact that young people will carry the theme from event to event and conference to conference is fundamental to our approach to structured dialogue. The engagement of decision makers has been formally committed to in the implementation document of our National Policy Framework for Children and Young People, Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures. Supporting and facilitating the interface between decision makers and young people is a key element of these meetings and the wider work of Structured Dialogue in Ireland. We feel that with each Cycle of Structured Dialogue we are building momentum and also supporting a generation of young people to access decision making opportunities in a positive and constructive way.