Since January, I have been working as a consultant at WesselinkVanZijst. I have been immersed in the world of Strategic Environmental Management, the Mutual Gains Approach, BATNAs, ZOPAs, and interests. In the SOM methodology, the analysis of issues and stakeholders is based on interests. Not power, status, or positions, but interests are the starting point. This notion immediately appealed to me.

For a long time now, I have been committed to an organization that seeks to involve more young people in peace and reconciliation processes. Young people have a tremendous stake in decisions about the future. According to the SOM philosophy, young people should therefore be considered key stakeholders with a seat at the table. Of course, this applies not only to conflict zones. In the Netherlands, 28% of the population is under the age of 25. This group will experience the effects of the societal choices being made today for the longest time. The energy transition, the pension system, the housing challenge, the tax system, the development of aviation, and the state of education—these are all issues that will significantly shape the future of the Netherlands. A future in which today’s young people in our society will have to work, live, and spend the longest time. This group is therefore of enormous importance and is, logically, a key stakeholder.

However, in my early career in environmental management, I haven't yet encountered young people as stakeholders. In the coming period, I will explore the question of why young people are (often) not at the table as stakeholders and, more importantly, how young people can be meaningfully involved.

This group is, after all, an important part of current society. These young people are experts in their own lives and bring a lot of knowledge with them. They join the table with their own unique insights that can enrich the process. They also contribute to the process in another way. They have a fresh perspective and dare to think outside existing frameworks because they (yet) have little experience with these frameworks. They are not yet held back by ‘failed’ past attempts, skewed relationships, or nostalgic feelings that everything was better before. And: young people are essential for the support and implementation, and thus also the ultimate success rate of a SOM process.