Last Friday saw the third edition of the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion's community forum, whose theme was "The place of young people in the community".

Some twenty young people, along with some sixty people from community organizations, the health sector, education, public safety and seniors' residences, in addition to city employees and elected officials, gathered at the Opticentre St-Jean-Baptiste to open a dialogue on the issue.

"For some time now, we have wanted to put forward the needs of citizens aged 11 to 25 and, above all, to work with them. They represent our future. This forum was an opportunity for us to get together and think about how we can support them through our initiatives and projects," said Chloé Marcil, Head of the Culture and Community Life Division.

At the start of the day, three ambassadors presented inspiring initiatives carried out for and by young people: the Jeunes Ambassadeurs de Granby (JAG) with Mélody Poulin, Head of Social Development for the Organisme Vie culturelle et communautaire de Granby, the Service Préados Ados (SPA2) with Amélie Durocher, SPA2 coordinator for the City of Saint-Constant, and ENvironnement JEUnesse (ENJEU) with Marianne Renault Robitaille, former mobilization project officer for ENJEU.

The audience was then given an overview of the results of the youth survey conducted between August 15 and September 24. Over 600 citizens between the ages of 11 and 25 took the time to answer the questionnaire designed to find out about their concerns and needs.

Célia Corriveau and Marie Gabrielle Lavoie, both employed by the Pôle d'économie sociale Vallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent, oversaw two action-oriented workshops, which served as brainstorming sessions for innovative projects aimed at young people.

For a third year, Natalie Poirier hosted the forum, this time accompanied by student Maëlys Eouani.

Finally, Meals on Wheels Vaudreuil-Soulanges provided the lunch.

This year, participants were treated to a surprise activity to stretch their legs: learning a short choreography with Studio de danse 118.

"In our policies, whether it's the 2020-2025 Strategic Plan, the Family and Seniors Policy or the addition of a youth component to the participatory budget, we recognize the importance of our youth," emphasized Guy Pilon, Mayor of Vaudreuil-Dorion.

Participatory budget: the winning youth project

As part of the third edition of the participatory budget, the city added a youth component to give residents aged 12 to 17 a voice.

The 12-year-old winner, Alexandria Diardichuk-Marinakis, was present at the forum to present her project entitled "Jeunes artistes de Vaudreuil-Dorion : Paysages en fleurs". It involves a mural or various smaller works to be exhibited in public places.

With this initiative, Alexandria wanted to highlight the beauty of the city, its parks and landscaping, through the eyes of young artists.