50 years of Youth Participation in Tromsø
In the early 1970s and ‘80s Tromsø was known as the “Hoodlum city” of Norway, as many young people, who felt alienated from the local government and the police demanded a better youth policy in the city and a place to belong. They expressed their frustration through riots and house occupation, and the police had to bring in reinforcements from other parts of the country to put down the rebellion.
After the riots in the 70s and early 80s, young people occupied different buildings in the city center of Tromsø and wanted to make self-governed youth houses in line with the anti-authoritarian ideals that emerged at this time in youth communities around Europe. The young people were evicted from all these buildings, but in 1984, the city opened Brygga Youth House, which was a mostly run by young people. A lot of progressive youth expressions took place there, like film, radio, the “birth” of the electronica music movement in Tromsø etc. But in 1994 the city closed the youth house due to problems with drugs and crime.
"A house occupation is also a kind of love, because it stands for togetherness."
4 years after the closing down of Brygga Youth House, the municipality established one of the first local Youth Councils in Norway. The inspiration came from Tromsø’s tradition for self-governed youth structures, but also from similar youth council structures in Denmark and the rest of Europe. From that day, the local youth council is elected at an annual 2 day youth conference where all young people from 13-19 years old in Tromsø are invited. They decide on the 10 most important issues for the youth council for the next term and elects 13 young people to join the council.
Both the local youth council and special activist groups fought to get a new youth centre in the city centre. In the summer of 2000 Tvibit Youth Centre opened. It included a culture house for young people, a Youth Information Centre and a Health Clinic for young people. Tvibit developed new methods of youth work in Norway, particularly active participatory methods to empower young people in their local communities. These models and methods have since influenced youth work in Norway, in our twin cities Nuuk (Greenland) and Gaza (Palestine), and our other European partners.
After Tvibit opened, the city saw a rise in creative youth initiatives run by and for young people, and several festivals that still exist today were born: Nordic Youth Film Festival (2002), Insomnia Electronic Music Festival (2002), Bukta Open Air Music Festival (2004) and many more. These festivals and events helped professionalize the young staff and volunteers, not only making exciting content for young people and establishing Tromsø as an interesting destination for youth from all over the world, but also creating jobs for young freelancers, artists, project managers etc.
From a negative perception of young people in the 80s and branded the “Hoodlum city of Norway”, Tromsø in the early 2000s transformed into a positive, young, and vibrant city. Today Tromsø is the city in Norway with the largest percentage of young people under 35 years old.
The tragic terrorist attack at Utøya July 22, 2011, perpetrated by a lone gunman, claimed the lives of 69 people, most of whom were young participants attending a youth camp organized by the Norwegian Labour Party. Many more young people suffered permanent physical and psychological damage. Tromsø and Northern Norway also lost several of our young activists and future political leaders that day, including members of our local and regional youth councils. This brutal act serves as a stark reminder of the devastating impact of extremism and underlines the importance of the ongoing need to combat radicalization and promote unity against hatred.
In early 2022, the local and regional youth councils took the initiative for Tromsø to apply for the title as European Youth Capital. They quickly got positive backing from the Mayor and all the political committee leaders in the Municipality, and the Municipal Director and all the directors of the municipal departments. The youth council organised input workshops, meetings with young people and stakeholders, input sessions at schools,etc. All these sessions were organised and led by young people themselves.
The EYC-application process in 2022 challenged, inspired, and profoundly changed the city’s work with Youth Policy, and as a result, the focus “We will put young people first” is now 1 of the 5 main goals in the overall municipal Action Plan for 2023-2026.
And we are so proud that Tromsø won the title of European Youth Capital 2026!