This year, Tromsø can proudly call itself “European Youth Capital”. The initiative has been named “True North”.
Read this article in Norwegian on Arbeidsliv i Norden
The youth project does not lack ambition. It is – neither more nor less – to “Make Tromsø, Northern Norway and the Arctic a better place to live, work and create for young people aged 15 to 35”.
That is a commitment, not only for Tromsø, but for the entire region.
Tromsø is often called Norway’s youngest city. Nearly 48 per cent of people here were under 35 in 2022. The deputy mayor, Sigrid B. Hammer (Socialist Left), is only 25.
“We are not just part of the future. We are also the present,” she says.
Belonging
At Tvibit, the city’s culture house for young people, we meet Elle Risten Inga Aleksandersen (15). She is a year 10 student and will soon choose her future path.
Her family moved from Kautokeino in Finnmark to Tromsø when she was six. Now, they live outside the city centre near Sommerøya, and herd reindeer.
“Why we wanted to stay in Tromsø? It’s about belonging. Having a network. To feel that you contribute to society,” she says.
“If we feel that we mean something and what we do is valuable, that makes us want to stay.”
Elle describes Tromsø as a place where nature is always close. The city is also a hub for the whole of Northern Norway.
“You can have friends from across the entire region. This gives you a bigger network and more opportunities.”
Elle thinks it is totally fine that young people leave to study elsewhere. The question is whether there is something to return home for.
“We have to want to come back because it is good to live here.”
Practical participation
Elle is a member of the Tromsø Youth Council, which consists of 12 regular members and two deputy members, aged 13 to 19. The members come from all parts of the municipality, both from the city proper and from the various districts.
“Politics is great fun, but difficult. It’s easier to learn when I am taking part, rather than just reading about it,” she says.
A call for stronger Arctic youth cooperation
During the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø, the Arctic Council, True North and Arctic Frontiers gathered youth representatives from across the Arctic region for a panel debate.
The participants came to share experiences, identify common challenges and map out concrete paths towards lasting youth influence.
The panel unanimously agreed that youth organisations in the Arctic region must cooperate more to increase young people’s influence in the northern regions.
And older decision-makers must remember that today’s decisions shape young people’s lives far more than their own.
“We must live with the decisions that are taken now,” many on the stage pointed out.
The council is being listened to, in her experience.
“We can disagree a lot in the youth council, but we work well together. I really feel we have something to say.”
Participation is not only about being heard, but to experience that your voice matters.
Wants to become a lawyer
Being Sámi, Elle carries experiences that many of her friends do not have.
“It strongly influences how I think and my political values. Sámi culture and reindeer herding is close to my heart.”
She says her own reindeer winter grazing area in Sør-Kvaløya is now home to around 80 wind turbines. This makes the land unusable.
“Reindeer cannot and should not graze in a wind farm. More people need to understand this.
“Green energy is important. But you have to cooperate with reindeer herders and take into account traditional knowledge just like any other research. It is not sustainable to overrun the reindeer herding districts and just build.”
In her experience, Sámi voices are often simplified in the public debate.
“Sámis are being portrayed as being against green energy. This is not correct. We want a balance. The question is: Is it right to destroy more nature? What happens to reindeer herding then?”
She has friends who want to work with reindeer herding.
“But I know that many see this as unrealistic, at least being able to make a living from traditional reindeer herding. It’s a dream, but the way things are going, it could become difficult.”
Elle understands very well Sámis who get additional income from, for instance, tourism activities.
“For many reindeer herding Sámis, tourism is a necessary measure and a survival strategy. With today’s climate changes and price rises, very few can live from traditional reindeer herding without an added income,” she says.
Elle herself does not want to be a reindeer herder.
“I want to become a lawyer and work with land issues.”
Young people in the North are facing a challenging labour market. It is, for instance, difficult for 16-year-olds to find a part-time job, even though many want to.
“Giving more young people the chance to enter the labour market could get more to stay in the North,” believes Elle.
True North has brought together organisations such as the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration and the University of Tromsø to discuss how to make the labour market more attractive to young people.
A title carrying responsibility
Synne Sandvik Lockert is the project manager for youth politics, action plans and youth participation at True North 2026.
“We didn’t get the title because Tromsø is very good at supporting young people. It’s more of an initiative to work with and for young people,” says Synne.
She underlines that European Youth Capital status first and foremost carries responsibility.
The project is owned by Tromsø municipality and is funded by the municipality itself, government grants and external partners. It has a team of eight permanent staff.
The initiative covers young people aged 13 to 35, which means it also includes students and young people in the early stages of starting their individual lives.
The point is to rethink how the municipality and region can involve young people in the development of society.
Action now for future chance
And yes, as mentioned, here is the goal: To make Tromsø, Northern Norway and the Arctic a better place to live, work and create for youths and young adults aged 15 to 35.
“Yes, it is very ambitious,” says Synne.
How will the Arctic look in 2050?
In the autumn of 2025, 14 youth leaders from across the Arctic met in Reykjavik during the Arctic Youth Futures Workshop. It resulted in a joint letter: “Letter for the Future of Arctic Youth Well-being and Empowerment”.
The letter is addressed to current and future Arctic leaders, and carries a clear message:
“The future of the Arctic is not created tomorrow, it is created today.”
The young people ask for:
Safe and meaningful integration of technology
Significant Youth Representation in Politics and Decision-Making
A central place for Arctic indigenous knowledge and local knowledge
Infrastructure and services creating real choice
Robust environmental policies and respect for ecosystems and culture
Culturally relevant youth mental health support
She also points out the demographic reality: Northern Norway is losing residents, and Tromsø is the only city to experience population growth in this part of the country.
“We depend on young people across the region doing well. That is good for us in Tromsø too.”
Many leave to go to university but want to return, as long as there is something to return to.
The project works to strengthen youth participation in the long run, through measures like political workshops where young people and adults develop policies together, training youth planners, cooperation with local businesses and by ensuring that legally mandated youth councils are actually listened to.
The aim is to create permanent structures giving young people real influence.
Young research
True North has many supporters and many collaborating partners. We find one of them at the University of Tromsø – the Arctic University of Norway. Professor Rita Sørly heads the research centre Arctic Youth, which was established in January 2025.
This is an interdisciplinary initiative gathering researchers from different fields, and there is close cooperation with user organisations and international partners, also in the Nordic countries.
This initiative also has a clear ambition: To contribute to a better everyday life and a more sustainable future for children and young people in the Arctic.
But what about all those who are “in”?
Right now, in Norway, some 16 per cent of young people are “on the outside”, meaning they are not in education or work.
“But that means there is a very large group who are in,” points out Rita.
She wants to turn the narrative upside-down. Rather than focusing solely on exclusion, she wants to find out what actually works.
What is it that makes so many experience a sense of belonging, achievement and participation? Which structures and practices can be strengthened?
A central concept in the centre’s work is “mattering” – when you feel you matter to others and are appreciated. When young people experience having their voices heard, when their contributions matter to their family, the school or to the local society, their self-worth and faith in the future improves.
At the same time, Rita points out that municipalities must understand that this is a long-term investment. Good infrastructure for young people is about more than football and clarinets.
It is about commitment, accessible cultural and leisure opportunities – also for families with limited resources.
“We must create robust local communities that are ready to receive young people who have left to get an education but want to return home,” she says.
