Climbing the Ladder: fostering a culture of Youth Engagement

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Implementing several activities, trainings, offering consultancy to public bodies and engaging with thousands of young people, we realized how relevant it is a more comprehensive approach to support young people in becoming facilitators of democratic processes, in revitalizing a space of political dialogue, create the basis for the development of new policies in line with the needs and vision of new generations. To do so, we should start by exploring what kind of means, resources and opportunities already exist, how those could be improved and how new initiatives and mechanisms of youth engagement could be developed, through a participatory process. The project addresses the need for effective and meaningful structures, mechanisms and spaces for the active engagement of young people in policy making and decision-making processes, at local, regional, national and European level. Some of the key objectives of the project are: - to analyze and understand the key features of current models and mechanisms for youth engagement in Europe, - to collect and share successful practices that encourage young people, policymakers, and practitioners to involve the youth perspective in policy making; - to create an accessible platform for implementing youth engagement mechanisms; - to establish two networks (one of young facilitators for democracy and another one of young city/regional councillors) to promote citizen participation and democratic engagement at the local and regional levels throughout Europe. We expect over 450 participants to the planned activities, at least 90 of them being young people with fewer opportunities or a disadvantaged background. Over two years, we will implement three study visits, one training course and one strategic meeting for youth facilitators, one high-level meeting with elected officials, one final conference and several dissemination and multiplier events, combining virtual actions with in-person activities.