Empowering young people to shape the future of democracy in Europe
YouthPowerEU is a European youth participation project designed to strengthen young people’s voice, participation and influence in democratic life.
Across Europe, young people are increasingly asking to be heard not only as beneficiaries of policies, but as active contributors to the decisions that affect their communities, their rights and their future. YouthPowerEU creates spaces, tools and opportunities for young people to move from abstract involvement to real participation.
Through participatory activities, dialogue, capacity building, peer learning and direct engagement with decision-makers and civil society, the project supports young people in understanding how democratic participation works, developing the skills to engage effectively and turning their ideas into concrete proposals for change.
At its core, YouthPowerEU is about one simple principle: Democracy works better when young people are part of it.
What is YouthPowerEU?
YouthPowerEU is an Erasmus+ youth participation project bringing together young people, youth organisations, civil society actors, decision-makers and other stakeholders around a shared goal: making youth participation in the European Parliament democratic life more accessible, meaningful and impactful.
The campaign has been founded by Eduxo.eu – European Network for Democracy and Equality ASBL in May 2024. Eduxo.eu and as well the consortium partners are youth organisations, 90% of them youth-led.
We see participants of this project as partners, contributors, organisers, advocates and changemakers. Our mission is to empower young people to become informed, confident and active participants in democratic life.
YouthPowerEU follows a non-formal learning approach. This means learning happens through experience, interaction, collaboration, reflection and practical activities. Rather than simply receiving information, participants are encouraged to ask questions, exchange views, solve problems and create things together.
Youth voice matters
Youth has the right to participate
Youth deserves political capacity-building and coaching
A European project with a local impact
European democracy is built not only in Brussels, Strasbourg or national parliaments. It is also built every day in cities, schools, universities, associations, workplaces, neighbourhoods and communities. YouthPowerEU connects these different levels.
Participants are encouraged to explore how European issues connect with their own lives and communities while also discovering perspectives from other countries. This combination of local experience and European exchange is central to the project. It helps young people understand that many of the challenges they experience locally are connected to wider European conversations — and that cooperation across borders can help create new solutions.
Our objectives
Strengthen youth participation
The project creates opportunities for young people to participate actively in discussions, activities and democratic processes.
Participants are encouraged to move beyond observation and become active contributors.
Increase democratic awareness
YouthPowerEU helps young people better understand democratic systems, European institutions, civic participation and the different ways citizens can influence decision-making.
Understanding how decisions are made is an essential first step towards changing them.
Build practical skills
Participation requires more than motivation. Through project activities, young people can strengthen skills including public speaking, teamwork, leadership, advocacy, negotiation, critical thinking, problem solving, event management, stakeholder engagement, civic lobbying, policy analysis and policy writing, intercultural dialogue. These are valuable skills not only for civic engagement, but also for education, employment and everyday life.
Create meaningful dialogue between youth, civil society and decision-makers
YouthPowerEU encourages direct dialogue between young people and people working in institutions, civil society, policy, youth organisations and other relevant sectors. The goal is not simply to speak about young people. It is to create spaces where stakeholders can speak with young people.
Transform ideas into proposals
Young people already have ideas on how to be more engaged in decision-making processes, especially at the European level within the European Parliament. YouthPowerEU helps participants develop these ideas, discuss them collectively and transform them into structured recommendations, proposals and messages that can be shared with relevant stakeholders.
Promote European cooperation
YouthPowerEU creates opportunities for young people from different countries, communities and experiences to meet and work together.
Cross-border dialogue allows participants to discover both the diversity of young people’s experiences across Europe and the challenges they share.
And why we do need YouthPowerEU?
Young Europeans are growing up at a time of profound social, political, environmental and technological change.
From climate change and inequality to digital transformation, artificial intelligence, employment, education, mental wellbeing, discrimination, migration and the future of European integration, many of the decisions being taken today will shape young people’s lives for decades.
Yet young people still face significant barriers to participating in democratic processes. These barriers can include:
- limited knowledge about how institutions and decision-making processes work;
- a lack of accessible opportunities to engage;
- geographical, economic or social obstacles;
- limited representation in political and institutional spaces;
- the perception that participation will not lead to concrete change;
- complicated institutional language and procedures;
- unequal access to networks and decision-makers;
- low trust in political institutions;
- misinformation and polarisation;
- unequal access to elections due to electoral systems.
YouthPowerEU aims to help reduce these barriers. The project creates opportunities for participation that are designed to be accessible, practical, inclusive and connected to real EU democratic processes.
Not every young person has the same access to opportunities. YouthPowerEU places particular attention on inclusion and aims to involve participants with diverse backgrounds, experiences and levels of previous engagement.
No previous political or institutional experience is required to participate.
From voice to action
There are many projects that invite young people to share their opinions. YouthPowerEU wants to go further.
Listen
Young people need spaces where they can express what they think, what they experience and what they want to change.
Learn
Understanding institutions, democratic processes and participation tools helps transform frustration or ideas into informed engagement.
Connect
Change rarely happens alone. Participants connect with peers, organisations, experts and decision-makers.
Create
Young people work together to develop ideas, recommendations, comms campaigns, policy proposals & policy briefs.
Lobby
Participants learn how to communicate their priorities and bring them to relevant stakeholders.
Act
The ultimate goal is to encourage continued participation beyond individual YouthPowerEU activities.
The project provides young people with opportunities to:
- explore how democracy and decision-making work at local, national and European level;
- discuss the issues that matter most to their generation;
- develop leadership, communication, advocacy and civic participation skills;
- engage with peers from different backgrounds and communities;
- exchange ideas and experiences across Europe;
- interact with institutions, experts, civil society representatives and decision-makers;
- formulate recommendations and proposals;
- contribute to conversations about the future of Europe;
- build networks that can continue beyond the project itself.
Our vision
We envision a Europe where young people are not invited into democratic conversations only after decisions have already been made.
We want youth participation to become an integral part of how communities, organisations and institutions think, plan and decide.
A Europe in which young people from different backgrounds can participate meaningfully, develop their ideas and influence the future they will inherit.
A Europe where democracy is not something young people simply learn about.
It is something they practice, shape and strengthen.
Your voice has power
Europe’s future will be shaped by the choices we make today. Young people should have the opportunity to influence those choices. YouthPowerEU exists to help make that participation possible.