Generation Europe - The Academy

28/05/2026

What does youth advocacy look like in practice? 🤔💭 The YuVo Delegation System is our pathway for turning training into real-world action.

Our involvement in the You(th)4Participation event in Bonn is the perfect example of how our newly introduced delegation system works to multiply advocacy efforts.

Hanna, along with our team member Mariam, led an interactive workshop on creating position papers. 📝💡

So, how is this connected to the delegation system?

🔹The participant previously participated in the International Lobbying Training and was part of the writing process of the policy paper Youth Voices for Youth Work.
🔸This working context was closely aligned with the goals of our project Youth Voices Rising, where young individuals are empowered and equipped to make a real change at the political level.
🔹As a youth delegate and an expert on her behalf, this created space for fruitful exchanges about how advocacy can be organised in international groups.

The strength we see in the delegation system is that it creates spaces for genuine participation beyond formal attendance and strengthens our collective voice.

Learn more about YuVo here: youth-voices.eu

11/05/2026

Local Networking, European Impact! 🌍🤝 Last week, we were in Düsseldorf for the Information and Networking Days for International Youth Exchange, hosted by the German-Turkish Youth Bridge .

Our colleague was involved with an information stand, presenting Generation Europe – The Academy and sharing our best practices in inclusive, non-formal international youth work. It was a fantastic opportunity to connect with other organisations, and local activists from across the region.

Why does this matter? Building strong local roots is essential for our international success. We had a brilliant time:
✨ Presenting our methods for social participation.
✨ Engaging in deep exchanges and connecting with potential new allies for future cooperation.

We’re leaving Düsseldorf with a handful of valuable new contacts and plenty of inspiration from the vibrant youth work scene in NRW. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our table for a chat!

The initiative was organised with a number of partners, including our well known allies from JUGEND für Europa and IJAB - Fachstelle für Internationale Jugendarbeit. Furthermore, ConAct, Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk (DFJW), Deutsch-Griechisches Jugendwerk (DGJW), Deutsch-Polnisches Jugendwerk (DPJW), Deutsch-Türkische Jugendbrücke (DTJB), Tandem - Koordinierungszentrum, and Stiftung Juve.

08/05/2026

We had another International Project Meeting for Youth Voices Rising, this time in Budapest 🥳

Hosted by Szubjektív Értékek Alapítvány, the consortium met to evaluate recently implemented activities, such as the international lobbying training, and align our next steps. To ensure young people can effectively advocate for themselves, we discussed how we can establish a common European framework with flexible local approaches to ensure quality across different local realities.

Our next steps are
🔸the local lobbying trainings, which will train participants in all participating countries to become politically engaged in their local communities
🔹the social media advocacy trainings, which focus on digital communication as a tool for advocacy
🔸 Our trained young participants will have the opportunity to attend youth policy related events across Europe to be directly involved into decision making and practise what they have learned

More detailed dives into these training formats will follow in the upcoming months. Thank you to all our partners for making this possible 🙏

🌐🔗 The cooperation partnership Youth Voices Rising: Empowering Through Local and EU Advocacy is co-funded by the European Union. For an overview over the whole consortium and a number of tools that have already been published, refer to: youth-voices.eu

07/05/2026

Our Project Planning Conference, officially moved us into the implementation phase of Generation Europe – The Academy (2026–2028). The primary objective of this conference was to ensure a robust, shared understanding of the administrative and pedagogical framework that underpins our work for the next three years.

Here, the key achievements of our conference:

🔸The new partners and partnerships had time to know each other and start/continue planning this year's youth project: local work, international youth encounters, and trainings for active young participants.
🔹 We clarified financial and logistical requirements for to ensure a smooth implementation of these events
🔸 The new programme structure, our KA2 project Youth Voices Rising, and newly introduced roles were presented
🔹We presented our website, which is full of resources for project partners, including relevant logos and templates for the distribution of our work to the public

By aligning our processes now, we ensured that the focus remains where it belongs: on the empowerment and active European citizenship of the young people in our local groups. We look forward to see what this year has to bring....

20/04/2026

We are convinced that real change starts at local level. 📢🏡💪 We see municipalities and communities as key spaces where young people can turn ideas into concrete action across Europe. This is why our Multiplier Training for Young Local Lobbyists, which has been organised by our partners at Internationales Forum Bad Liebenzell, prepared participants to represent youth interests through local engagement.

Here's how they did it:

🔹participants learned how to organise trainings for youth groups in their own communities and how to guide others in addressing responsible decision-makers at municipal level.
🔸participants explored advocacy (structured action to promote a specific cause) and lobbying (direct communication with decision-makers to influence political processes) in different local contexts.
🔹They worked with experts from various organisations, exchanged experiences, and developed practical strategies for civic action.
🔸Several workshops used materials developed within Generation Europe - The Academy, including Booklet 5 on belonging and community connection, as well as the "Take Power" handbook on getting started with advocacy and lobbying. These resources support young people in moving from ideas to implementation and are also available in digital format.

Youth Voices Rising responds to a central challenge: many young people have clear ideas for change but lack access, skills, and opportunities to enter decision-making spaces. The project provides targeted training and develops practical methods of non-formal education to strengthen youth participation. We thank all partner organisations for their cooperation and commitment in making this project possible. In case, you wish to learn more about this project, refer to: youth-voices.eu

14/04/2026

A new creative toolkit for inclusive language learning 🌍🗣️

At its core, Talk2Me promotes a simple yet powerful idea: language learning is not only about grammar and vocabulary, but also about expression, identity, and human connection. It offers a unique set of tools and videos for youth workers, artists, and educators working with diverse, multilingual groups.

We are proud that three of our Generation Europe – The Academy partner organisations (Centro di Creazione e Cultura (Italy), Synergy of Music Theatre (Greece), Subjective Values Foundation (Hungary)) were key players in this international cooperation. It shows the power of our wider network in creating high-quality resources for the youth work sector! Its focus on participation, inclusion, intercultural dialogue and youth empowerment strongly resonates with the values and practices of our network Generation Europe - the Academy.

We invite all partners and practitioners within the network to explore the booklet and videos, experiment with the methods, and continue building creative, inclusive and participatory spaces for learning and exchange! The tools developed within the project can be easily adapted and reused in our local activities, especially when working with diverse groups, multilingual environments or community-based projects.

🔗You can download the booklet and find the video playlist here: https://www.rootsnroutes.eu/publications-id908

Talk2Me is a project coordinated by Les Têtes de l’Art (France), in partnership with Centro di Creazione e Cultura (Italy), Synergy of Music Theatre (Greece), Subjective Values Foundation (Hungary) and Instituto Andaluz de Formación y Mercado (Spain), and co-funded by the EU’s Erasmus+ programme.

14/04/2026

Have you read our policy paper yet? Thank you for sharing Growing Youth Work

Young voices matter! 📢 Young people from 9 European countries have created a policy paper demanding systemic changes for youth work. With 28 recommendations on funding, recognition, and inclusion, this is a wake-up call for European youth policy. Find out what they are asking decision-makers to do and how you can amplify these messages here ➡️ https://www.jugendfuereuropa.de/vernetzungen-weiterbildung/growing-youth-work/news/news-detail/a-wake-up-call-from-the-grassroots-for-european-youth-policy. ✊

13/04/2026

How do we transform pressing issues into compelling political campaigns? Participants of the International Lobbying Training explored how they can make a change at the European policy level. The results of the training were five concrete campaign concepts, including initiatives for accessible mental health care, anti-racism reporting structures in schools, and inclusive healthcare for all. 📢🌍🤝

The training was set up and evaluated to ensure meaningful youth participation and representation regardless of background, income, or formal education paths.

We'd like to highlight how this training was implemented:

🔹Rooted in real problems: This training welcomed participants from several European countries to explore international advocacy and lobby work by connecting local realities with the European policy level.
🔸Focussed on peer learning: Participants focused on learning from each other, strengthening our approaches, and shaping a shared vision for meaningful youth participation across Europe.
🔹Include hands on learning beyond the training: After the training participants continued to work together in small groups to build their own advocacy campaign

🔗The full training report is now available on our website, so don't miss out on the campaign templates, detailed method descriptions, and learning how the peer to peer approach can be implemented: https://generationeurope.org/en/2026/04/15/international-lobbying-training-getting-involved-with-a-plan/

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The International Lobby Training was hosted and organised by our partners KIRKO S.E. in Thessaloniki, Greece. It is part of a capacity-building phase of our KA2 project Youth Voices Rising, which intents to support young individuals in planning and carrying out their own advocacy initiatives. Our project Youth Voices Rising has the goal to strengthen young people's confidence to speak up for them and their peers by turning youth concerns into concrete advocacy actions and by building long-term cooperation across countries.

19/12/2025

📌 Second International Project Meeting of Youth Voices Rising

With our partners of Youth Voices Rising, we had our second international project meeting and reviewed the progress made since our last one in September. The main message is clear: the cooperation is strong, the work is on track, and the motivation remains high.

🔹Since the first physical meeting in Walberberg, all planned tasks were completed successfully. This includes a needs analysis (research that identifies the needs, challenges, and expectations of young people) and the quality management control (tools and processes that check and improve our work).

🔸We further developed the delegation system, which defines how young people represent their peers in advocacy and policy-related settings.

🔹Our two upcoming multiplier training sessions are on a good track:
* January in Greece
* February in Germany (& the applications are still open until January 7)

🔸And we look forward to many more throughout the next year. Our local lobbying trainings: activities that prepare young people to engage in dialogue with decision-makers at the local level.

While a significant amount of work still lies ahead, the timeline is well structured and realistic. We will continue ourvcoordination through online meetings and are already looking forward to meet again for our 3rd international project meeting in Budapest in April. Thank you to all of our partners and a restful holiday season ✨

🔗 Learn more about Youth Voices Rising here:�https://generationeurope.org/en/youth-voices/

10/11/2025

Last week marked an important milestone for our project: 15 young participants from 9 European countries presented their policy paper draft to a panel of invited stakeholders at a round table organised in collaboration with the European Policy Center in Brussels. 🇪🇺

🔸Among the participants were representatives from European youth networks, the European Commission, and the European Council, who engaged in a lively discussion on how young people can shape policies that directly affect them.

🔹The moderation of the round table discussion was in the hands of the youngest member of the IBB team, guiding the conversation with the questions and inputs that the group prepared together during our preparation day.

🔸This roundtable showed once again how crucial it is to put young people at the centre of decision-making and to give them the tools to speak up with confidence.

The feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive, and we now move forward to finalising and disseminating our policy paper. We want to thank each participant again for their contributions.