The partner organisations of Youth Voices Rising gathered in Budapest to evaluate the project’s progress and coordinate the next steps. The Subjective Values Foundation welcomed the European consortium to the Hungarian capital to take stock of the project’s progress so far.
Among other things, the participants reviewed the international training sessions in Thessaloniki and Bad Liebenzell. The bottom line: it’s working. Young people demonstrate enormous potential when they are given the right tools to get involved. The partners also planned how to combine the binding European framework with flexible local approaches. This ensures high quality across borders, whilst allowing organisations to adapt their work to local realities.
Next up are the Local Lobbying Training sessions in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Greece and Spain. At the same time, preparations are beginning for the Social Media Training sessions, which focus on digital communication as a tool for advocacy.
Real Hurdles, Real Stages
A key topic of the meeting was also an interim review of the Youth Delegate Programme. The experiences of recent months show that access to high-level events often involves massive structural and bureaucratic barriers for young people. Yet this is exactly where the project comes in. When closed doors prevent participation, we forge new paths or simply create our own spaces for dialogue on equal terms. The strategy is working: delegates from the network have now taken part in a series of events and put forward their demands.
Next Milestones
By the end of June, the dates for the local lobbying training sessions in the six partner countries are to be finalised. Under the coordination of the partner organisation YouthCoop from Portugal, the young delegates will continue to receive active support. In September, the European network will then come together for the next International Project Meeting in Greece. Another important decision is on the agenda there: in addition to the existing plans, the project partners are currently considering whether an additional European stakeholder event might be feasible in spring 2027.
For more information about the project, the partner organisations and the delegate programme, visit youth-voices.eu.
