Hard facts took centre stage at the second transnational project meeting of Youth Voices Rising at the European Youth Education and Exchange Centre Weimar in Weimar, Germany. Representatives from the nine partner organisations across six countries evaluated a comprehensive Needs Analysis and planned how to put its findings into youth work practice.
In keeping with the project’s philosophy of “listen first, act second”, Caroline Gutke and Laura Erhan from the EJBW presented the results of their pan-European survey.The data paints a clear picture: young people’s motivation to get involved in politics and confidently represent their interests is high. What is often lacking, however, are the right tools and access points. The analysis makes it clear that young people need, above all, interactive, inclusive training formats, safe spaces for exchange and reliable mentoring in order to make their voices heard effectively.
Direct Implementation
These findings will now form the foundation of our work and will be incorporated into the design of the next major milestones: the International Lobbying Training with our partner Kirko in Thessaloniki, Greece in January and the Multiplier Training for Local Lobbyists in February at the International Forum Burg Liebenzell (IFBL), Germany. Each module, as well as the newly developed delegation system for young people, will now be adapted to meet the real-world needs of the target group.
A Busy Schedule
Alongside the content-related work on the training sessions, another focus was on joint quality management. The aim was to use specific tools to ensure that collaboration within the network is not only efficient but also consistently inclusive and critical of discrimination.
The working atmosphere during the days in Weimar was intense, focused and productive. Although the project’s schedule is tight and the organisations face complex tasks, the overall feeling was a sense of certainty that we are on a clearly structured path together. The framework for an intensive project year in 2026 is in place. The network is motivated to translate the newly gained insights into measurable participation over the coming months and to further strengthen young people’s voices in Europe.
You can find out more about the methods, partner organisations and the background to the project on our Youth Voices Rising project page.