YOUTH-LEAP addresses the growing gap between young people and local governance by fostering active civic engagement, peer mentorship, and structured dialogue. The initiative aims to transform youth perspectives into actionable local policies while equipping young citizens with leadership, advocacy, and digital skills.
Training Participation Enablers (PENs) aged 24–30 to act as peer mentors and guide local youth in decision-making processes.
Creating safe and structured spaces for young people—including underrepresented groups—to collaborate directly with municipalities.
YOUTH-LEAP combines capacity building, local action plans, research, and interactive tools to build a sustainable youth participation model.
Comprehensive training modules for Participation Enablers in lobbying, campaigning, media literacy, and communication.
Establishing active local youth teams (PACTs) and sub-working groups to tackle local challenges in collaboration with municipalities.
Developing an educational board game and practical toolkits to explore youth participation dimensions across cultures.
Led by METU, evaluating field experience through academic publications, impact assessment, and policy recommendation reports.
A structured 27-month framework driving youth leadership from grassroots empowerment to European policy impact.
Building the Next Generation of Enablers
Identifying dynamic young leaders and equipping Participation Enablers (PENs) with key competences in advocacy, lobbying, political philosophy, and digital campaigning to lead local change.
Co-Creating Solutions with Municipalities
Mobilizing local youth through collaborative sessions and stakeholder workshops to co-design actionable policy solutions addressing community-specific social challenges.
Cross-Cultural Tools & Mentoring Systems
Establishing sustainable peer-mentoring networks, testing interactive youth participation tools across borders, and fostering European dialogue through international mobility.
Shaping Sustainable Youth Governance
Forming thematic youth working groups, producing scientific publications, and presenting a validated EU Youth Participation Model to policy-makers across Europe.
The project consortium consists of a total of 8 organizations from Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, and Türkiye, bringing together universities, youth NGOs, and local municipalities.
Project Number: 2024-1-IT03-KA220-YOU-000247653
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the National Agency. Neither the European Union nor National Agency can be held responsible for them.
