YOUROPE - Visionary roadmaps: crafting an inclusive and participatory european democracy with youth and communities (Youth for Europe / YOUROPE)

Project overview

European democracy is presently challenged by the rise of authoritarianism, political extremism, misinformation, and the decreasing engagement of (underrepresented) youth.

YOUROPE is dedicated to reinvigorating European democracy by enhancing inclusivity and participation, particularly focusing on underrepresented youth and their communities.

This will be achieved by establishing shared democratic spaces and roadmaps through an innovative 'Community-Led Research and Action (CLRA)' methodology in combination with quantitative methods.

The project approach aims to promote a reciprocal environment of learning and action within educational institutions, particularly schools and universities, recognizing their significant role in advancing European citizenship and democracy.

The project values and activities will work to ensure that strategies employed during the lifetime of the study are grounded in evidence, are sustainable, iterative, extensive in scale, and fundamentally participatory. Educational institutions (schools and universities) are pivotal in this effort, acting as catalysts for democratic engagement.

In these settings, young individuals and their communities will collaboratively develop inclusive, participatory democratic spaces and roadmaps. YOUROPE will implement this approach in 21 school and university settings, involving 630 young individuals and 6300 community members, connecting them directly with over 30 European policymakers.

The project's vision extends far beyond its immediate timeframe, intending to establish a basis for continuous research and action on future democratic scenarios for Europe.

Project objectives

The main objective of this action is to demonstrate the efficacy of the 'Community-Led Research and Action (CLRA)' methodology to foster democratic spaces within educational institutions and develop sustainable and inclusive roadmaps from these spaces that connect (underrepresented) youth and their communities to European policymaking and as such actively shape inclusive scenarios for European democracy.

The sub-objectives of the project are as follows:

1. To establish democratic spaces within educational institutions with (underrepresented) youth and their communities through ‘community-led research action (CLRA)’ methodology
2. To develop a critical analysis of prevailing notions of European citizenship and democracy in policies and curricula.
3. To create an inclusive conceptual framework of European citizenship and democracy based on grassroots enactment of European citizenship by (underrepresented) youth and their communities.
4. To make European policymaking inclusive through the development of democratic roadmaps linking policymakers and European citizens, especially youth and those from underrepresented backgrounds.
5. To make these democratic roadmaps sustainable to continually influence European policymaking from the local level and, as such, contribute to an inclusive, long-term vision of European democracy.

Impact statement

The persistent gap in the European Union's policymaking process, particularly its failure to include voices from underrepresented youth, critically undermines the inclusivity and representativeness of Europe's democratic governance and policymaking.

Despite existing initiatives like the EU Youth Strategy, there is a significant lack of effective engagement with these groups, as highlighted by recent academic research. Schools and universities, often overlooked, play a crucial role in bridging this divide by empowering underrepresented youth to actively participate in the democratic process and also engage their own communities.

Targeted interventions are essential to address the challenges of discrimination, exclusion, and inequality, ensuring that these youth are actively involved in EU policymaking. YOUROPE's envisioned impact is to transform European democratic participation into a proactive, resilient, and inclusive landscape, where the voices of underrepresented youth and their communities are integral in shaping policies that affect their lives and futures.

This transformation is key to enhancing the vibrancy, resilience, and relevance of European democracy, now and in the future, making it truly reflective of its diverse youth population's aspirations and challenges. We aim to achieve this impact by engaging educational institutions in the creation of sustainable, inclusive, and participatory democratic spaces.

These spaces will amplify the diverse voices and experiences of underrepresented European youth and their communities. Additionally, we will establish democratic roadmaps originating from these spaces to sustainably connect these young individuals and their communities with EU policymakers in a collaborative approach to policymaking.

Outputs

1. Data Management Plan Guidelines for data collection, anonymisation and storage and ethical aspects of the research.
2. Project Management Plan & Handbook Procedures and tools for effective management, coordination, and successful implementation of the project.
3. Policy impact at local level Visuals and videos on the local policy impact in the 7 countries.
4. Final report: democratic spaces in action.
5. Report – research results: Report containing the results of the bibliometric and comparative study.
6. Final report: European Citizenship.
7. Manual for virtual interaction: Manual for democratic, inclusive learning and interaction and ethical data-sharing.
8. Manual CLRA-COIL for democracy: Tailored manual for CLRA-COIL to be used in the national democratic spaces for cross-country fertilisation.
9. Final report on the learning community.
10. Training manual for policy making: Manual training on how to understand and interpret local and European policies and their impact at the local level.
11. Guidelines – inclusive European policies: Guidelines on how to reach out to EP’s and how to draft and write inclusive European policies.
12. Video - the national & international sessions: Video report of the first 10 national sessions in 7 countries and the first international sessions of the European Youth Parliaments.
13. Final report on the European policy making.