PROCESS & RESULTS

How We Work

Work alongside 21 educational institutions across Europe, with young people and underrepresented communities leading the research, not just participating in it.

Bring young people’s findings directly to power: structured dialogues and co-creation sessions with over 30 European policymakers, designed to translate community insight into real policy change.

Use Community-Led Research and Action (CLRA) to identify what’s broken in local democracies and build solutions from the ground up.

Create and test inclusive democratic spaces — community councils, forums, transnational exchanges — built to outlast the project itself.

Share what works: a scalable framework for inclusive democracy, developed with and for universities, communities, and policymakers across Europe.

Core Activities

Democratic Spaces

Across partner universities and communities, we create and test spaces — councils, forums, transnational exchanges — where young people practise and shape democratic participation in real time.

Community-Led Research and Action

Young people and their communities work as co-researchers — identifying challenges in their local democracies, designing solutions, and presenting findings to the people with the power to act on them.

Policy Engagement

Youth researchers engage directly with European policymakers, bringing community-led evidence into policy conversations at local, national, and EU level.

Knowledge and Resources

We develop and share practical tools — guides, training modules, and a scalable framework for inclusive democracy — so that what works in YOUROPE can travel far beyond it.

Our Outputs

YOUROPE produces outputs across five areas — methodological, scientific, practical, creative, and policy. This page grows as the project progresses; where a specific output is available, we’ve linked it directly.

Methodology: The tools and frameworks developed through CLRA, designed to be used, adapted, and shared beyond YOUROPE.

Policy Tools:
Research and recommendations designed to influence how democracy works in practice.

  • Youth-Led Democratic Roadmaps (in development)
  • Policy Recommendations for European policymakers (in development)
  • Democratic Dialogue Map (in development)

Research & Science:
Peer-reviewed publications, cross-country studies, and community-led findings from across the consortium.

  • 1 journal article and 1 book chapter published to date
  • Cross-country CLRA research findings across 7 partner countries (in development)
  • JISC Survey — pan-European youth survey on democratic participation
  • Several academic publications in preparation

Creative Works:
Young people’s voices made visible through art, film, and storytelling.

  • Short Film Competition on Democracy and Human Rights — learn more
  • CitizenArt Exhibitions across seven partner countries (coming 2027)

Events & Showcases:
Conferences, forums, and public events where YOUROPE findings are presented and debated.

  • 30+ conference presentations across Europe to date, including at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg
  • Partner events, workshops, and transnational exchanges ongoing