YOUROPE IN ACTION

NEWS

27 October 2026

YOUROPE at the SWSD 2026 Conference in Nairobi

On 15 September, students from the University of Łódź organised the 1st Democratic Youth Forum as part of the YOUROPE project, bringing together nearly 130 participants to discuss challenges in education and develop ideas for change. The Forum put young people at the centre of the process, with students collaboratively
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15 September 2026

Young People Have a Voice!

On 15 September, students from the University of Łódź organised the 1st Democratic Youth Forum as part of the YOUROPE project, bringing together nearly 130 participants to discuss challenges in education and develop ideas for change. The Forum put young people at the centre of the process, with students collaboratively
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29 June 2026

What is the price of your gaze? YOUROPE at MCCT 2026

In May 2026, Patricie Kyslíková and Salim Murad represented the Czech YOUROPE team at the Midlands Conference in Critical Thought at the University of Warwick, presenting two papers connecting YOUROPE with feminist participatory research, arts-based methods, and place-based pedagogy.
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21 May 2026

Crossing Borders, Connecting Research: YOUROPE’s Transnational Conversations in Action

YOUROPE has been bringing CLRA groups from across the consortium into direct dialogue, supporting young researchers in different countries to share findings, compare approaches, and build cross-border connections.
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20 May 2026

Have Your Say: YOUROPE Launches Survey on European Citizenship for Young People

YOUROPE is inviting young people aged 16 to 30 living, working, or studying in Europe to complete a new survey on European citizenship, developed by Dr Kayden J Schumacher and student researchers at Coventry University.
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16 April 2026

Building the Infrastructure for Collaboration: YOUROPE Partners as Keynote Speakers at iHED Conference

Eva Janebová, Katherine Wimpenny, and Lucy Roberts presented as keynote speakers at the STAR Scholars Network iHED 2026 conference, drawing on YOUROPE’s experience of building professional learning communities across a 21-partner international consortium.
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5 January 2026

Democracy in Education: A Student Co-Researcher’s Perspective

Josh Pino-Graham, a design student at Coventry University and YOUROPE co-researcher, recently attended the DEMOCRAT Conference on Education for Democracy in Barcelona. There, he sat on a Q&A panel discussing how to make education more democratic. He spoke from his unique perspective as both a current student and active co-researcher.
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23 December 2025

Connecting and Building Democratic Space Across Europe: YOUROPE Consortium Gathers in Brussels

At the latest YOUROPE consortium meeting in Brussels, partners shared emerging CLRA work from Coventry and across the consortium, including co-produced community exhibitions, energy co-design projects, and the development of the CLRA-COIL framework connecting youth researchers across eight partner countries.
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18 November 2025

YOUROPE at One Year: Young People Leading Democratic Change Across Europe

A year into the YOUROPE project, partners across 21 institutions have completed their first Community-Led Research and Action cycles. This article looks at the themes young researchers chose to investigate, the outcomes produced so far, and what is coming next.
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13 November 2025

YOUROPE’s Second In-Person Meeting: A Year of Learning, and the Road Ahead

The YOUROPE consortium gathered in Brussels for its second in-person meeting, reviewing progress on Community-Led Research and Action across partner institutions and planning the next phase of the project.
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5 November 2025

University of Łódź Student at the World Forum for Democracy in Strasbourg!

University of Łódź student Zuzanna Szymańska represented the University at the World Forum for Democracy 2025 in Strasbourg, contributing to debates on inclusive and participatory democracy. Her participation was supported through the YOUROPE project, where she researches discriminatory practices affecting young people in the workplace.
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22 October 2025

Youth Voices at the Council of Europe: YOUROPE at the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

YOUROPE researchers Oliwer and Wiktoria participated in the Council of Europe’s ceremony marking the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty in Strasbourg, reading a poem written by a young immigrant from Senegal and managing the Facebook live stream of the event.
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Framework and Toolkit

Youth-informed theory and a practical EU Citizenship Toolkit
 
Where the road leads: a grassroots-informed theoretical framework on European citizenship and democracy, built from the ground up on youth perspectives, and a youth-centred EU Citizenship Toolkit that turns these insights into practical resources for educators, youth workers and young people themselves. Results are expected in 2027.
Coming Soon

Main Survey

Measuring what matters, in language grounded in youth voices
 
The findings of the exploratory survey feed directly into the design of the main survey: a larger instrument grounded in young people’s own language, experiences and priorities. Instead of asking young people to respond to researchers’ categories, the main survey measures what matters in terms young people themselves have shaped.
Coming Soon

Exploratory Youth Survey

Learning from young people in their own words
 
Rather than starting from predefined assumptions, YOUROPE wants to learn directly from young people in their own words. This exploratory survey invites young people across Europe to share their views and experiences on citizenship, democracy, participation, inclusion and digital life. It is anonymous, voluntary, available in nine languages, and takes 10–15 minutes: an important first step in a co-creation process that places youth voices at the centre of the research.
JISC Survey

Research Foundations

Policy analysis and systematic literature review

Every roadmap needs a starting point. WP3 began with two parallel strands of research: a policy analysis mapping how youth citizenship and democratic participation are addressed across Europe, and a systematic literature review of what existing research tells us about young people, democracy and participation. Together, these form the evidence base of WP3 and are published as part of the WP3 report.
WP3 report

Dialogue Map

Turning findings into conversations on the dimensions of democratic life 
 
Building on the research findings, the team in Augsburg developed the Dialogue Map: a tool that turns what we learned into conversations. It is organised around key dimensions of democratic life, from youth voice and European citizenship to participation, inclusion and digital citizenship, each with a key question and discussion prompts to open up dialogue with and among young people.
Dialogue Map

D6 · Dimension

Digital Citizenship

Digital environments as civic and political space

KEY QUESTION
What does it mean to be a citizen online?
DISCUSSION PROMPTS
  • What do you do online that could influence others or public issues — even in small ways?
  • Do you feel that what you see online is shaped by algorithms or platforms? Can you give an example?
  • Where online do you feel like an active citizen — and where do you feel like just a user?

D5 · Dimension

Inclusion and Justice

Structural inequalities and intersecting identities

KEY QUESTION

Do you think everyone has equal opportunities to participate in society?

DISCUSSION PROMPTS
  • Who is often excluded or overlooked in your community — and why do you think that is?
  • What rules, habits, or systems make participation harder for some people than others?
  • What would need to change for participation to be fairer and more inclusive?

D4 · Dimension

Participation and Power

Procedural vs. substantive participation

KEY QUESTION

When does participation actually make a difference in your life?

DISCUSSION PROMPTS
  • Describe a situation where you participated — in a council, survey, protest, vote — but it led to no change. What did that feel like?
  • Where do you feel you genuinely have influence? At school, at home, online, in your city?
  • What is the difference between being asked for your opinion and actually having a say?

D3 · Dimension

European Citizenship

Europe as lived democratic space

KEY QUESTION
What does ‘Europe’ mean to you in your everyday life?
DISCUSSION PROMPTS
  • What does 'European Citizenship' mean to you? Describe it in a few words — or say what it doesn't mean to you.
  • Do you feel connected to Europe? Why, or why not?
  • What would need to change for Europe to feel more real or relevant to you?

D2 · Dimension

Youth Voice & Knowledge

Young people as knowers, not just learners

KEY QUESTION

Do you feel that young people’s voices and experiences are taken seriously?

DISCUSSION PROMPTS
  • Are there things you know or experience that are not taken seriously in school or in society?
  • When do you feel your opinion is genuinely valued — and when is it ignored?
  • Think of a moment when you were heard. What made that possible? And a moment when you weren't — what got in the way?