News

YOUROPE Presents Community-Led Research at ANGEL Conference 2025

5 July 2025

In June 2025, YOUROPE researcher Luca Morini presented his work on participatory mapping and playful design methods at the ANGEL Conference in Berlin, sparking new connections with fellow European democracy projects and reinforcing the value of community-led approaches to youth engagement.

The YOUROPE project reached new audiences when researcher Luca Morini, Associate Professor at Coventry University, presented his work at the ANGEL Conference 2025 in Berlin on 5th June. The event brought together over 200 researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to explore how research can support democracy, peace, human rights, sustainability, and social justice.

Research Meets Practice

Luca’s presentation focussed on two years of research into participatory mapping and playful design methods. His work demonstrates how playful, co-creative approaches help people critique and reimagine dysfunctional systems. These methods facilitate cross-cultural conversations on sustainability, democracy, and migration whilst promoting systems thinking and planetary citizenship.

Community-Led Research Takes Centre Stage

At the heart of Luca’s presentation was the Community-Led Research and Action (CLRA) methodology being developed within YOUROPE. These approaches empower young people to drive real change in their communities, perfectly aligning with the conference’s focus on democratic participation.

“I had the privilege of sharing insights about how these methods give young people the power to shape their communities,” Luca reflected. “The response showed how much appetite there is for approaches that move beyond teaching about democracy to creating real opportunities for democratic engagement.”

Building European Networks

The presentation attracted significant interest from partners in the DEMOCRAT project, another Horizon Europe initiative focussed on Education for Democracy. This positive contact highlighted how YOUROPE’s community-led approach complements broader European efforts to make democracy more inclusive and responsive.

Complementary Approaches to Democratic Engagement

Whilst DEMOCRAT focusses on formal education curricula, YOUROPE takes a grassroots, community-led approach rooted in local contexts. Both projects, however, share a fundamental recognition: young people need real opportunities to engage with democracy, not just learn about it in the classroom.

A Growing Movement

The conference reinforced that YOUROPE’s emphasis on community-led research and action contributes to a growing European movement ensuring democracy works for everyone—especially young people often excluded from decisions shaping their lives. Through events like the ANGEL Conference, these innovative methodologies continue to inspire new collaborations and democratic participation across Europe.

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?