A year into the YOUROPE project, the consortium gathered once again in Brussels — this time not to launch, but to reflect, deepen, and plan.

On 12 and 13 November 2025, partners convened at Coventry University’s Brussels Hub for the project’s second in-person meeting. The agenda brought together two full days of collaborative work: reviewing progress on Community-Led Research and Action methodologies, including both CLRA cycles and CLRA Coils; connecting with Project Officers to discuss findings and next steps; and mapping the work ahead for the coming two years.

A year of youth-led research

The meeting offered a moment to take stock of what had been built since the project’s kick-off in Brussels a year earlier. Since then, dozens of young researchers across the consortium had led their own investigations into the issues that matter most to them — from disappearing community spaces and youth mental health to discrimination, cyberbullying, and young people’s visions for a better Europe.

Their findings had not stayed within the walls of universities. Youth voices had been heard at local level, preserved in poetry collections, and amplified at the Council of Europe. They had challenged assumptions, created counter-narratives, and provided a living demonstration of what youth-led democratic participation looks like in practice.

Building on solid foundations

With Year One’s groundwork in place, the Brussels meeting turned its attention to deepening what works and expanding its reach. Two years remain — and the ambition is for the best work to be ahead. The YOUROPE consortium leaves Brussels not only with a clearer shared understanding of its progress, but with renewed commitment to creating the conditions in which young people can truly lead the conversation.