Active youth participation in democratic life represents a fundamental element for strengthening inclusive and pluralistic societies. However, in many European contexts there are signs of a growing distance between younger generations and public institutions, accompanied by the perception that they have few concrete opportunities to influence decision-making processes. This gap risks fostering distrust in institutions and limiting civic engagement, particularly among adolescents and young adults.
The results of the study The Voice of Young People: Inclusion and Participation for the Future (ICEI, February 2025), conducted among young people aged 15 to 29 in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, clearly highlight this dynamic. A significant share of participants report feeling excluded from decision-making processes: in Spain, 46.2% of respondents express this perception, while in Portugal the percentage reaches 32.7%. In Italy, the phenomenon appears even more pronounced: 57.4% of young people state that they feel only “slightly listened to” and 16.2% “not listened to at all,” for a total of 73.6%.
This perception of exclusion contributes to strengthening feelings of frustration and disillusionment, particularly toward public policies targeting young people. The sense of distance from institutions is even more pronounced among those living in socio-economically marginalized conditions, for whom civic disengagement reaches particularly high levels. At the same time, the analysis highlights some gender differences: young women show a greater propensity to consider forms of civic participation, such as volunteering or engagement in youth organizations, and attribute greater importance to the promotion of inclusive societies and the reduction of inequalities. However, among young women there is also a lower level of awareness of European initiatives aimed at encouraging citizen participation in public life, highlighting the need to strengthen information and engagement activities targeting younger generations.
In this context, the project also aims to contribute to the identification and promotion of methodologies and practices adopted by municipalities that encourage more structured and meaningful youth participation in local decision-making processes.
The project involves four cities from the Network of Cities of Dialogue (Parma, Pontedera, Reggio Emilia, and Turin) in direct actions at both the local and national levels, as well as five cities in Spain and Portugal within the framework of the Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities Programme, through exchange and knowledge-sharing activities.
ICEI leads the partnership as the coordinating organization.
European Union – CERV-2025-CHILD
Through the direct involvement of municipalities, civil society organizations, and educational communities active in four Italian cities, the SPACE project aims to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to integrate methodologies that promote youth participation in municipal-level policies.
The project also seeks to strengthen the relationship of trust between young people (aged 12 to 17) and local institutions by addressing the root causes that hinder participation, particularly for minors from disadvantaged backgrounds. Educational and youth organizations—schools, civil society organizations, and other local actors of various kinds—will play a central role, as they will be involved in developing spaces for dialogue and collaboration with public institutions.
Through training activities, exchanges, and co-design processes, the project will support the development, testing, and evaluation of local strategies aimed at strengthening youth participation, with particular attention to identifying and applying effective methodologies to involve young people in decision-making processes that affect them. In this way, the initiative intends to create concrete opportunities for young people to actively contribute to local decision-making processes and influence policies that shape their everyday lives.
The activities will mainly take place in Italy but will be accompanied and enriched by a European-level dimension of exchange and learning. This component aims to strengthen the role of municipalities as key actors in promoting children’s rights within their territories and to encourage the sharing of approaches, methodologies, and good practices among European cities.
- Direct: 45 members of the involved municipalities; 65 educators and/or members of youth associations and civil society organizations; 105 minors aged 12 to 17;
- Indirect: 35,000 Italian citizens.
Project activities
Project activities will be structured through a combination of local actions and exchange opportunities at national and European levels. In the Italian cities involved, activities will include the analysis and mapping of existing youth participation practices, accompanied by consultation workshops and discussion moments between local administrations, educational communities, and young people. The project also foresees training and capacity-building activities for local actors, with particular attention to participatory methodologies and tools that support the involvement of young people in decision-making processes. Based on this work, each city will develop a local strategy to promote youth participation and strengthen mechanisms for dialogue with institutions.
Young people will also be directly involved in the implementation of pilot actions at the local level, through which they will be able to experiment with concrete forms of participation and contribute proposals and initiatives for their communities. The project will also include a participatory communication pathway, in which young people will play a leading role in designing and implementing a communication campaign aimed at promoting youth participation and disseminating the project’s results.
At the national level, two events will be organized in Parma: one addressed to the participating cities and another dedicated to the young people involved in the project, within the framework of the initiatives planned for Parma European Youth Capital 2027. At the same time, the project will promote opportunities for exchange and learning at the European level, through online meetings among the involved municipalities and a study visit to Italy by the European partner cities, aimed at sharing experiences, methodologies, and good practices related to youth participation.
RESOURCES
- IT_D.2.1. Report Stakeholders Mapping
- ENG_D.2.1. Report Stakeholders Mapping
- IT_ Event Sheet D.2.1. Stakeholders Mapping
- ENG_Event Sheet D.2.1. Stakeholders Mapping
- IT_ D.2.2. Report Analyisis existing children’s rights policies
- IT_ Event Sheet D.2.2. Analysis children’s rights policies
- ENG_Event Sheet D.2.2. Analysis children’s rights policies