AHEAD was invited to represent Spain to the International seminar "Youth participation in local communities and in democratic processes in South Europe and Euro Mediterranean Countries" that was held in Catania (Sicily) from the 17th to the 21st of November 2025.
The seminar brought together over 50 representatives from the Euro-Mediterranean region and offered a space to share practices on how to involve young people in community life and democratic processes and reflected on the methods used within European Youth Programmes to promote democratic values .
The seminar addressed several questions related to democracy and youth participation: What do we mean when we talk about democracy? Do we have the same ideas, structures, values and visions in mind? How are our concepts of democracy influenced by the specific conditions of our culture, our history and our society? Which chances do we take when we strengthen democracy? Which choices do we make?
The seminar focused on the role of policy makers and active organisations in supporting young people, considered to be significant players in bridging the two sides of the Mediterranean sea. Within the geopolitical context of the EuroMed area, cooperation becomes a greater necessity for sustaining young people’s participation through alternative methods, focusing particularly on the complexities and challenges within their local realities.
The seminar aimed to inspire participants to build up capacities, to take over responsibility in local communities and to continue their engagement in civil society, and to reinforce cooperation of civil society organisations and institution in South Europe and Mediterranean countries on the topic of youth participation and democratic processes.
The main objectives of the seminar were:
To foster more awareness about youth participation and the understanding of the concept of “meaningful youth participation and support strategic approaches and the exchange of practices, methods and tools in terms of cooperation between local authorities and civil society in the region;
To explore how to make more and better use of EU Youth Programmes to strengthen youth participation, underlining the full potential of Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps;
To offer an opportunity for exchange among several stakeholders and develop future actions and strategies;
To support and empower participants in their future work on the topic of youth participation at different levels.
For AHEAD was also an opportunity to meet with youth workers and civil society representatives from the Euro-Mediterranean area. It offered the space to share practices around youth participation and involvement of young people in democratic processes, among organisations and institutions which deal with initiatives and projects on these topics; and go deeper on reflection on methods within European Youth programmes and their impact in promoting democratic values and active citizenship among young people.
