The Future of ENLYC: Insights from the Brussels Meeting DYPALL Network, together with members of the ENLYC Working Group ja project partners, met in Brussels for two days of discussions and exchange around the development of the European Network of Local Youth Councils (ENLYC), within the framework of the Engage, Connect and Empower Local Youth Councils in Europe (ECE-LYCE) projekt. The group was hosted by the Bureau International Jeunesse (BIJ), a Belgian National Youth Agency. Beyond being an institution that supports international youth mobility and projects, BIJ also offers a space where young people and organisations can come together, work, and experiment. On the first day, an internal meeting with the ENLYC Working Group members gave us space to assess the current state of the network. Working Group members shared updates from their own realities, which are quite diverse across Europe: some are working within strong legal frameworks, others in much more informal settings. Common topics included mapping what exists, strengthening cooperation, and trying to make sure Local Youth Councils are not just present, but actually taken seriously in local decision-making. An important part of the conversation was ENLYC’s future direction. There is a shared sense that the network is growing beyond its initial informal phase, and that in the long run, a more structured and independent entity will be needed to support that growth. Participants discussed what this could look like in practice: whether to expand the Working Group, how governance could evolve, and how to include more perspectives — not only from European-level institutions, but also from research actors and from underrepresented regions. Alongside this, the group started preparing the first European Network Conference of ENLYC, which will take place during DYPALL’s Winter Democracy Academy 2026. The idea is to keep it very practical: reduce space for formal speeches and focus more on peer learning, skills development, and exchange between people working on youth participation across different contexts. The second day was structured with an open seminar involving Belgian stakeholders. Here, the focus shifted more towards practice and the lived experiences of youth participation. Different Belgian models were presented, each with its own strengths and tensions. In Flanders, for example, Local Youth Councils are mandatory at the municipal level, which gives them a solid institutional base. At the same time, challenges remain around how much young people are actually engaged and how visible these structures are in everyday local politics. In Wallonia, the picture is more fragmented, with linguistic and institutional complexity playing a role, and organisations often stepping in to support municipalities in making participation work in practice. Looking beyond Belgium, participants also heard experiences from Taani ja Norra, alongside local examples such as the Ghent Youth Council. Despite the different systems, similar questions kept arising: how to make sure young people are really heard, how to avoid participation becoming symbolic, and how to bridge the gap between formal structures and real influence. Two workshops helped bring these questions closer to practice. One introduced a new tool that will be used to assess the quality of Local Youth Councils, looking at things like inclusion, governance, resources, and impact. The second one was more reflective and interactive, inviting participants to position themselves, share experiences, and compare how youth participation actually feels in their own contexts. By the end of the two days, a shared direction emerged: ENLYC is clearly evolving, slowly but steadily, into a space that connects different realities of youth participation across Europe.