DYPALL Network at the European Youth Week 2026

DYPALL Network, together with members of the Steering Group and ENLYC partners, met in Brussels during the Semaine européenne de la jeunesse, which ran from 24 April – 1 May, for discussions and exchanges on youth participation and local democracy.

Organised every two years by the European Commission, the European Youth Week brings together young people, youth organisations, institutions, and stakeholders from across Europe around questions connected to participation, active citizenship, and youth engagement. The 2026 edition, centred on the themes of solidarity et fairness, officially opened at the European Parliament in Brussels with a kick-off event gathering around 1,000 participants, mainly young people and representatives from institutions and youth organisations. The programme combined an initial plenary discussion followed by workshops, networking activities, thematic sessions, and smaller spaces for exchange focused on democratic engagement. This edition also marked the 30th anniversary of EU-supported volunteering initiatives.

During the European Youth Week, DYPALL organised several activities, namely the DYPALL Steering Group Meeting, le ENLYC Working Group Meeting, le international seminar “The role of Local Youth Councils in Europe – Strengthening Local Democracies”, and joined a roundtable discussion with EESC Youth Representatives focused on meaningful youth participation in practice.

On Friday, the 24th, during the EESC meeting, participants, youth representatives and youth experts actively engaged in participatory processes had the opportunity to share experiences and foster exchange on good practices to support youth participation.

On Monday, the 27th, DYPALL’s Steering Group members had the opportunity to meet in person for the first time in 2026. The meeting provided space to discuss broader developments within DYPALL Network and exchange ideas on future priorities connected to youth participation, deliberative democracy, innovative democratic practices, and local engagement. During the Steering Group Meeting, one session focused specifically on deliberative democracy practices and Citizens’ Assemblies involving young people. Through examples from Spain and other international experiences, participants explored how randomly selected groups of young people can contribute to more informed and representative democratic processes in local contexts.

Over the following two days, two activities connected to the development of the European Network of Local Youth Councils (ENLYC) took place. During the first meeting, members of the ENLYC Working Group gathered to discuss the future direction of the network, while the second day took the form of the international seminar “The role of Local Youth Councils in Europe – Strengthening Local Democracies”, involving Belgian stakeholders and participants from different European contexts. Part of the discussions during these meetings focused on practical priorities for the coming period. This included ongoing developments connected to DYPALL and ENLYC, the Académie de la démocratie d'hiver, le Engage Youth Platform, and future activities linked to participation and democratic innovation.

Across the different meetings and activities, what emerged is that, despite the diversity of contexts across Europe, many of the challenges connected to youth participation are still shared. The days in Brussels also reinforced the sense that, while progress is ongoing, there is still a lot of room to improve how young people are able to influence the decisions that affect them. At the same time, these meetings created space not only for planning future activities, but also for exchanging experiences, comparing realities, et strengthening connections between people working on local democracy in very different environments, opening the way to more coordinated and stronger advocacy in the future.