At the crossroads of tradition and innovation, Europe’s democratic landscape is experiencing a meaningful transformation. Innovative participatory and deliberative democracy models in Europe are still evolving and expanding unevenly, and some regions excel as changemakers while others face unique challenges.
To support the next generation of changemakers, People Powered is leading the Democratic Innovations Accelerator (DIA) focused on mainstreaming youth participation in policymaking and governance. The program is part of the Nets4Dem project and will select up to 60 participants (20 per cohort) to receive free capacity-building assistance for designing, launching, improving, or institutionalizing participatory programs that engage youth in policymaking and governance, whether in schools, local communities, or local government, in eligible countries in:
- The European Union (EU)
- And the following countries associated with Horizon Europe: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom.
Over the course of six months, a cohort of 20 civil society and government organizations will develop and deliver an action plan for implementing and institutionalizing democratic innovations that enhance the engagement, participation, and influence of citizens — particularly youth — in democratic processes. Participants will have free access to:
- A dedicated mentor to assist in the development of the action plan.
- Step-by-step resources including the Participation Playbook, our interactive, online tool for designing participatory programs.
- Practice-oriented live sessions and online courses.
- International peer-learning opportunities.
- An in-person workshop with fully-funded travel
Youth participation across Europe: results from our programs
- Through the Digital Democracy Accelerator, six European universities put students in charge of writing their AI policies.
- With a Rising Stars mentor, a reformer at the Czech Ministry of Health brought youth voices into health policy.
- In Berlin, a Rising Stars mentee built a gamified digital participation platform for youth.
Learn about past DIA participants!
Application process
- Read through the program requirements and selection criteria below.
- Complete the application form by November 27, 2026, 11:59 pm UTC (check your time zone here).
Timeline
- October 7–November 27, 2026: Application period
- December 2026: Selected participants are notified.
- January 2027: Onboarding.
- February 2027: Program begins.
- July 2027: Program ends.
- August–September 2027: Participants share learnings.
- September 2027–August 2028: Participants implement their action plan.
Learn more about the program here.
Funded in part by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EU Horizon. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Photo credits to Vera Arzumanyan, AUBG alumnus
