Jan 28, 2026
OPEN CALL – Mentorship Programme for Activists and Cultural Practitioners (18-25 yo)
February 2026
One session. Your questions. A real conversation.
There is a moment – usually quiet, often confusing – when activism stops being an idea and starts becoming a question.
How do I start?
How do I continue?
Where do I place myself?
Who do I learn from, without copying?
How do I stay alive, politicised, and not burned out?
This mentorship programme starts exactly there.
European Alternatives launches an open call for young activists and cultural practitioners (18–25) who are already (or not yet) navigating political, artistic, and social engagement, and who are looking for time, space, and dialogue rather than ready-made answers.
What is the Mentorship Programme?
The programme offers one-to-one online mentoring sessions with activists, artists, and organisers working across Europe on issues such as democracy, feminism, climate justice, anti-racism, migration, and cultural practice.
Each participant will book one session with a mentor of their choice: a moment to ask questions, reflect on doubts, share experiences, and think through next steps together.
Who are the mentors?
The mentors are not abstract “experts”.
They are people who have been, and still are, inside movements, contradictions, failures, and collective processes.
Some mentors are also public voices, with active online communities, bridging grassroots work and digital spaces, helping the programme reach further, while staying grounded.
You choose who you want to talk to, when and why.
- Friday 13 Feb, 5-6pm (CET) with Anna Hakman
Can lead a session in: English, Russian, Bulgarian
Topics: Women’s rights and feminism, Migrants rights, Social rights and justice, End war in Gaza or Ukraine or other
What do you want to change most in society?
I want to change the way society sees refugees and migrants – not as a burden, but as people with strength, talents, dignity and potential. I want systems to become more human, accessible and trauma-informed. And above all, I want children – no matter where they were born, to grow in safety, to feel accepted, and to have the same opportunities as anyone else. - Friday 13 Feb, 6-7pm (CET) with Dina Ntziora
Can lead a session in: English, Greek
Topics: Migrants rights
At what age and how did you enter into “activism”?
I entered into activism in my early twenties, just after completing my MSc in Development, Administration and Planning at the University of Bristol in 2004. My first job was with the local City Council in Bristol, working in the Arts Department. I started as an Administration Assistant for socially engaged arts programmes that supported communities facing different kinds of vulnerabilities. As I learned more, I soon moved into the role of Arts Officer, working directly with communities and seeing first-hand how powerful and transformative art and culture can be, especially for people who don’t usually have the privilege or access to cultural spaces. That experience opened my eyes. I realised how deeply art can support people’s well-being, strengthen their sense of belonging, and help them find a voice in society. Looking back, that was the moment my passion for arts as a tool for activism and social change truly began. - Friday Feb 20, 5-6pm (CET) with Szmo Kacprzak
Can lead a session in: English, Polish
Topics: Climate, Migrants rights, Social rights and justice, Human Rights
What do you want to change most in society?
I want people to think that the quality of our societies should be measured not by our technology or accumulated wealth, but rather by how well we care about the weakest and the most vulnerable of us. I’d like people to take pride not in their ruthlessness but rather in empathy and solidarity. - Friday Feb 20, 6-7pm (CET) with Massimo Rotunno
Can lead a session in: English, Italian
Topics: Climate, Social rights and justice
What would you describe as your main achievement in your endeavour to make changes?
As a political consultant, make a young underdog politician receive more than 17K votes in the EU elections. - Saturday Feb 14, 3pm-4pm (CET) with Diana Georgieva
Can lead a session in: English, Bulgarian
Topics: Women’s rights and feminism, Migrants rights, Social rights and justice, Human Rights
What would be your main advice to a younger version of you in your path to activism?
Be reasonable. Investigate both opinions of supporters and critics of an initiative and take steps towards the direction that makes you motivated day by day and you are in love with it!
Who is this for?
This open call is for activists and cultural practitioners aged 18–25
- engaged (or trying to engage) with social, political, artistic or community-based work
- navigating questions around participation, direction, sustainability, and future pathways
- who want dialogue, not prescriptions
You don’t need to be “experienced enough”.
You just need to be already asking questions.
How does it work?
- Choose up to three mentors
Take a look at the mentors’ profiles and select up to three people you’d like to meet. - Fill in the application form
Share your basic details and tell us which mentors you’ve chosen, and why you want to join the mentorship. - Wait for us to get back to you
Once the form is closed, we’ll review all applications and contact you with the next steps. - Prepare your questions 😉
Think about what you’d like to talk about: doubts, ideas, struggles, or paths you’re considering. - Have your session!
Join the online mentoring session and take the time for a real, focused conversation.
Why an open call?
Because mentoring is a political act of transmission.
Because time, care, and attention are resources worth redistributing.
Because young activists don’t need motivation: they need recognition, listening, and trust.
This programme is intentionally time-bound, situated, and participant-led.
One session can already shift a trajectory.
REGISTER NOW!
Any questions? Ask Segolene s.pruvot@euroalter.com or Noemi n.pittala@euroalter.com
About European Alternatives
The programme is run by European Alternatives, a transnational civil society organisation working for democracy, equality, and culture beyond the nation-state.
For over 20 years, European Alternatives has supported movements, assemblies, cultural projects, and political imaginaries across Europe, always starting from lived experience and collective practice.
