OPEN CALL FOR YOUNG ACTIVISTS | YMCA 2025

Youth Movement & Campaign Accelerator

APPLY NOW!

The crises of our time are transnational. Climate change knows no borders, inequality and precarity affect all societies, and the consequences can feel overwhelming. Anxiety, powerlessness, and even despair can prevent us from engaging in politics and shaping our shared future.

The Youth Movement & Campaign Accelerator (YMCA), co-funded by the European Union, offers young people across Europe the opportunity to engage in and strengthen European democracy. By connecting local and national struggles to EU-level policymaking, the YMCA builds a transnational network of engaged young leaders, bridging the gap between citizens, frontline communities, and European institutions.

Over the course of eight months, participants will:

• Learn how to organize communities and identify pressing issues
• Develop skills to design collective solutions and campaigns
• Put learning into practice by creating a concrete community action (such as an artivist intervention, a citizen assembly, a podcast, a publication, or a public event)

How it works

• Online: regular training sessions, peer learning, and shared resources via digital tools
• Offline: an in-person Bootcamp in December 2025, followed by a public event on youth engagement
  Travel costs will be partly reimbursed

The YMCA draws on the expertise of trainers, community organizers, and professionals across Europe, including members of the European Alternatives and Understanding Europe networks, as well as guest experts committed to strengthening youth participation in democracy.

Who we are looking for

We are building a cohort of 30 young activists (ages 18–30) from across the EU who:

• Have shown leadership in their community (e.g. solving common problems, improving people’s lives)
• Care about how issues are linked across borders
• Live in an EU country and can communicate in English
• Can dedicate 2–3 hours per week to the programme

We particularly encourage applications from:
LGBTQ+ activists, young people from minority communities, and participants from outside major urban centres.

How to apply

Fill out the APPLICATION FORM
by September 17th!

And share the call with your friends!

Become part of a transnational network of solidarity, action, and change!

Any questions?

Contact m.zekagh@euroalter.com