OPEN CALL – Mentorship Programme for Activists and Cultural Practitioners (under 25)

REGISTER NOW

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 (under 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 (or more) 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 (or more) 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.
  
• 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!
  
• Thursday Feb 19, 4-5pm (CET) with Tomas Peciar
  Can lead a session in: English, Slovak, Czech
  Topics: Climate, Human Rights, sustainable transport, DIY, community and cultural centers
  What do you want to change most in society?
  I would like to minimize the hate and spread the environmental thinking around. Also, I would like people to face the racism and fascism around us.
  
• 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, 5-6pm (CET) with Celia Zayas
  Can lead a session in: English, Spanish
  Topics: Women’s rights and feminism, Human Rights
  What would be your main advice to a younger version of you in your path to activism?
  Not to be afraid, and to think out of the box. Activism isn’t a linear path and there are ways to advocate for social change in many different areas.
  
• Friday Feb 20, 6-7pm (CET) with Abbas Sbeity
  Can lead a session in: English
  Topics: Migrants rights, Social rights and justice
  What would you describe as your main achievement in your endeavour to make changes?
  I view myself as a doer and a catalyzer. In Lebanon, I founded Architects for Change, which increased awareness of social responsibility among young architects and designers; its legacy lives on today through the career paths our previous members have taken. In Sweden, I established Kulturrummet, a local neighborhood-based cultural hub that aims to bring arts and culture into dialogue with social, political, and environmental issues.
  In 2016, I was selected as one of the 16 Young Leaders for the European Commission’s European Development Days.
  
• Thursday Feb 26, 5-6pm (CET) with Nadia Della Gasperina
  Can lead a session in: English, Italian, Croatian
  Topics: Human rights, Social change
  What would be your main advice to a younger version of you in your path to activism?
  Know your limits: when you are lost like I was (and sort of still am, but less than before) and looking for change, I tended to take any opportunity, without knowing if I was going to be actually committed to it. This resulted in me sometimes disappointing the people around me, which could have been prevented if I took up only the assignments I was actually going to complete.
  
• Friday Feb 27, 5-6pm (CET), with Maximilian Rau
  Can lead a session in: English, German
  Topics: Social rights and justice. Giving young people a voice in foreign policy
  What would you describe as your main achievement in your endeavour to make changes?
  By running workshops with young people to co-ideate solutions for foreign policy challenges, I found a way to combine my creative thinking with my passion for inspiring others to bring change.
  
• Friday Feb 27, 5-6pm (CET), with Jasper Schut
  Can lead a session in: English, Dutch, German
  Topics: Climate, Social rights and justice, End war in Gaza or Ukraine or other, Housing
  What do you want to change most in society?
  I always find this a very hard question to answer, injustice is everywhere and there is no single issue I have the most affinity with. I’m however most engaged with building people power in the places where they are, be it universities, workplaces or neighborhoods. Palestine and (affordable) housing have been the the main focus of my organizing over the past year though.
  
• Friday Feb 27, 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.
  

Who is this for?

This open call is for activists and cultural practitioners under 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?

1. Choose up to three mentors
   Take a look at the mentors’ profiles and select up to three people you’d like to meet.
2. 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.
3. Wait for us to get back to you
   Once the form is closed, we’ll contact you with the next steps.
4. Prepare your questions 😉
   Think about what you’d like to talk about: doubts, ideas, struggles, or paths you’re considering.
5. 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

The programme is part of Critical ChangeLab and it 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.

What is the Critical ChangeLab?

Critical ChangeLab (CCL) is a research project led by 10 organizations across Europe. It consists of participatory action workshops and democratic education sessions centered on young people and focused on transformative change. During these sessions, young participants identify, question, and examine issues causing tensions in their daily lives, working together to imagine alternatives for a sustainable future.