Project Report for the Regional Youth Compact for Europe

Year of publication: 2021
Authors: Nataša Vučković, Ivan Kuzmanović
Available in following language: English

With the conclusion of the project titled Regional Youth Compact for Europe, or RYCE, a report has been published which details the achievements of the project during it’s 3-year duration- which you can download right here within the contents of this very article. The production of this publication has been financially supported by the European Union.

Beginning in Spring 2018, the purpose of this project is to further enhance the roles of civil society organisations in policy design and monitoring of the EU integration process in the Western Balkans region, along with further youth mobilization in these realms. The project brought the process of EU integration into more prominence on a local level, through activities such as facilitating dialogue, workshops, conferences, awareness spreading, etc. and worked to teach and promote to many young people the importance of European values. It is important to be able to create a culture of involvement among the youth, especially locally.

The Balkan Network for Local Democracy, or BNLD, is a regional network that promotes local development and participation, and good democratic principles within the Western Balkan region, founded by the European Association for Local Democracy, or ALDA. It was established in 2019 and has supported the RYCE project. It was previously largely an informal network of local democracy agencies prior to its foundation.

The main targets of this project were CSOs and youth organisations. As these groups are important for spreading information and monitoring on the local level and often national, the project had a special objective in connecting them and encouraging greater monitoring. It can be seen that a strong partnership between CSOs involved in EU integration and CSOs that work primarily on the local level is an effective step in creating a regional network of CSOs.

The groups and partners involved in this project proved to be experienced and committed, particularly the LDAs and their key advocation roles. The partners also proved to be coordinated and effective even in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.  For the stakeholders involved, structured dialogue was hosted, and the partners were still able to promote their values and facilitate capacity-building.

The successes of this project have shown that the Balkan Network for Local Democracy and ALDA and its members have a role to play in the Western Balkans and will continue to empower local communities and the youth. Not only that, but it was a productive experience for those involved and a good sign of things to come.