Today, April 9th, 2025, at CRPE, we had the pleasure of talking with 15 organizations from Romania that work with and for young people. We’re glad we got to spend a few hours together to exchange ideas, resources, and methods for increasing youth engagement, especially around environmental protection and climate action.
We discussed how we can better support young people’s civic participation through green initiatives and took a tour of the resources developed within the EmpowerYouth project: from CRPE’s board game Ecoville, to an educational toolkit focused on civic involvement and environmental education, designed to be used in schools or by NGOs.
Civic resources for the youth
The participating organizations shared their own inspiring initiatives: from green workshops in high schools, to organizing festivals and robotics courses, educational kits, and youth support programs, like the well-kown Fondul Științescu. We explored what methods work best when working directly with young people, what challenges arise in the dialogue with schools or local authorities, and how we can adapt our messaging to better resonate with youth.
It became clear that there’s already a lot of energy and expertise within this network. That’s why we’re committed to continuing our collaboration, sharing resources, and co-creating new opportunities for youth civic engagement.
Growing youth engagement in communities
The workshop was organized as part of the EmpowerYouth project. CRPE works with partner organizations in Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Armenia, and Georgia to support youth organizations, fund and develop small youth-led civic initiatives at local level, and implement a long-term mentorship and support program.
You can find out more about the project here: EmpowerYouth: Increasing Youth Participation in Public Decision-Making.
We are selecting Romanian youth organizations to be part of the project—check out our open call here: Call for Youth Organizations from Romania.
We’ll soon be launching the Ecoville board game and making the educational toolkit publicly available.
A big thank you to all participants for their energy, ideas, and presence!
#EmpowerYouth #CRPE #YouthForClimate #CivicEducation #BoardGame #Ecoville #GoodPractices #YouthNGOs
________________________________________
About the project:
The EmpowerYouth project aims to support youth engagement through climate action—a topic that resonates strongly with young people and can serve as a catalyst for broader civic participation. Unfortunately, low youth engagement remains a challenge across both EU and non-EU countries, with limited dialogue between youth and decision-makers and low electoral participation, despite strong interest in issues like climate and the environment. To address this, the project seeks to strengthen youth civic engagement by building the capacity of at least 80 youth organizations in Romania, Moldova, Georgia, and Armenia, and by supporting local green initiatives.
Through non-formal learning, knowledge sharing, and partnerships with civil society and public authorities, the project equips young people with tools to influence public policies. By promoting cross-border cooperation, we aim to support EU and national efforts through innovative and transnational approaches aligned with the EU Youth Agenda.
Co-funded by the European Union. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
