Youth Decide 2040 - Rethinking Europe’s Future with Young Citizens
- heleneramaroson
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Design - Strategy - Training
What kind of Europe do young people want to live in by 2040?
This question lies at the heart of YouthDecide 2040, a large-scale European project that places young citizens at the centre of democratic reflection. At a time when trust in political institutions is fragile and many young people feel disconnected from decision-making, the project proposes a different approach: listening seriously to youth voices and giving them the space, tools and legitimacy to shape long-term public choices.
Across Europe, young people are already deeply concerned about the future, raising their voices on topics such as climate change, social justice, democratic rights, economic security and more. Yet their perspectives are often underrepresented in political processes, especially when it comes to long-term policymaking.
YouthDecide 2040 seeks to change that…
A European project rooted in participation
YouthDecide 2040 is a collaborative initiative bringing together eleven partners from across Europe, including research institutions, civil society organizations and democratic innovation actors. Together, they aim to explore how youth participation can meaningfully inform European policy debates and democratic renewal.
The project combines research, citizen participation and deliberative processes to better understand young people’s political priorities, values and expectations. It does not treat youth as a single, homogeneous group, but instead recognizes the diversity of experiences, backgrounds and political realities across Europe.
By doing so, YouthDecide 2040 contributes to a broader reflection on how democracy can better integrate future-oriented perspectives.
Coordinating on behalf of the European University Institute
Among the project’s partners is the European University Institute (EUI), based in Florence. As Europe’s postgraduate and postdoctoral university dedicated to the social sciences and humanities, the EUI brings strong academic expertise to the project, particularly in the fields of political behaviour, democratic arenas and public priorities.
Within YouthDecide 2040, the EUI focuses on democratic innovation. Its contribution helps connect citizens’ perspectives with rigorous academic research to ensure that the project’s findings are both grounded and analytically robust.
The coordination of the project on behalf of the EUI is led by Jonathan Moskovic. He co-coordinates with Kalypso Nicolaidis and Andrea Gaiba the Institute’s contribution, ensures coherence between research and participatory components, and facilitates collaboration with the other European partners.
His work focuses on bridging theory and practice by translating academic insights into participatory designs, and ensuring that citizen deliberation processes remain transparent, inclusive and impactful. This coordination role is fully aligned with What about Dem’s broader mission of strengthening democracy through citizen-led and deliberative approaches.
Looking towards 2040
YouthDecide 2040 is ultimately about time horizons. Democratic systems often struggle to take long-term perspectives seriously, especially those of younger generations who will live with the consequences of today’s decisions.
By creating structured spaces for youth deliberation and connecting them with research and policy discussions, the project offers a concrete response to this challenge. It shows that democracy can be both forward-looking and inclusive, IF institutions are willing to listen !
In doing so, YouthDecide 2040 contributes to a broader European conversation around the question of how to renew democracy by trusting citizens, and especially young citizens, with the future.
