The European Youth Capital 2025 programme is planned to start as soon as 2023, belongs to the recovery strategy for the whole youth sphere of Ukraine.
The first level of the plan focuses on every young person to ensure their needs to survive, live and develop. ‘Survive’ is about adapting to the current conditions of the full-scale war. ‘Live’ aims to work on how to live, act and cooperate for the recovery of Ukraine. ‘Develop’ aims to develop one’s environment and bring existing interactions to qualitatively new levels.
The second level engages groups such as NGOs, youth initiatives, church communities, national minorities, street cultures, informal groups, etc. And the last level focuses on creating and realising cooperation opportunities for youth at the local and national levels.
Lviv’s European Youth Capital programme
Lviv’s European Youth Capital programme for 2025 aims to engage the youth in high-level debates. For example, the Youth Security Forum will be an annual platform for a high-level discussion on relevant security matters, focusing on youth and their role in contributing to security issues. The Festival OL will aim to popularise science and technology. MoloDvizh Europe is a large-scale, annual 24‑hour youth event which combines training, discussions, networking, entertainment, relaxation and inspiration.
Dysarium will be a large-scale festival in creative industries and media. It will gather young people interested in this field and connect them with experts to learn more about the perspectives of work in the creative industries, improve their skills, network, etc. The main goal is to connect people from different parts of Europe who work in creative industries.
The Biennale of Volunteering is a global pan-European forum dedicated to volunteering to exchange on the volunteer movement, projects, tools of volunteer work, etc. The Congress of European Youth Capitals will be a regular event to discuss news in the field of youth policy, exchange experience, network, establish partnerships and joint projects and promote the title itself.
Lviv also plans to create the Urban Festival, an open platform for young people’s joint actions to develop their urban dream, district and neighbourhood and hold topical discussions about the city.
Lviv, the city that inspires youth
Lviv’s commitment to including the youth in decision-making can be seen through different initiatives. Last year, Lviv received Child and Youth Friendly Municipality status from UNICEF. “The war, no matter how painful and exhausting it is emotionally and economically, hasn’t shaken the spirit of the youth community of Lviv and Ukraine,” says the application.
Lviv also received the title of Ukrainian Youth Capital, which led to the creation of the first municipal Youth Action Plan. Youth organisations and student councils participate actively in developing and implementing strategies. Lviv is also the pioneer city in the country in establishing a separate youth department in the structure of the City Council.
In 2018, a Children’s Advisory Board was established in the City Council. The Board consists of 12 members aged 12–16 years old that have implemented ten projects in the past three years. Students are also involved in a formal decision-making process through the functioning of the Lviv Student Council, which was established in 2009 and now accounts for 42 delegates from Lviv universities.
The European Youth Forum awards the European Youth Capital title to empower young people, boost their participation and strengthen European identity through youth-related activities on culture, social matters, politics and economic life and development. The first youth capital was awarded in 2009.
This year, 19 municipalities have applied for the European Youth Capital title, four of which made it to the final round – Fuenlabrada (Spain), Izmir (Turkey), Lviv (Ukraine) and Tromsø (Norway).
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