“Rejuvenating Politics” Initiative, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe 2025

One young person from each of the 46 member States of the Council of Europe will be invited by the Congress to:

• Take an active part, as a youth delegate, in its 48th (25-27 March 2025) and 49th (28-30 October 2025) Congress sessions in Strasbourg, France;

• Develop their own grassroots project back home (under the aegis of the Congress).

What is the Congress? 

The Congress is a pan-European political assembly. Its members hold elective office at local or regional level and represent over 130 000 local and regional authorities in 46 European States. Its role is to promote local and regional democracy, improve local and regional governance and disseminate the standards and values of the Council of Europe throughout our continent’s communities. It meets in session twice a year.

Like other political assemblies, such as national parliaments or local/regional councils, the sessions are formal gatherings where Congress members examine reports, hold thematic debates and adopt official texts. The latter take the form of recommendations and resolutions addressed to the local, regional and/or national authorities of Council of Europe member States or the Committee of Ministers.

The Congress and youth participation 

Since October 2014, the Congress has invited young people from different backgrounds – youth activists, youth workers, students, youth political leaders – who take an active interest in the work of the Council of Europe and the role of local and regional authorities to take part in its sessions and meetings, express their views in debates and exchange with Congress members on the issues on its agenda.

As an integral part of their participation, youth delegates have since 2016 also been required to develop their own projects at local and regional level in between the sessions.

Participating in the Congress’ work for one year 

Being a Congress youth delegate is a unique opportunity to gain international experience as a part of a diverse group of young activists, to network and to make an impact by bringing youth perspectives to Congress debates. The participation of youth delegates in its work both highlights and helps to strengthen the Congress’s continuing commitment to youth empowerment.

Participating as a youth delegate in the sessions

During the sessions, youth delegates sit in the hemicycle alongside the Congress members.

A two-day preparatory meeting is held prior to each session. This is not a training session but serves to familiarise youth delegates with the functioning of the Congress; candidates should already have the necessary public speaking skills, be able to prepare short speeches and be capable of analysing policy documents.

Youth delegates must commit to taking part in the whole of the two sessions in 2025:

• From Saturday 22 March (19.00) until the debriefing session on Thursday 27 March (17.00)
• From Saturday 25 October (19.00) until the debriefing session on Thursday 30 October (17.00)

A welcome evening will be organised prior to each session on 22 March and 25 October 2025.

Developing and implementing projects between the sessions

FBetween the March and October sessions, youth delegates will be required to develop a local or regional project which may be related to the Congress’s priorities or to thematic debates held by the Congress during its 2025 sessions. These projects may take different forms (conference, mobile application, presentation to school, podcast, ...). The summaries of the projects of the 2024 youth delegates give an indication of the range of possibilities that can be envisaged.

For the development of their projects, youth delegates will have the support of trainers to develop and assess their ideas through mentoring sessions.

The Congress does not provide funding for project development but does provide youth delegates with an introduction letter to act as a visiting card in their dealings with local or regional authorities. It may also provide information documents and other material, if needed.

Aims and objectives 

By inviting young people from every member State to take part in its “Rejuvenating Politics” initiative, the Congress aims to give young people an opportunity to express their opinions directly to local and regional elected representatives, to ensure youth perspectives are heard, and to promote young people’s ongoing participation in democratic processes both at international level and at home.

The specific objectives are to: 

• involve young people directly in all aspects of the Congress’ work;
• make young people aware about the Congress’ work and the tools it has developed to support youth participation;
• discuss with young people how local and regional youth participation can be boosted;
• bring the youth perspective to all thematic debates within the Congress;
• motivate the youth delegates to multiply the information and experience acquired during the sessions on their return home in particular through the development and implementation of their own projects at local and regional levels;
• share information about existing models of youth-led structures and motivate young people to spread the word about the Congress’ work;
• promote co-operation between members of the Congress and youth delegates;
• show national delegations the importance of officially including more young people as members

Programme 

The entire youth delegate programme is compulsory, youth delegates who do not take part in one or more of these aspects will be replaced by their national substitute delegate. Compulsory activities include: 

• participation in online preparation with the trainers prior to each session;
• full attendance during both sessions (which includeds the preparation day on the eve of each session and the evaluation meeting on the last afternoon of each session);
• availability to hold several Skype meetings (April – September) with trainers to prepare the youth project;
• implementation of the project between April and mid-September 2021.

Application procedure and selection of participants 

Those wishing to apply to take part in the 48th and 49th Congress sessions must do so by means of the online application form. Participation in only one session is not possible.

Please note that the application form includes detailed questions and may take some time to complete.

Applicants must also submit via online link a short video of no more than 30 seconds, to support their application. The link to the video (title should contain only the applicant’s name and country) should be sent together with the application. The video must remain accessible to the selection panel until 28 February 2025. Please note that candidates should not present themselves on the video but must answer the question indicated in the application form. The video is an integral part of the application.

The deadline for submitting completed applications, including the short video, is 23:59 CET on 31 December 2024.