Italia-Croatia

03/06/2026

Ancona, Italy – May 2025. YPACT participated in the Interreg Italy–Croatia Annual Event, Youth4Sea – Ideas for the Future of Italy–Croatia Cooperation, with a delegation representing Eurelations GEIE (Lead Partner) and Pi RERA SD (Project Partner). The project team was joined by the Association Mladih u EU (Youth in the European Union), a project stakeholder, whose representative, Giovanna La Gala, spoke in the talk show "Young Voices", thanks to her involvement in our preiovus youth-centred project DEMY-Coop.

During discussions Giovanna, a youth worker at Mladih, addressed a crucial question: what does genuine youth participation actually mean?

"The core of my contribution focused on defining what youth participation truly means, or, more
accurately, what it does not mean. Referring to sociologist Roger Hart’s 1992 Ladder of Children Participation, I highlighted that the first three of his 8-rung model actually represent forms of non-
participation (manipulation, decoration, and tokenism) youth should be aware of."

“While the stories shared during the talk show—including my own—highlighted genuine success, it is vital to recognise that meaningful participation takes many forms depending on the context and surrounding factors. This is why I firmly believe that the true keys to impactful youth participation are inclusion and effective networking among all stakeholders who influence these outcomes,” she concluded.

Giovanna's participation emphasises that youth engagement is not a new ambition of the Interreg Italy–Croatia Programme and that the DEMY-Coop experience has generated valuable lessons.

The foundations that DEMY-Coop has laid for YPACT, together with the renewed and growing recognition that the Interreg Italy–Croatia Programme is giving to youth engagement, provide a strong basis for a long-term standardisation of youth engagement initiatives.

As YPACT moves forward, we will continue putting new energies, ideas and commitement in this direction.