CitiSpace: A New Digital Space for Youth Participation
10/09/2026
As the DYGOV project moves forward with its implementation, one of its key objectives is to create new and accessible ways for young people to participate in local decision-making. A central element of this approach will be the development of the CitiSpace Digital Youth Participation Platform, designed to connect young people and public institutions through digital participation tools.
Across the Italy – Croatia cooperation area, young people often have limited opportunities to participate meaningfully in decisions that affect their communities. Existing opportunities for youth engagement can be occasional, fragmented or dependent on individual initiatives, making it difficult to establish continuous participation in local governance.
DYGOV aims to address this challenge by combining digital innovation with participatory governance. CitiSpace will provide a shared digital environment where young people can engage with public institutions and contribute to discussions and processes related to their communities.
The platform is envisaged as a bilingual digital tool supporting different forms of youth participation. Among its planned functions are the possibility for young people to propose initiatives, participate in voting processes, comment on policy proposals and receive feedback from institutions. In this way, digital participation can become a more direct and accessible part of local decision-making.
An important feature of the DYGOV approach is that CitiSpace will not be developed as a tool for young people without their involvement. Young people and public authorities from both Croatia and Italy will contribute to the co-design process, helping ensure that the platform responds to real needs and is relevant to different local contexts.
The cross-border dimension is particularly important. By developing and testing a common digital participation solution across Croatia and Italy, DYGOV will create opportunities for partners and young people to exchange experiences and explore approaches that can be adapted to different institutional and community environments.
CitiSpace will also be closely connected with other elements of the DYGOV governance model. The digital platform will complement the work of the Bi-National CitiGEN Youth Advisory Council, which will bring together young people from both countries and provide a structured space for their involvement in local policymaking. Together, these mechanisms are intended to strengthen both digital and institutional forms of youth participation.
The development of CitiSpace forms part of DYGOV’s wider effort to make youth participation more inclusive, transparent and continuous. By combining digital tools with capacity building, cross-border cooperation and formal participation mechanisms, the project seeks to move beyond one-off consultations towards a more lasting model of youth-oriented governance.
In the coming months, project partners will continue with the preparatory work required for the development and testing of CitiSpace, alongside stakeholder engagement and other project activities. The experiences and contributions of young people will remain an important part of this process.
Through CitiSpace, DYGOV aims to create not simply another digital platform, but a practical space where young people can make their voices heard, engage with public institutions and contribute to shaping the future of their communities.
