YPACT | Building a network of youth organisations to promote sustainable development policies
01/07/2026
A key first step of YPACT is acheived. Through a Call for Expression of Interest, project partners have identificied and engaged two relevant project stakeholders including two local authorities and twelve youth-led civil society organisations registred in Italy and Croatia. These actors will be involved in project capacity building and participatory activities with a view to co-create innovative and youth-inclusive sustainable development policies.
The choice of selecting youth organisations is a key feature of YPACT and of its prequel DEMY-Coop. Youth organisations are in fact seen as key to provide grassroots knowledge and direct connections with Young people in local communities.
The response demonstrated strong interest from organisations working across a wide range of fields, including sustainability and environmental protection, social innovation, inclusive education, volunteering, sport, health and well-being, gender equality, and territorial development.
The Call was also useful to gain important insights into the profile, experience, and needs of the participating organisations. A particularly significant finding concerns knowledge of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). All responding organisations reported awareness and a solid understanding of the of the sustainable development principles: the great majority declared themselves “thoroughly familiar” with the framework, while only a minority indicated a “moderate” level of familiarity.
The organisations identified Quality Education (SDG 4) and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17) as the SDGs most closely connected with their activities, followed by Good Health and Wellbeing (SDG 3) and Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10). These priorities strongly reflect the objectives of YPACT and highlight the shared commitment to inclusive and sustainable communities.
This mapping exercise is useful to plan the forthcoming capacity-building activities as to focus not only on increasing awareness but, more compatibly, on strengthening practical skills: translating SDG priorities into policy proposals, communicating with institutions, participating effectively in decision-making processes, and developing advocacy capacities.
The results also evealed an important opportunity: while many organisations are highly active in delivering services to young people through education, sport, volunteering, and community initiatives, direct involvement in institutional decision-making processes is still developing. Only a limited number of organisations have a formal representative role, such as youth councils.
This confirms the relevance of YPACT’s next steps, particularly the organisation of policy dialogue meetings, where the selected youth organisation and the identified public authorities will discuss challenges and opportunities for youth participation in sustainabl edevelopment policymaking. These meetings will provide aspace to exchange experiences, analyse existing policies, and strengthen young people’s ability to engage with decision-makers.
The organisations that were selected through the call are:
- L’isola che c’è APS (Italy)
- EGTC GO (Italy)
- Auser Montegrotto Terme (Italy)
- La Bottega dei Ragazzi (Italy)
- USP Basket (Italy)
- Katsura ASD (Italy)
- Info zona (Croatia)
- Student Catholic Centre Split (SKAC_ST) (Croatia)
- Association for Nature, Environment and Sustainable Development SUNCE (Croatia)
- Mladi u EU (Croatia)
- Youth Council of Split-Dalmatia County (Croatia)
- Permakultura Dalmacija (Croatia)