From January 1, 2025 to July 1, 2026, the 11th campaign of the European Union Dialogue with Young People will be in full swing, carried in France by ProvoxIts objective? To achieve the ambition of European Youth Target #1: Connecting the European Union with young people.
In this dynamic, an innovative project is about to emerge: CONNECT-R, an Erasmus+ initiative that places rural areas at the heart of the European debate. Designed as a lever for participation, CONNECT-R aims to give new voice to young people, often absent or underrepresented in discussions on the future of Europe.
A closer, more readable, more inclusive Europe
Too many young people, particularly outside major cities, struggle to identify with the European project. Lack of clarity, symbolic distance, and a lack of information: the obstacles are numerous. CONNECT-R takes this observation as its starting point to propose a targeted approach, rooted in the realities on the ground.
The project is structured around three major ambitions:
- Strengthening access to European information for young people in rural areas, through adapted tools and innovative formats.
- Supporting education about Europe accessible in formal and non-formal courses.
- Promoting the effective participation of young people, allowing them to make their proposals heard on a European scale.
A European dynamic already underway
CONNECT-R is a continuation of the European conference organized in Lublin (Poland) From March 2 to 5, 2025, which marked the launch of the campaign at the European level. Bringing together more than 300 young people and youth stakeholders from across the continent, this meeting laid the foundations for the consultation, focusing on key topics such as artificial intelligence, civic education, and the role of youth programs.
CONNECT-R plans to relay this dynamic at the local and transnational level, with European partnerships, spaces for dialogue in rural areas, and a youth consultation system which will feed into the recommendations addressed to European institutions.
A launch planned for June 2025
If the project is approved, CONNECT-R will officially launch in June 2025, with a series of events and meetings in France and Europe. The challenge: to ensure that young people in rural areas are no longer the forgotten ones in European dialogue, but rather full-fledged actors in its construction.
