From 18 to 20 March 2026, the European Youth Conference under the Cypriot Presidency marked the conclusion of the 11th EU-Youth Dialogue campaign. This event, which brought together nearly 300 young people, decision-makers and youth actorsThis has enabled the transformation of national consultations into concrete recommendations for European institutions. This work resonates particularly with the objectives of the CONNECT-R project, dedicated to mobilizing young people in rural areas and structuring an inclusive citizen dialogue.
The Cypriot conference emphasized the importance of supporting education for European citizenship, especially in strengthening the links between formal and non-formal educationThe participants emphasized the need to dedicated funding in Erasmus+ for projects aimed at promote youth engagement, particularly those from rural and island territories, often far removed from decision-making spaces.
These recommendations directly align with the philosophy of the CONNECT-R project, which aims to create structured spaces for dialogue between young people, field actors, and institutions, to develop proposals adapted to local realities. In Iceland, Romania, and Corsica, CONNECT-R has already enabled to structure pilot groups of young ambassadorscapable of conveying a collective message and of turning ideas into concrete actions for their territories.
One of the major takeaways from the conference was the call to systematically integrate youth issues across all European policies, and not just in dedicated programs. This implies strengthening existing tools, such as the EU-Youth Dialogue and the European Youth Objectives, by integrating them into the overall functioning of the institutions.
From this perspective, CONNECT-R acts as a lever to make the voices of rural youth visible and to involve them in the co-construction of public policiesIn Estonia, for example, the project showed that The more participation is encouraged, regular, and well-organized, the more young people feel entitled to express themselves.including on complex topics such as land-use planning or the ecological transition.
The recommendations from the Danish conference in September 2025, as well as the Cypriot work, highlight:
- The importance of mobility and exchanges to strengthen territorial cohesion and inclusion.
- The key role of youth organizations as a link between young people and institutions.
- The need for accessible financing mechanisms for projects led by and for young people, particularly in rural areas.
These principles are central to CONNECT-R's approach, which structures rural youth parliaments and supports young people in developing local solutions. In Romania, the project has enabled the Rural Youth Parliament to flourish, becoming a tool for representation and expression for young people in isolated areas.
The Cypriot conference also emphasized that youth participation should not be a one-off event, but rather part of an ongoing process. This is precisely the aim of CONNECT-R: moving from occasional participation to sustained involvementby forming groups of young ambassadors capable of relay the expectations of their peers and dialogue with decision-makers.
In Corsica, for example, the structuring of a pilot group of young ambassadors marked an important step towards...autonomy and ownership European issues as seen by young people. These initiatives show that The commitment of young people in rural areas is a strength for Europeprovided they are given the tools and spaces to express themselves.
