From March 18 to 20, 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 workers , transformed 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 highlighted the importance of supporting European citizenship education , particularly by strengthening the links between formal and non-formal education . Participants stressed the need for dedicated Erasmus+ funding for projects aimed at promoting youth engagement , especially for young people from rural and island territories, often far removed from decision-making centers.
These recommendations directly align with the philosophy of the CONNECT-R project, which aims to create structured spaces for dialogue between young people, local stakeholders, and institutions, in order to develop proposals tailored to local realities. In Iceland, Romania, and Corsica, CONNECT-R has already enabled the creation of pilot groups of young ambassadors , capable of conveying a collective voice and transforming ideas into concrete actions for their communities.
One of the key takeaways from the conference was the call to systematically integrate youth issues into all European policies, not just dedicated programs. This implies strengthening existing tools, such as the EU-Youth Dialogue and the European Youth Goals, by embedding them in 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-creation of public policies . In Estonia, for example, the project has shown that the more participation is encouraged, regular and well organized, the more young people feel entitled to express themselves , including on complex subjects 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 an ongoing process. This is precisely the ambition of CONNECT-R: to move from occasional participation to sustained involvement by training groups of young ambassadors capable of conveying the expectations of their peers and engaging in dialogue with decision-makers.
In Corsica, for example, the creation of a pilot group of young ambassadors marked an important step towards autonomy and ownership of European issues by young people. These initiatives demonstrate that the engagement of rural youth is a strength for Europe , provided they are given the tools and spaces to express themselves.
