For the three target groups students, teachers and youth organizations, we aimed to make tools and methods accessible that can help them to achieve the following three goals: Firstly, we wanted sustainable transitions to become more inclusive and fair and therefore, we focused on citizen engagement with the YI program. Together with our students, we wanted to include people in such a way that their needs were fully met. This teached young people not only to think from other people's perspectives, but also teached them the importance of letting their own voice and contribution be heard and seen. Secondly, we showed young people that they are the ones who are going to, and who will need to make the change. We showed students how they can take this responsibility, and handed them tools and steps to use it. We wanted to give the young generations a say about their own future. Thirdly, we wanted to bring power to youth through climate action. By making young people more familiar with youth organizations and their goals and power, we widened their scope of influence and perspective of action.
The partners applied for this project to enhance our educational programmes through international collaboration, addressing key societal, educational, and organizational needs. Through YETI, we aimed to explore how the Young Innovators program can foster citizen engagement for sustainable and fair transformation. Today’s youth—future residents of sustainable neighborhoods—rarely have a voice in shaping them. This project empowered students as stakeholders in the sustainability transition, promoting their engagement in local challenges. It supported teachers with training, tools, and found access to sustainable education communities. It also helped other educational organizations innovate their methods and found cooperation with like-minded organisations. We aimed to strengthen collaboration between youth climate organizations across EU countries where the program runs, collect youth perspectives, and show youth how they can be part of the solution. This project therefore helped our organizations goal to develop engaging, competency-based education that drives systemic change, and assessing the impact of this education. It therefore helped in guiding students to navigate the ecosystem in which they can make change possible.