The partnership aimed to: (1) equip youth workers and young people with safe, practical methods to address conflict, polarisation and hate speech; (2) connect youth organisations with peace and reconciliation (P&R) expertise and build a shared evidence base; (3) co-create and publish open resources: e.g. a toolkit, online library and e-mapping, that any organisation can use; (4) train a cohort of facilitators and youth “reconciliation ambassadors” who can run local activities and mentor peers; (5) pilot, evaluate and refine the methods in all partner countries to ensure quality and transferability; and (6) launch a European community of practice - the “Actors of Peace & Reconciliation” network - to sustain cooperation and scale the approach beyond the grant. Moreover, the project aligned with the Youth, Peace & Security and Women, Peace & Security agendas by recruiting gender‑balanced cohorts, integrating gender‑sensitive safeguarding in all methods (facilitator notes, opt‑out pathways), and tracking sex‑disaggregated participation and leadership data (e.g., share of young women as co‑facilitators). This ensured that girls and young women were not only present but able to lead and shape local reconciliation actions.
Across Europe, communities are facing rising polarisation, misinformation, and renewed tensions linked to conflict legacies and current crises. Youth workers are often the first line of response, yet many lack tailored tools and confidence to address sensitive histories, intergroup mistrust, trauma, and hate speech in everyday youth settings. Peace and reconciliation (P&R) organisations, meanwhile, hold deep expertise but are rarely connected to the mainstream youth sector. We applied for The Missing Peace to close this gap: to equip youth workers and young people with practical, scalable methods for dialogue and reconciliation, and to build durable bridges between youth organisations and P&R actors. The project responded to three concrete needs identified by partners: >Capacity and methods: accessible, youth-centered, NFE learning tools that youth workers and youth leaders can use safely in schools, cultural centres, and community groups; >Connectivity and evidence: a shared picture of what works (research, case studies, and an e-mapping of initiatives) so practice can travel across borders and contexts; >Pathways for scale: a train-the-trainer route, open resources (toolkit and online library), and a network for cooperation.