The European Youth Parliament (EYP) Ireland hosted our 26th National Session in April 2023, an event which provided non-formal, youth-led education to the young people of Ireland and Europe. This conference will draw on the organisation’s work over the last 25 years and further promote the non-formal civic education of young people. Over the course of January to May, a large body of volunteers developed a host of skills in order to provide the event for over one hundred students from across Europe. This year the theme of the event focused on accessibility. Accessibility is something that both of the project managers find incredibly important, whether it be ensuring that all participants have the right tools to travel to the event or providing a safe environment for people with disabilities to attend. We aimed to ensure that the event pre-prepares for those with disabilities by providing options such as audio versions of any academic resources prior to the event as well as floor plans and support systems for those who may be on the spectrum. We believe that there is a need for more events to provide an accessible and safe space for young people and believe this event provided a basis for our events in the future as well as events undertaken by other organisations. An aspect that was incredibly important to us as organisers is the promotion of a sense of European identity. Due to a number of reasons such as our unique culture and geographical location, us as Irish young people tend to have a tough time identifying as European citizens. Our project aimed to close this gap through bringing people from different countries across Europe together. During the event, the participants worked together to tackle issues alongside people from several different countries, with this year's event bringing participants from 17 different nationalities together, promoting an often-needed sense of solidarity across Europe. Further to this, we believe the project provided a platform for young people to learn the soft skills not inherently built into their respective school curricula, examples of which include public speaking, debate, teamwork, cooperation, and compromise, which our volunteers are trained to facilitate. The 26th National Session served as a platform for EYP Ireland to promote these skills to young people in an environment where they learn about important subject matter that relates to the issues faced by them and wider European society. We worked with a variety of partners, including politicians and other decision makers, companies, and non-profit and community organisations toward the common goals of creating young people that are active citizens engaged in European affairs. There’s also a variety of needs that participating organisations have which we were able to work towards through cooperation. Many companies have corporate social responsibility needs, especially through the single market’s efforts at promoting CSR within the EU, and we were happy to be the recipient of efforts supporting social causes. Many also see the benefit of supporting young people at the national level and creating a politically and socially empowered youth. Non-profit organisations also have the need to extend networks and work with other organisations and engaged individuals - a symbiotic relationship where many participants encounter other groups, they’re happy to work with in a separate capacity. We provided a useful way for them to engage meaningfully in a way that supports and uplifts the aims and goals of both groups. Our main objectives for this project had been set in order to address the needs we have identified within our participants. These objectives included the following; • Helping participants to develop their communication, leadership, and innovation skills, while fostering an environment of respect and promoting tolerance and acceptance. • Giving participants the opportunity to evaluate their leadership skills, strengthen their cultural awareness, develop speaking abilities, draft resolutions, and make executive decisions. • Promoting civic engagement within participants with key stakeholders in relevant policy areas. • Provide an accessible platform that ensures anyone from any socio-economic background or anyone with a disability is able to attend our event. From start to finish our event plans to promote young voices. It is a project organised by the youth, for the youth.