By implementing the CLYP project, we aimed to strengthen young people’s civic and social engagement by addressing both individual and systemic barriers to participation. The project sought to equip youth organisations and youth workers with practical methods and tools to establish ‘Civic Labs for Young People’ as cross‑sectoral, innovative spaces that support personal development through community‑oriented action. A central objective was to promote and support the development of young people’s self‑confidence and resilience, recognising these as essential preconditions for meaningful civic engagement and social entrepreneurship. Through non‑formal, youth‑centred methodologies, the project aimed to enable young people to explore their interests, recognise their strengths, and build a sense of agency. CLYP sought to create conditions in which young people could design, test, and learn from their own civic and social initiatives. By piloting and refining the intended outputs across the partner countries, a central outcome is strengthening the capacity of youth ecosystems to respond to young people’s needs in an inclusive and adaptable way across local contexts.
We applied for this project in response to growing challenges faced by young people in sustaining meaningful civic and social engagement, particularly in post-pandemic contexts. The partners observed increasing disengagement among young people, declining confidence and participation, alongside limited capacity within organisations to support growth within youth‑led initiatives. Existing engagement models were outcome‑driven, short‑term, or inaccessible to young people without prior experience. Youth workers also reported a need for evidence‑based tools that connect personal development with civic action. There was a gap between opportunities offered within youth ecosystems and the ways young people experience and navigate them, indicating the need for these tools to be adaptable across diverse local contexts. The project was designed to address these needs by developing and testing a youth‑centred, community‑oriented Civic Lab model. By focusing on self‑confidence, small‑scale experimentation, and co‑creation, CLYP aimed to equip young people to see themselves as capable contributors, while providing youth organisations with transferable tools, and frameworks to support sustainable, inclusive civic engagement across Europe.