Through Nordic Soup, we aimed to help young people move from awareness to action by strengthening their capacity to develop and communicate community-based project ideas. A core objective was to deliver a structured training program that equips participants with practical skills in project development, pitching, crowdfunding, and volunteer engagement, enabling them to act on sustainability and civic challenges. We also aimed to create accessible spaces for collaboration between young people and their local communities. The Nordic Soup dinners facilitated encounters where neighbours could listen, provide feedback, and contribute time and support to emerging initiatives, fostering shared responsibility for local problem-solving. At an organisational level, the project strengthened cooperation between partners in Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland through the exchange of practices across cultural contexts. This collaboration resulted in a documented methodology with local relevance and interregional value. Overall, Nordic Soup aimed to increase young people’s sense of agency, inclusion, and European belonging, while providing partners with tools to continue supporting community-driven entrepreneurship beyond the project period.
We applied for this project to respond to a gap identified in our work with young people and local communities in the Nordics. Many young people are aware of social, sustainability, and civic challenges, but lack the skills, frameworks, and support needed to turn ideas into concrete community projects. At the same time, local citizens are often willing to contribute, yet have limited entry points to engage early in project development. Nordic Soup was designed to bridge this gap by combining community entrepreneurship training with an inclusive crowdfunding dinner format that connects young project-makers with local neighbours. The project addressed needs related to inclusion, diversity, active citizenship, and youth initiative, particularly for young people facing cultural or social barriers. It also responded to partner organisations’ need for a replicable methodology with local impact and interregional relevance. By working transnationally across Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland, we aimed to strengthen young people’s sense of European belonging while testing a model that can be adapted to different local contexts and sustained beyond the project period.