The YOUNG-STEP EU project was developed in response to the observation that young people across Europe face common social, democratic and environmental challenges, while still having limited structured opportunities to make their voices heard and actively participate in decisions that affect them. In this context, the project aimed to strengthen their engagement, capacity for action and participation at European level, particularly in the fields of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) and active citizenship. The project was designed as a structured pathway combining preparation, international mobility and dissemination, enabling a progressive development of competences and active involvement of participants throughout the process. It was based on a transnational cooperation dynamic between youth organisations and SSE actors, in connection with the Forum BordeauxGSEF2025, which served as a key moment for implementation, production and visibility of youth contributions. More specifically, the project pursued three complementary objectives: - To strengthen young people’s competences, particularly those with fewer opportunities, in areas such as civic participation, intercultural learning and advocacy, in order to support their engagement and confidence in European and international contexts; - To foster active and structured participation of young people, by enabling them to engage in dialogue spaces, contribute to collective processes and take part in international events, notably through their participation in the Forum BordeauxGSEF2025; - To co-construct and disseminate a European youth advocacy on SSE, collectively developed by the participants and then shared within their local contexts, in order to extend engagement dynamics and awareness-raising beyond the project. Finally, the project also aimed to strengthen cooperation between European partners and to structure a sustainable transnational dynamic, by fostering the exchange of practices, networking between actors and the continuity of actions at local, national and European levels.