The decision to carry out this project stems from the pressing challenges we observe with our partner organisations in daily youth work practice. Across Europe and its neighboring regions, young people face a paradox: they are socially conscious and motivated to act on issues such as climate change and social justice, yet their structured democratic participation is either declining or remains superficial. Youth voter turnout rose significantly in the 2019 European elections, yet in 2024 participation of under 25s dropped by 6%. This occurred despite the Eurobarometer survey showing that 64% of young EU citizens intended to vote. The gap between intention and practice reveals deeper barriers: lack of political literacy, limited spaces for expression, and insufficient opportunities to practice democratic participation skills. At the same time, young people are visibly active outside formal channels. Almost half (48%) engage by signing petitions, joining rallies, or supporting causes online. However, this engagement is often short-term, issue-based, and rarely translates into sustained civic participation or influence on decision-making. Our partner organisations confirm that many young people have passion and energy but lack the knowledge, confidence, or access to pathways to shape policies or affect their communities. A recurring obstacle is the difficulty young people experience with public speaking, persuasion, and structured dialogue. Many feel anxious when asked to articulate opinions on complex issues. Concepts such as active citizenship, democratic processes, or policy-making seem distant, abstract, and are often delivered in formats that fail to resonate. As a result, when invited to activities on these topics, young people often disengage, either by declining participation or by being physically present but mentally disconnected. This situation inspired our project. Together with our partner organisations, we recognised that youth work urgently needs creative, practical methods to strengthen democratic participation in culturally diverse societies. Youth must be given tools to overcome barriers to self-expression, to practice dialogue, and to experience active citizenship in safe and motivating environments. We also recognized that our youth workers have a lack of competencies, experiences and creative practices to work on these topics especially in multicultural context. Debate as a methodology provides exactly this. Using the British Parliamentary format as the backbone, we will enable participants to practice research, critical thinking, public speaking, and argumentation in structured yet supportive ways. Debate is more than a competitive tool: it is a simulation of democratic participation that teaches listening, respecting diverse viewpoints, and constructing evidence-based arguments. Importantly, debate mirrors the principles of non-formal education: learning by doing, peer exchange, and immediate application. By adapting debate-based NFE methods to culturally diverse groups, we will ensure that participants from different backgrounds feel equally empowered to engage. Most importantly, the skillset acquired by participants will help them in their future youth work, strengthening resilience and empathy by providing tools to support the democratic life and youth participation while addressing exclusion and tensions linked to diversity, and to support the young people facing these challenges. The objectives are: -To improve youth workers’ communication skills in public speaking, persuasion, negotiation, articulation, and active listening, especially in their work with young people and diverse groups -To introduce youth workers to the principles and practice of debate as a tool for dialogue, inclusion, and civic engagement, and to enable them to transfer these tools to youth in their communities -To equip youth workers with competencies to empower youth voices and support the development of Local Action Plans for participation of young people in democratic life -To facilitate the exchange of good practices and methodologies among youth workers on youth empowerment in multicultural contexts, and encourage their application in local realities -To improve the capacity of youth workers to design and implement NFE activities that foster youth engagement in social issues and encourage active participation -To strengthen youth workers’ resilience and empathy by providing tools to address exclusion, tensions, and trauma linked to migration and diversity, and to support youth facing these challenges -To foster cooperation and networking among partner organisations, creating sustainable cross-border collaboration that benefits young people and their communities -To promote recognition of NFE through Youthpass and the Key Competences Framework, supporting youth workers in transferring these values to young people -To promote the Erasmus+ programme for professional development and active citizenship