TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Anna Michael
The 25% Project (The 25 Percent)
The training activity aimed to empower young people to actively participate in shaping the future of Europe by collecting and amplifying their voices within the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe. It sought to ensure that youth perspectives were not only expressed but also systematically gathered and translated into policy-relevant input at European level.
The training addressed the need for stronger youth representation in political and decision-making processes, as well as the need to bridge the gap between young people and European institutions. It also responded to the need for meaningful participation spaces where young people could critically reflect on key societal challenges such as climate change, digital transformation, and post-pandemic recovery.
The activity fit closely with the goals of the European Youth Forum and partner organisations by promoting youth participation, democratic engagement, and active citizenship. It contributed to their mission of strengthening youth voice in Europe and ensuring that young people are recognised as key stakeholders in shaping policies that affect their present and future.
The target group of the activity consisted of young people from across Europe who were engaged in participatory workshops and dialogue processes aimed at shaping the future of Europe. Participants were primarily youth aged roughly 18–30, involved in civic engagement, youth organisations, or interested in European policy and democratic participation.
The activity was international in scope and involved participants from a wide range of European countries. These included Cyprus, as well as several EU member states such as Spain, Germany, France, Portugal, and others engaged through the broader European “On Tour” activities of the project. This ensured a diverse intercultural learning environment, bringing together different perspectives, realities, and experiences of young people across Europe.
The diversity of the group was a key element of the process, enabling meaningful exchange on shared European challenges while also highlighting differences in national contexts and youth participation structures.
The training activities were based on non-formal education principles, with a strong emphasis on participation, dialogue, and collective reflection. The methodology aimed to actively engage young people as co-creators of knowledge rather than passive recipients.
A variety of participatory methods were used, including facilitated group discussions, world café formats, and open-space dialogue sessions, where participants could explore key themes related to the future of Europe and youth participation. These methods allowed for exchange of perspectives across different national and cultural contexts.
Idea-generation workshops were also a central method, where participants worked in small groups to identify challenges and propose concrete solutions, contributing directly to the collection of youth inputs for the project’s outcomes. These were complemented by reflection rounds and plenary debriefs, ensuring that individual insights were connected to collective learning.
In addition, experiential and interactive tools such as energisers, peer-to-peer sharing, and visual mapping techniques were used to support engagement, inclusion, and accessibility throughout the process
The training activity contributed to the successful collection and consolidation of over 10,000 ideas from young people across Europe on the future of the European Union. These inputs were gathered through participatory workshops and dialogue processes and fed directly into the Conference on the Future of Europe, ensuring that youth perspectives were included in broader policy discussions at EU level.
A key outcome of the activity was the increased awareness and empowerment of young people regarding their role in democratic processes and European decision-making. Participants demonstrated higher levels of engagement, critical reflection, and motivation to participate in civic and political life.
The success of the training can be observed through the scale of participation across multiple European countries, the quality and diversity of youth-generated inputs, and the final presentation of outcomes in Brussels to Members of the European Parliament and policymakers during the concluding event in May 2022. The visibility and institutional recognition of the project also indicate its impact.
The project is documented through official European Youth Forum communication channels and related EU Youth Year 2022 initiatives. Further information about the initiative and its outcomes can be found via European Youth Forum platforms and materials related to the Conference on the Future of Europe youth engagement process.
I worked as a full-time trainer and lead facilitator within the trainers’ team, with overall responsibility for the design, coordination, and implementation of the learning process. I developed the educational methodology of the programme, ensuring that all activities were aligned with the objectives of the initiative and grounded in non-formal education principles.
In addition, I coordinated the facilitation team, supporting the preparation and delivery of sessions and ensuring consistency and coherence across the training process. I was responsible for overseeing group dynamics, adapting methods to participants’ needs, and ensuring the quality and flow of the learning experience throughout the activity.
A key part of my role was also contributing to the coordination of the youth dialogue component, ensuring that participants’ inputs were meaningfully collected, structured, and integrated into the final outcomes of the project, including the youth report and its contribution to European-level discussions.
Overall, my role combined methodological design, team leadership, and process facilitation in an international, non-formal learning environment.