At the crossroads of tradition and innovation, Europe's democratic landscape is experiencing a meaningful transformation. Innovative participatory and deliberative democracy models in Europe are still evolving and expanding unevenly, and some regions excel as changemakers while others face unique challenges.

After two cohorts of supporting the next generation of changemakers, People Powered and Coglobal are leading the Democratic Innovations Accelerator (DIA) - Youth participation in policymaking and governance. In this new iteration of the accelerator, participants will focus on developing participatory programs that engage youth in policymaking and governance, whether in schools, local communities or local government.

The program is part of the Nets4Dem project and will select up to 40 participants to receive free capacity-building assistance for launching or improving youth participatory programs in the European Union (EU) and Horizon Europe countries (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom).

Over the course of six months, the cohort of 40 civil society and government organizations will develop and deliver an action plan for implementing a democratic innovation aimed at enhancing the engagement, participation, and influence of citizens, particularly youth in the democratic processes that affect their lives, schools and communities.

Participants will gain free access to:

• A dedicated mentor to assist in the development of a participatory program action plan

• Step-by-step resources such as the Participation Playbook, our interactive online tool for designing participatory programs.

• Practice-oriented live sessions and online courses.

• International peer-learning opportunities.

Learn about current DIA participants

Timeline

• July 1, 2025: Accelerators application deadline.

• July 30, 2025: Selected participants get notified.

• September 2025: Program begins

• March 2026: Program ends

• April 2026 – April 2027:  Participants share learnings and implement their action plan developed during the program

How to Apply

• Read through the program requirements and selection criteria below.

• Complete the application form and submit the required documents by July 1, 2025, 11:59 pm UTC (check your timezone here).

• Staff members of civil society organizations or non-governmental institutions such as schools, universities or community organizations. Please note: We encourage partnership with a government institution to facilitate the implementation of the action plan.

• Government officials, staff members and policymakers who want to launch or improve an innovative participatory program. Please note: We encourage partnership with a civil society organization/non-governmental organization to strengthen support for the program in the community.

Organizations should nominate a lead participant who has professional proficiency in English. To be eligible for the program, applicants must be based in one of the 27 EU Member States or Horizon Europe countries (Albania, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Morocco, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom).

• Participants can expect to spend an average of two to three hours per week from March to August 2025 for the duration of the training program and mentoring support. If you are not sure about your availability for the program or if you are not selected this time, the DIA will accept new applications later in 2025.

• Participants also will be asked to set aside a few key dates on their calendars to participate in the program’s live sessions.

• After the completion of the training, participants will have 12 months to implement their action plan. The amount of time you spend on your project will depend on the action plan you have developed.

• Develop an action plan (project) to be implemented, with the support of the program resources.

• Engage internal and external stakeholders to develop an action plan.

• Attend and participate in dedicated training and mentorship/peer support activities and discussions.

• Report on project progress through surveys and learning reports.

• Engage with other cohort members to support each other's work.

• In no more than 200 words, please describe the innovative democratic process or challenge you would like to address through the accelerator.

• In 100 words, describe one key experience that demonstrates how you have worked in partnership to deliver an innovative participatory or deliberative program. If you haven’t had experience with this, please provide one example of a participatory program you have delivered and a partnership you have worked in successfully.

• In 100 words, how have you engaged marginalized or excluded communities in your previous work? These groups or communities can include vulnerable communities, immigrants, refugees, disabled people, religious minorities, ethnic and racial minorities, youth and children, elderly people, women, and LGBTQ+ people, among others.

• In 100 words, what will you try to accomplish by participating in the DIA program? Share how the program will support your organization to achieve your action plan goals. Please be as specific as possible.

• Additional information: Is there anything else you wish to add?

Want a preview of the program? Still have questions? Join our info session!

Learn more about our DIA Mentors

• Aleksandra Zietek: Eurocities, Belgium

• Andrés Falck: Coglobal, Spain

• Alisa Aliti Vlasic: Coglobal/People Powered, Croatia

• Anya Yemelyanova: CID Center, Ukraine

• Damir Kapidzic: University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Domenico Di Siena: Demsoc, Italy

• Emma Quaedvlieg: EPD, Belgium

• Eva Bordos: DemNet, Hungary

• Juan López-Aranguren: Demsoc, Spain

• Pier Paolo Fanesi: ISA, Italy

• Reema Patel: ESRC Digital Good Network, UK

• Johannes Jauhiainen: Demos Helsinki, Finland

• Vincent Labrevois-Simonetti: EPD, Belgium

Partners

Funded in part by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EU Horizon. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.