PROJECT OVERVIEW

EU-MATTER (European Understanding – Mobilising Awareness through Training, Trust, Engagement, and Representation) is a transnational civic education and engagement initiative addressing the rising disconnection of young people from the EU’s institutions, policies, and democratic life. Anchored in a growing awareness of declining political participation, distrust in institutions, and the spread of Euroscepticism and disinformation among youth, EU-MATTER aims to bridge the gap between young citizens and the EU by fostering civic literacy, critical thinking, and structured dialogue on EU priorities and values.

OBJECTIVES

• Enhance understanding of the EU and its democratic functioning: improve knowledge among young people (18–29) about EU institutions, policymaking processes, key policy areas, and core values through structured, accessible, and interactive learning activities.

• Strengthen critical thinking and resilience to disinformation: equip participants with analytical tools to critically assess political information, counter disinformation, and engage responsibly in public debate.

• Foster inclusive civic participation, especially among vulnerable youth: actively involve at least 30% of young people from vulnerable backgrounds (NEETs, rural youth, young people with disabilities, and those with migrant heritage), reducing barriers to participation and strengthening their sense of belonging to the EU.

• Promote dialogue and trust between young people and EU-level governance: create safe, structured spaces for dialogue where young citizens can express concerns, exchange perspectives, and engage constructively with EU-related topics and democratic values.

• Build practical civic and policy-making competences through experiential learning: enable participants to develop skills in policy analysis, co-design, teamwork, advocacy, and negotiation through Policy Labs and a transnational Civic Hackathon.

• Empower youth to contribute to EU policy debates with concrete proposals: support young people in collaboratively drafting youth-led policy recommendations reflecting their priorities and visions for Europe’s future.

• Strengthen transnational cooperation among civil society and education actors: enhance collaboration and capacity-building among NGOs, CSOs, and educational institutions across the seven partner countries through shared methodologies, tools, and peer learning.

• Innovate youth civic engagement through digital tools and communication formats: develop and test innovative digital solutions and youth-friendly communication formats (podcasts, reels, documentary, memes) to expand outreach, participation, and impact.

• Increase visibility and accessibility of EU-related content for young audiences: improve the reach and attractiveness of EU civic education by using digital storytelling and social-media-driven dissemination strategies tailored to youth communication habits.

HOW DO WE ACHIEVE IT

EU-MATTER follows a two-phase approach, combining theoretical learning with experiential, practice-based activities.

• Blended Civic Education Seminars: interactive, expert-led seminars delivered in each partner country, focusing on EU institutions, policymaking, civic participation, democratic values, and resilience.

• Digital Literacy & Disinformation Resilience Training: workshops equipping young people with analytical skills to recognise emotional manipulation, misinformation, and online propaganda.

• Inclusive Youth Recruitment: targeted outreach to ensure diverse participation, with a strong focus on young people from rural areas and vulnerable backgrounds.

• National Policy Labs: collaborative workshops where participants analyse local challenges and co-design youth-driven policy recommendations connected to EU priorities.

• Transnational Civic Hackathon: a 3-day international event bringing together young people from all partner countries to collaboratively draft and pitch policy proposals to EU-level stakeholders.

• Digital Platform & Communication Outputs: development of an online space hosting learning materials, a Civic Barometer, an AI chatbot, and a Digital Agora for cross-border debate, supported by youth-oriented media formats.