From 27 to 30 August 2026, young people from across the EYP network gathered in Varna, Bulgaria, for Summer Academy 2026, our capacity-building event for National Committee Board Members: four days of learning, reflection, and collaboration.
From 27 to 30 August 2026, young people from across the European Youth Parliament network gathered in Varna, Bulgaria, for Summer Academy 2026, the network’s capacity-building event for the Board Members who run its National Committees. The event was hosted by EYP Bulgaria and led by Head Organisers Joanna Georgieva and Mariela Rangelova (BG), Head Trainer Katie Thacker (UK), and Editor Katie Richards (UK).
Varna has been a meeting point between cultures for centuries, and the programme borrowed that idea: four days of strengthening National Committees by sharing what works, planning further ahead than a single board term, and building connections across the network.
Modules covered fundraising, governance, strategic development, volunteer welfare, leadership, inclusion and communications. Each was built around what National Committees are actually dealing with, so the practical tools came with time to compare notes and question how things have always been done.
The training was only half of it. Participants kept pointing to the conversations with Board Members from other National Committees as the part they would use most: ideas that had already worked somewhere else and could be adapted at home.
One theme ran through the whole event, which was how to build volunteer cultures that last. Sessions on communication, team dynamics, leadership, wellbeing and burnout prevention moved the focus from what National Committees do to how they look after the people doing it.
Summer Academy 2026 also welcomed participants through the Youth Together for Arctic Futures project, who brought experience from outside the EYP network into the room.
