EYP Capacity-building / European Youth Parliament

Capacity-building is a key component of almost every event of the European Youth Parliament (EYP). We strive to offer a wide range of initiatives, focused on expanding skills such as facilitation, leadership, media and communications, fundraising, organising, project management, inclusion, outreach, and intercultural dialogue. In doing so, the EYP prepares young European citizens not only to take an active role in our network but to use these skills to benefit society as a whole. You can find below some examples of our capacity-building programmes and formats.

Summer Academy

The Summer Academy is the EYP’s largest international training event. It gathers young people from all 40 EYP countries for peer learning and knowledge exchange. Training sessions are delivered by an experienced group of EYP members and external experts and are focused on such topics as fundraising, NGO management, facilitation, and outreach. The event equips the leadership of the EYP’s National Committees with the right skills to successfully implement their activities and develop locally as well as internationally.

Summer Academy 2022 - Trainings Booklet

PDF — 13 MB

Active Citizenship Lab

The EYP Active Citizenship Lab creates a space for training and brainstorming to foster the exchange of ideas and add to further strengthen the EYP as a platform for active citizenship. Bringing together experts, activists and EYP members, the Lab aims to develop and sustain active citizenship practices within the EYP network.

Diversity Lab

The Diversity Training Lab aims to empower active members to implement their own projects advancing diversity, inclusion, and/or accessibility within the EYP. Experienced trainers and experts join the event to provide participants with the right tools to develop their own projects.

Presidents Meeting

This annual training event brings together the presidents of the EYP National Committees. During the meeting, the participants engage in peer-learning and knowledge exchange on organisational management, outreach, strategic development, and future-oriented activities.

Training for EYP Trainers (T4ET)

The T4ET is one of the longest-running capacity-building events of the EYP. It aims to further nurture the training culture within the organisation by transferring experiential knowledge from senior volunteers of the network as well as external trainers to aspiring volunteers. T4ET focuses on topics such as leadership, communication, fundraising, organising, project management, inclusion, outreach, and intercultural dialogue.

Head-Organisers Summit

This annual training event brings together project managers of past and upcoming flagship events of the EYP – International Sessions. Throughout this weekend-long training, the participants meet to share knowledge and best practices, and provide consulting and support to each other. They engage in peer learning as well as attend workshops run by experts focusing on team & project management, fundraising, communication, and diversity-oriented event planning.

Media Academy

The EYP Media Academy brings together EYPers who are interested to learn more about PR, communication, and EYP Media, to develop new skills they can bring back to their National Committees and events. The Media Academy is an annual event organised by experienced EYP members passionate about EYP Media as well as external experts. They conduct workshops and various training modules in different areas such as PR, marketing, and organisational communication.

Fundraising Summit

The Fundraising Summit aims to enhance cooperation and produce synergies in fundraising efforts across the EYP network. It gives participants the chance to design and plot out fundraising collaborations across regions, receive feedback from their peers and the International Office of the EYP regarding grant writing, and gain hands-on knowledge regarding state-of-the-art fundraising techniques as relevant to participants’ work.

Human Resources Summit

The HR Summit is the first event of its kind across the network and aims to act as a catalyst of change regarding the issues faced by many National Committees in their member recruitment, engagement, and long-term retention, to foster sustainable growth in the EYP network.

Safe Person Training

Being a youth network, the EYP puts great importance on the well-being of our participants before, during, and after each EYP event. With a wide framework for the welfare of our participants supported by local and international volunteers, this training intends to build national capacities for safeguarding during the events. All EYP National Committees have a ‘Safe Person’ who attends each event organised in the country. In cooperation with the international Safe Core Team, they ensure the implementation of the EYP policies overseeing the safety and well-being of the participants.

Innovation Lab

The Innovation Lab is a platform for the EYP to embrace innovation within the network and contribute to the improvement of its internal structure. In the past, the Innovation Lab initiated the creation of the EYP Council to improve media practices across the network.