Climate Youth Action Plan

Activities

Climate Youth Action Plan Idea Competition

The Climate Youth Action Plan (CYAP) Idea Competition, in collaboration with Thinkubator, is an exciting initiative aimed at fostering youth-driven innovation for sustainability. The competition invited young people across the EYP network, including active members and alumni, to propose groundbreaking ideas that will make the EYP more sustainable and strengthen its commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Participants in the CYAP Idea Competition were encouraged to submit ideas—either individually or as a group—that have the potential to transform EYP’s relationship with the environment. Winning projects will receive mentorship and resources to develop and implement their ideas at an EYP event, with the possibility of further application at additional events.
In addition to the competition for ideas, this initiative also provides mentors from the sustainability sector to guide the winning ideas of our young innovators in three key streams, offering insights and expertise to help turn them from ideas into action. This provides a unique opportunity for professionals to collaborate with the next generation of changemakers and support them in driving impactful sustainability initiatives.
With the deadline having passed, we have gathered innovative submissions that are currently being reviewed by an expert panel of judges, with the decision expected around the beginning of November.

Rebuild Ukraine Ambassadors Programme

The “Rebuild Ukraine Ambassadors” Programme sprovides a platform for young perspectives on Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, emphasising economic recovery with social and environmental considerations, as well as Ukraine’s rapprochement with Europe. The flagship event of the programme is the Rebuild Ukraine Lab, a series of workshops designed to gather innovative ideas from young people across Europe on Ukraine’s rebuilding process.
The first edition of the Rebuild Ukraine Lab took place from 20th to 22nd January 2023 in a hybrid, cross-border format. Due to travel restrictions and accessibility challenges arising from the ongoing war, the Lab was held in two physical hubs—Warsaw, Poland and Lviv, Ukraine—while participants also engaged digitally to ensure widespread participation and cooperation. Over 50 young people from across Europe gathered to contribute their ideas, and the event culminated in the publication of a vision paper titled “Towards a Sustainable Reconstruction of Ukraine: Youth Perspectives from Europe” in July 2023.
Building on this success, the second edition of the Rebuild Ukraine Lab took place from 10th to 13th October 2024 in Berlin, preceded by two digital preparatory meetings in September and early October 2024. The 2024 cohort focused on five critical areas for Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery: school education, cultural heritage preservation, urbanisation and smart city technologies, cybersecurity, and energy security and sustainability. This edition once again facilitated dynamic collaboration among young participants, continuing to shape innovative approaches to Ukraine’s future.  Now, our ambassadors are working to summarise the conclusions made during the lab in their chapters of the final paper, in preparation for its publication at the end of 2024.  The results of the lab, along with the paper, will be presented to the public in early 2025.

Sustainable Engagement Fund

National EYP organisations can apply annually for financial support to implement particularly climate-friendly projects and formats. These can address the issue of sustainability in terms of content (event topics), organisation (event framework), and the involvement of relevant stakeholders (local partners, other supporters from civil society and politics). The goal of the Fund is to aid our member organisations in implementing and improving practices that can reduce the overall carbon footprint of the EYP network in a manner that can be replicated for years to come. Three rounds of funding have been successfully implemented so far, resulting in some outstanding projects, and the selection process for the fourth round has been completed. You can find out more about successful projects from previous rounds as well as the details on the upcoming round below.

Young European Multipliers for Climate Action

The Young European Multipliers for Climate Action (YEMCA) are a group of 10 young Europeans who are working to create visibility for young perspectives on key sustainability issues. The YEMCA will use social media, EYP events, and other channels to increase the visibility of young opinions from across Europe on energy transition and climate action. The project aims to address the underrepresentation of youth in the decision-making process by presenting an array of perspectives on this crucial topic to decision-makers, with a view of reaching incoming Members of the European Parliament in 2024 and to mobilise first-time voters from the EYP network to vote in the European elections 2024.