Youth as Partners, Not Beneficiaries: What the Y-O Model Achieved and Where It Points Next

Youth participation is a term that appears in almost every policy document concerning young people in the Western Balkans. Yet, the gap between stated commitment and meaningful practice has become one of the defining frustrations for a generation increasingly disillusioned with democratic institutions.

The project “A Cross Regional Predictive Model for Youth Policy Shaping – Youth Observers” (Y-O Model), funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Youth programme, was built on a different premise. Instead of asking young people to take part in processes designed by others, it explored what becomes possible when youth are positioned as co-organisers from the very start.

The Y-O Model unfolded in three interconnected phases. The first phase focused on the youth observers themselves, providing capacity-building sessions that combined policy analysis methodology with leadership training, alongside study visits to public institutions and civil society actors across partner countries. These visits gave participants direct access to high-level decision-makers.

The second phase put this preparation into practice. Youth observers led national stakeholder consultations, mapping relevant actors, testing initial policy assumptions, and building relationships needed to collect data. They then convened and facilitated national roundtables to test their preliminary findings with the same stakeholders.

The third phase involved the production of six policy papers addressing youth mental health, employability, and political participation. These were not commissioned reports; they were researched, drafted, and presented by the youth observers themselves, with support from mentors in partner organisations, in direct engagement with the institutions they were analysing.

The project’s impact was felt on three levels. For the youth observers, the experience marked a transition from participation to civic agency. Moving through the full cycle—from capacity building to stakeholder consultation to policy contribution—strengthened their confidence and motivation to remain active in youth policy beyond the project period.

For partner organisations, sustained collaboration enhanced institutional capacity to work with and for young people. The establishment of informal national youth observer networks extended each organisation’s reach and laid a foundation for ongoing engagement.

At the institutional level, the roundtable process demonstrated that meaningful collaboration between youth, civil society, public institutions, and international organisations is possible even in contexts where cross-sectoral trust is difficult to build. Stakeholders were engaged not merely as an audience for conclusions, but as active participants in the research process itself.

You can download & read the document: Y-O-Model-Project-Summary-Report-1