Engaging diverse youth in local democracy through integrated civic empowerment ecosystems

The municipality of Etterbeek is characterised by a significant and highly diverse youth population, within an urban context marked by strong social and cultural diversity (with more than 150 nationalities and a variety of socio-cultural profiles). Nearly 6,700 young people aged 12 to 24 live in the municipality, in addition to a large number of students attending secondary schools and higher education institutions located in and around the area.

In this context, the municipality has developed in recent years a range of actions aimed at strengthening youth civic engagement, notably through initiatives such as public speaking training (Lab’Oratoire), media literacy programmes, simulations of international negotiations (Mini COP), interschool meetings, and professional immersion activities. These initiatives help develop critical thinking, communication skills and an understanding of societal issues.

However, despite this diversified offer, several limitations remain. The actions are still relatively fragmented and struggle to fit into an integrated and structuring strategy at the municipal level. Moreover, some groups of young people—particularly those furthest from institutional frameworks—remain difficult to engage on a sustained basis. Finally, the link between these initiatives and local decision-making processes remains limited.

In this context, Etterbeek aims to take a further step by structuring a genuine local youth engagement policy, moving from a logic of one-off activities to a coherent and sustainable ecosystem of participation and civic empowerment.

Several areas of experimentation are being considered. The municipality seeks to strengthen the links between existing actions in order to create coherent pathways for young people, combining skills development (public speaking, critical thinking), understanding of public issues (climate, media, social cohesion), and concrete opportunities for engagement. It also aims to develop more structured participatory formats, such as youth forums, regular dialogue spaces, calls for projects and co-creation mechanisms, enabling young people to become more actively involved in local life.

Particular attention will be paid to including young people who are furthest from participation, by adapting formats, locations and methods of engagement, and by relying on local partners (schools, associations, youth centres). The objective is to reach a genuinely diverse range of profiles and to avoid participation being limited to already engaged groups.

Within the framework of an URBACT network, Etterbeek seeks to position itself as a partner city in order to confront its practices with those of other European cities and identify innovative models of youth engagement. The objective is to test different approaches in terms of mobilisation, facilitation and integration of young people into local policies, with a view to developing a transferable model capable of sustainably strengthening their participation in democratic and social life.