In order to achieve the goals and objectives of the Project, the project team will focus on clearly defining them and support them with a dedicated action plan, combining the necessary tools, techniques and methodologies along with advanced research, transparent and effective communication.

 For the appropriate use of a range of methodological approaches the Project will be divided in three thematic pillars of research, focusing on specific areas of fundamental human rights protection, policies and practice on youth issues in the EU:

Pillar 1. Law and human rights protection: ensuring equality and non-discrimination for all young people

Pillar 2. Policies: providing for fair and sustainable implementation for the promotion of youth participation

Pillar 3. From theory to practice: fostering youth engagement for the improvement of the lives of young people

Research and reflection on the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and youth policies through the three thematic pillars will be analyzed and interrogated in terms of concepts and main principles within a global, European, national, regional and local dimension. The implementation of the EU youth policies cannot actually be successful unless interlinked with the different dimensions in young people’s lives on the national, regional and local level. On their end, young people’s voices must be taken into account whenever global, national, or local issues are to be addressed.

Therefore, it is crucial to realise that the EU Youth Strategy provides a framework of objectives, principles, priorities, core areas and measures for youth policy cooperation for all relevant stakeholders with due regard for their respective competences and the principle of subsidiarity. Whether this framework is sufficient to successfully deal with the key socio-political developments and challenges that frame youth policy from its development to its implementation, governance and evaluation is to be examined by the project team with the assistance of several pertinent to this project stakeholders.

Relevant stakeholders are, amongst others, the EU member states, the relevant European Union institutions and other international organisations, such as the Council of Europe, the United Nations, UNESCO, as well as the local and regional authorities, youth councils, youth organisations, organisations working with young people, youth workers, youth researchers and civil society actors.

The Project would also comparatively examine the characteristics of the young population in the EU and candidate countries (Western Balkan partners), while special attention will be given to youth risking marginalisation based on potential sources of discrimination, such as their age, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion, belief or political opinion.

The research project team includes esteemed academics who are specialized in European and international human rights protection, European Union law and policies, as well as practitioners, policy-advisors and policy-makers working on youth related issues. Young researchers are also included in the research group, to give the impetus for young scholars.

The research project team will organize various events and produce deliverables, aiming at the dissemination of knowledge and the enhancement of interest in EU youth policies.

EUSYP Think-Tank will further promote the Project’s objectives, functioning as a pool of knowledge and sharing ideas as well as a disseminating the Project’s outcomes.