Since 2003, the Western Balkans have been on a path toward European integration, yet the region continues to face significant and growing structural challenges that hinder youth cooperation and development....
Connecting Youth invites submissions from young readers to highlight the voices of youth in the Western Balkans. Our objective is to encourage youth participation in discussions crucial to our region's development, focusing on inclusive solutions for socio-economic progress.a...
Connecting Youth partners attended the 9th Edition of the EUSAIR Forum that took place in Šibenik (Croatia), on 15 and 16 May 2024. ...
Youth engagement is a fundamental pillar in the EU integration process of the Western Balkans. While progress has been made in recognizing the importance of youth inclusion, concerted efforts are needed to address existing challenges and foster an environment conducive to meaningful participation. As the region progresses towards EU integration, giving precedence to empowering and engaging youth becomes imperative. ...
One of the key objectives of Connecting Youth Platform is empowering youth and involving them in the tables and foras that count. The dialogue between youth organizations and relevant institutions is indeed a crucial participation tool and an engaging element when it comes to incentivizing youth civic and active involvement and positioning. ...
Empowering and building skills is one of the main objectives of Connecting Youth work since 2017. CY platform continually increases the capacities of its members, develops their skills and abilities so that ...
In the framework of the CY Strategy 2022-2024 and CY 2023 Action plan supported by Hanns Seidel Foundation, CY partners attended a visit to Sarajevo in the framework of the 8th Edition of the EUSAIR Forum. ...
CY continues its work to further strengthen youth connectivity in the region. For the 7th year in a row the CY team gathered to discuss the working priorities for 2023. Hosted by our partner National Youth Council of Macedonia, the Kickoff Meeting brought the partners together at Europe House in Skopje, on 14 March. Yearly meeting in one of the WB6 Capitals will be from now on the new tradition of CY Team. ...
On 9 November 2022, the High School Students Union of Montenegro (UNSCG), one of the Connecting Youth partners organised a panel discussion on "Youth Guarantees in Montenegro" as part of their VIII General Assembly. To discuss the progress of this scheme implementation in Montenegro, representatives from institutions, the Youth Guarantee working group, youth organisations and high school students were present. ...
On 17 November, the Youth Council of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the partners of the Connecting Youth Platform organized a one-day event based on "Youth Guarantee Deployment in the WB6" and "Sectoral Youth Employment Opportunities" policy papers published this year by CY. ...
On the 14th of November, the National Youth Council of Serbia (KOMS), Connecting Youth partner organized an online event under the title “Youth Guarantee: From EU to Western Balkans” to draw on and discuss the key conclusions of the Policy Papers “Youth Guarantee Deployment in the WB6” published this year by the CY platform. ...
Youth Guarantee is one of the key initiatives taking place in Western Balkan countries and its development phase in each country is different. Albania has initiated the process at the beginning of 2022 and the piloting phase was planned to happen in September 2022....
Last year Connecting Youth was awarded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Austria with the Intercultural Achievement Award for supporting online and offline youth cooperation in the Western Balkans. To receive the award our Executive Director of CDI, Ms Krisela Hackaj, was invited to Vienna this week for the ceremony of IAA 2021 and 2022!...
On the 7th of October Kosovar Youth Council successfully held "Young, Wild and Innovative". This event addressed the issue of youth employment in ICT and the Youth Guarantee Scheme. ...
Young people, youth organizations, youngsters, and civil society organizations have always been involved since the first edition of Tirana Connectivity Forum back in 2015. Under the title “Securely Connected”, on 26-28 September the 8th edition of Tirana Connectivity Forum took place in Tirana. CDI joined forces with the National Youth Congress of Albania and dedicated the 3d day of this forum entirely to youth under the joint vision “Secure and Future-proof Enlargement”. ...
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On 16 September a Civil Society High-Level Conference was organised in Prague under the title: Youth Policy in the Western Balkans –An essential element for the future of the region and Europe. Our partner, Filip Kulakov representing the National Youth Council of North Macedonia joined the discussions on the importance of Regional Cooperation among young people of the Western Balkan. ...
For the fourth year, the Cooperation and Development Institute and Connecting Youth platform partnered with Young Bled Strategic Forum. This year’s Forum was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia from the 26th to the 28th of August. Under the title “Democracy fit for the new age” the forum gathered promising young individuals from 20 different countries to discuss what it means to be democratic in changing environments....
On July 14, 2022, a "Youth Guarantee Roundtable Discussion: Lessons Learned And Policy Recommendations" was organised by the National Youth Council of Macedonia, one of the Connecting Youth platform partners....
On 14 - 15 July 2022, under its 2022 Action Plan, Connecting Youth implemented a capacity-building programme for partner organizations and their member organizations, with the support of Hanns Seidel Stiftung and cooperation with the European Youth Forum. ...
Last week, representatives from the Connecting Youth platform’s partners joined a study visit to Brussels, facilitated and supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation Brussels Office....
Ever since 2017, Connecting Youth works as a methodical initiative to promote the cooperation and dialogue between youth as means for a resilient and diverse region. The initiative is built upon an impact-oriented approach, sustainability, and systemic presence in the policy-making areas relevant to youth....
In October 2020, the European Commission adopted the Economic and Investment Plan (EIP) for the Western Balkans which aims to foster the post pandemic recovery of the region, its economic development and convergence with the European Union...
On 8 October 2021, Connecting Youth organized the panel discussion “What’s in for youth in the Economic and Investment Plan”, within the 7th edition of Tirana Connectivity Forum “Building Better Balkans Together”....
For over a decade, Young Bled Strategic Forum (Young BSF) has brought together young leaders from all over the world to engage in lively discussions and develop...
Next year Tirana will host a series of activities and events as part of the implementation of Tirana European Youth Capital 2022. To prepare and support youth organizations in planning impactful projects and activities, on 16-18 of July, CDI delivered a three day training in close cooperation with the National Youth Congress and the Municipality of Tirana. ...
Connecting Youth throughout the five years of operation, CY has created the first bottom ...
2021 marks the fifth year of CY establishment. Throughout the last five years, CY has contributed to youth ...
The 5th anniversary of the Western Balkan Youth Cooperation Platform (WBYCP) serves as an undisputed evidence ...
CY has demonstrated to be a very valuable learning and development tool for the youth umbrella partner organizations to work together ......
This Wednesday we organised the Online Webinar "German Presidency of the EU and Youth in Western Balkans: Did we finally discuss important issues?"......
"Young People, Migration and Demographic Challenge in the Western Balkans" - was the title of the conference organized by the German Foreign Office...
On 15 October 2020, the National Youth Council of Macedonia, in cooperation with Cooperation and Development Institute, Regional Youth Cooperation Office, and with the support of Hanns Seidel Stiftung and Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organized the webinar titled "Unravelling youth employability and challenges". ...
Lobbying, analyzing, advocating and working our hardest to overcome these obstacles is of utmost importance, especially in times of the current crisis which had a significant negative effect on the education processes in the region....
As part of the Tirana Connectivity Forum 2020, within the CY activities, a side event dedicated entirely to the youth discussion took place at the second day of the Conference, in partnership with the Regional Youth Cooperation Office, the Polish Presidency and Hanns Seidel Foundation....
On 29 September 2020, Bosnia and Herzegovina Association for United Nations, in cooperation with Cooperation and Development Institute, Regional Youth Cooperation Office, and with the support of Hanns Seidel Stiftung and Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organized the webinar titled "What role has the Berlin process envisioned for youth?"....
On September 29, 2020, the National Youth Council of Serbia, in cooperation with Cooperation and Development Institute, Regional Youth Cooperation Office, and with the support of Hanns Seidel Stiftung and Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organized the webinar titled "Decentralization of Active Youth Participation in Serbia"....
On September 21, 2020, the Kosovar Youth Council, in cooperation with Cooperation and Development Institute, Regional Youth Cooperation Office......
On September 18, 2020, the National Youth Congress of Albania, in cooperation with Cooperation and Development Institute, Regional Youth Cooperation Office......
"...countries who don't put a lot of attention to the consultation process while drafting a policy, fail to implement it either."...
The new reality of global pandemic has caused several changes in everyday life of people impacting everyday activity from economy to health and human relations. ...
Last week was very engaging and productive for WBYCP. With the support of Hanns Seidel Stiftung and together with the WBYCP partners and young representatives from the region, we held an Online Capacity Building Program with the primary focus on youth advocacy....
Western Balkans Youth Cooperation Platform is officially a partner of the YO!Fest 2020 - the biggest European political youth festival which gathers young people to discuss about the latest political developments which impact them....
On October 29th took place the annual regional meeting of Western Balkans Youth Cooperation Platform (WBYCP). This meeting started with a short welcoming from ......
During the month of July, WBYCP organized two country events: one in Tirana, during the General Assembly of the National Youth Congress of Albania...
The next stops of WBYCP team were in Podgorica and in Belgrade where we met with the Member Organization’s delegates of High School Students Union of Montenegro and Krovna Organizacija Mladih Srbije. ...
Each year WBYCP team travels across the countries in the region and meets with youngsters and youth organizations members of our partners. Last month we travelled to Skopje and Sarajevo and met with the Member...
WBYCP has entered its third year of activities. Yesterday, the platform institutional partners gathered in Tirana for a strategic meeting to evaluate past actions and plan future work, with a special focus on the 2019 joint activities and actions....
From 8th till 10th February, the National Youth Council of Serbia held its seventh General Assembly, which gathered more than 100 delegates, representatives of KOMS’ member organizations. During the Assembly, annual reports for the year 2018 were adopted, as well as KOMS’ Annual Work Plan for 2019...
The annual report “National Student Fee and Support Systems in European Higher Education 2017/18” shows how fee and support systems (including grants and loans) work in higher education in Europe....
The Youth Capital in Europe for this year is in the Western Balkans. It is the city of Novi Sad, the 2nd most largest city of Serbia. During the competition for winning this title, the city presented the project "Novi Sad - Opening Doors"......
New Year, bigger engagement, support and impact in 2019!
WBYCP is a unique regional platform, striving for connecting youngsters in the Western
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Western Balkans Youth Cooperation Platform has a dedicated space to share project ideas and submit Partnership Requests. When you submit your Partnership Request (here) all the partners satisfying the selected criteria by you, will be notified by an email....
The European Youth Forum (YFJ) is the largest forum in the world that represent over 100 youth organizations, which bring together tens of millions of young people from all over Europe. Our partners, the National Youth Council of Macedonia (NYCM) and the National Youth Council of Serbia (KOMS) are already part...
Cooperation and Development Institute in partnership with Hanns Seidel Foundation and Western Balkans Youth Cooperation Platform organized the Side Event 2 of Tirana Connectivity Forum 2018. This panel focused its debate on the side effects of connectivity and especially on the emigration of youngsters from the Western Balkans countries...
From October 9 to 12, WBYCP organized the 1st "Voice Up" Western Balkans Youth Forum and Exchange Programme. 18 youngsters from the region had the opportunity to know and work with each other and with professionals from various fields other in several workshops and trainings. ...
WBYCP is a grassroots regional youth platform implemented by Cooperation and Development Institute (CDI), together with the umbrella youth organizations of the Six Western Balkans countries: National Youth Congress of Albania, National Youth Council of Macedonia, National Youth Council of Serbia, High School Students Union of Montenegro, ...
"Sustainable Security: The Role of Youth in Bridging the Divide" - Young Bled Strategic Forum Western Balkans Youth Cooperation Platform (WBYCP) has partnered with Young Bled Strategic Forum which was organized in Ljubljana on September 7-10. WBYCP powered and facilitated the "Night Owl Session Western Balkans" on September 8th...
Youth organizations from EU and Western Balkans have gathered in Vienna from 2-4 September in the framework of the 18th EU Youth Conference, with the mission to advocate for the interests of all young people across the continent. The main approach to this mission...
For the second year Western Balkans Youth Cooperation Platform partnered with Bled Strategic Forum to boost regional youth cooperation and support the much needed dialogue with youngsters from EU Member States ......
Western Balkans Youth Cooperation Platform is partnering with Young Bled Strategic Forum (Young BSF) "Sustainable Security: The Role of Youth in Bridging the Divide"...
The Third Regional Youth Forum took place in Novi Sad, Serbia on June 29 till July 1st. The event gathered around 200 young leaders, representatives of youth organizations and committed......
Over the last weeks we travelled in the six capitals of the Western Balkans countries. Our trip started in Sarajevo, continued in Podgorica, Prishtina, Tirana, Belgrade and ended in Skopje. ...
Due to many requests, the submission deadline for our Essay Competition has been extended by one week. The new deadline for submitting the essays will be...
Cooperation and Development Institute (CDI) in collaboration with Centre international de formation europeenne (CIFE), Association Bourgogne Balkans Express and Environnement, Sciences Po Dijon,...
As part of the programme for 2018, Western Balkans Youth Cooperation Platform is pleased to announce the launch of the Essay Competition "Three reasons to stay in my country". The essay competition is open to youngsters: ...
Western Balkans Youth Cooperation Platform (WBYCP) proudly announces the partnership agreement signed between National Youth Congress (NYC) of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina Association for United Nations (BHA UN), Central Youth Action Council (CYAC) of Kosovo, National Youth Council (NYCM) of Macedonia,...
On April 10 took place in Brussels the event 'EU Enlargement and the Western Balkans', organized by the Centre for European Perspective and its partners. The event gathered think tank representatives, youth and civil society organizations......
Cooperation and Development Institute in collaboration with Centre International de Formation Europeenne (CIFE), Environnment Sciences Po, Association Bourgogne Balkans...
In the framework of the 30th anniversary of the Erasmus programme (European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) established in 1987, later called Erasmus+, the Albanian National Council for European Integration held on December 20, 2017 a roundtable with the topic "European Policies for Youth"....
On January 22, 1963, eighteen years after the end of World War II, at the Elysee Palace in Paris was signed the treaty of friendship between France and West Germany by President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer....
EUROPEANS FOR PEACE is a funding programme for international youth projects. The programmepromotes international exchange projects for young people from countries of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, Israel and Germany....
Antall Jozsef Knowledge Centre (AJKC) in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary and with the support of the International Visegrad Fund launches its call for application......
Cooperation and Development Institute and its partners Centre international de formation europeenne (CIFE)......
Western Balkan Fund promotes cooperation and strengthening the relations between Contracting Parties by sharing common......
The Cooperation and Development Institute (CDI) in partnership with Hanns Seidel Foundation, organized on the 9th November 2017......
The Cooperation and Development Institute (CDI) is organizing on November 9, the side event "Connecting Youth: the......
Foundation Schuler Helfen Leben (SHL) is seeking applications for support of educational youth project activities......
In the framework of the Counselling days of KOMS, MilicaSkiljevic from the National Youth Council of Serbia presented the Western Balkan Youth Cooperation Platform......
RYCO (Regional Youth Cooperation Office) has opened its first Call for Proposals addressed to youth in the Western Balkans... ...
The Centre international de formation europeenne (CIFE, Nice/Berlin), the Cooperation and Development Institute (Tirana)......
On the 5th and 6th of July, 2017, was held the annual event of the National Youth Congress (NYC). This event consisted in two......
In the framework of the Berlin Process, on 12 July 2017, in Trieste, Italy, was held the Trieste Western Balkan Summit......
In the framework of the Berlin Process, on 12 July 2017, in Trieste, Italy, was held the Trieste Western Balkan Summit......