2 November 2026
As of October 2026, AEBR has taken on a new role as co-chair of the European Commission’s Youth4Cooperation initiative, along with DG REGIO’ staff.
Youth4Cooperation has been established by DG REGIO in 2022 in an effort to enable young people’s participation in shaping Territorial Cooperation and follow up on the Manifesto for Young People by Young People. To do so, the initiative strengthens the involvement of young people in European Territorial Cooperation and creates a stable dialogue between the European Commission and young people.
Through regular monthly meetings, Youth4Cooperation bundles various existing youth-focused activities like the Interreg Volunteer Youth (IVY) programme, Youth Councils of the Macro-regional strategies and of Interreg programmes, and the Cross-Border Ambassador initiative, bringing their representatives and other young people interested in European Territorial Cooperation to join the conversation and exchange with European Commission representatives.
With AEBR now taking on the co-chairing role, the ambition is to build on these achievements and take youth participation a step further. AEBR is launching a participatory process that will place young people at the centre of shaping the network’s future by identifying their interests, expectations and priorities, jointly defining its structure and framework, developing concrete activities and preparing the celebrations for Youth4Cooperation’s fifth anniversary in 2027.
“What we want to achieve is to ensure meaningful participation beyond meetings and events”, says Milena, IVY Project Administrator at AEBR, who devised the participatory process. “We want young people to have genuine opportunities to contribute to the network, take initiative and make their voices heard. This means involving Youth4Cooperation members in activities throughout the year, from small in-person meetings with European Commission representatives to developing communication content and other initiatives that emerge from the ideas and interests of the young people themselves.”
“We also want to organise an online public event, so to show the achievements to a wider audience and sparkle interest among new participants”, adds Milena.
AEBR is proud to have followed Youth4Cooperation’s development since its early days and looks forward to contributing to its next chapter. Together with DG REGIO and the network’s members, AEBR aims to turn youth participation into something more continuous, collaborative and youth-led, ensuring that young people are not only part of the conversation about European cooperation, but also actively contribute to shaping it.
More information on Youth4Cooperation: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/policy/cooperation/european-territorial/youth4cooperation_en
To join the network, contact ivy@aebr.eu
More information on IVY: https://www.interregyouth.com/
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