Launch of the 2025/26 Youth Conferences – Empowering Young People to Lead in Germany
2025
Launch of the 2025/26 Youth Conferences – Empowering Young People to Lead in Germany
The new cycle of youth conferences organised by the German ERYICA member, the Jugendstiftung Baden-Württemberg, on behalf of the Ministry of Education, has officially begun. These conferences are designed to give young people a direct platform to debate the issues that matter most to them – from education and democracy to the future of youth participation – and to present their ideas and demands directly to policymakers.
State Secretary Volker Schebesta highlighted the importance of this initiative: “With these youth conferences, you have the opportunity to actively shape your own future.” Minister of Education Theresa Schopper underlined the same message: “Young people want and should contribute – their voices count.”
What makes this format unique is the scale and the structure: more than 150 conferences are scheduled for the 2025/26 school year, reaching over 10,000 young participants. Crucially, the initiative relies on a growing network of trained young volunteers. These volunteers are qualified to facilitate and implement the conferences in their own schools, ensuring a fully participatory and sustainable process.
As Günter Bressau, Member of the ERYICA Governing Board and coordinator of the programme in the Jugendstiftung, explains: “The youth conferences are not only a platform for dialogue between young people and decision-makers. They are also an investment in young people’s skills, building their capacities to lead discussions, manage projects, and make their voices heard at the local and regional level.”
The outcome of each conference is more than a list of demands – it is a lived experience of democracy. By engaging directly with representatives from politics and local government, young people demonstrate that meaningful participation is possible, effective, and essential.
The message of the launch event was clear: democracy thrives on participation – and these youth conferences show what happens when young people are given the tools, trust, and stage to shape the debate.
