Youngspace – New EU Project Aims to Strengthen Youth Participation in Society

The project marks a new collaboration between Forum for Social Innovation Sweden within Science Park Borås, and the Borås Region Sjuhärad Municipal Association. All municipalities in Sjuhärad are participating, as are stakeholders from civil society and the business community. The project focuses on the needs and values of young people. In the long term, the results are intended to strengthen participatory democracy at the local and regional levels.

“The major societal challenges require us to focus on sustainable transition—and to succeed, we need to involve young people, especially in rural areas,” says Ulrika Sjölund, head of Forum for Social Innovation Sweden Science Park Borås and project manager for Youngspace. “Through the Youngspace project, we aim to promote inclusion, creativity, and social innovation. We do this by developing spaces where young people can participate in societal development using the New European Bauhaus toolkit.

Key figures in culture and community life gather

This week, stakeholders from municipalities, civil society, and the business community gathered at Centralen in Tranemo to take the first step in the project. The municipalities of Sjuhärad, as well as the Västra Götaland Region and stakeholders in civil society, were present and shared their thoughts and ideas. The aim was to build consensus on the project, which will run until 2029. The outcome of the project will be a strengthened role for young people in society—socially, culturally, and politically.

“When we come together across municipal boundaries to share experiences and best practices, we create the conditions for change—both at the strategic level and through concrete action,” says Johanna Gustafsson, cultural coordinator for Tranemo Municipality.

Collaboration, inspiration, and the exchange of experiences with Europe

The Youngspace project is part of a European collaboration between eight organizations in six countries through Interreg Europe. The Borås node of Forum for Social Innovation Sweden alongside the Borås region and Science Park Borås at the University of Borås.

“By working together at both the regional and European levels, where we share experiences with other stakeholders in Europe, we hope—together with the municipalities—to be able to think in new ways about place-making and participation,” says Lisa Haeger, cultural strategist at the Borås Region Sjuhärad Municipal Association. With so much collective expertise and experience, we expect to be able to achieve tangible results that will have a long-term impact on young people’s influence in society.

Beautiful, sustainable, together – The New European Bauhaus as a set of core values

“Several European countries have made significantly more progress than Sweden in incorporating young people’s perspectives into sustainable community development and social innovation,” says Ulrika Sjölund. The exchange with other countries will therefore provide us with both concrete examples and insights into innovative approaches to social innovation through cross-sectoral collaboration. We will also utilize the new New European Bauhaus toolkit in co-creation activities.

About Youngspace

Youngspace is a European collaborative project involving eight organizations from six countries. The project aims to include young people in sustainable community building and to develop spaces that strengthen their social, cultural, and political roles in society. The focus is on exchanging experiences regarding leadership and public policies that support these spaces, with the goal of promoting inclusion, creativity, and social innovation among young people. Youngspace is funded by Interreg Europe and the Västra Götaland Region’s Culture Department.

At the regional level, the municipalities of the Borås region are participating alongside Borås Science Park. Within the region, the project will focus on the policy area of designed living environments—that is, how the physical environment is shaped and experienced. The project is linked to the EU’s New European Bauhaus initiative and is based on a holistic approach that integrates social, ecological, and aesthetic values to create attractive and sustainable living environments for young people.

Youngspace – an Interreg Europe project (in English)

The Västra Götaland Region's Culture Committee supports Youngspace

More about Forum for Social Innovation Sweden the University of Borås

More about the EU initiative New European Bauhaus (in English)