The impact research conducted in 2024 shows that the Democracy Reloading activities strongly contribute to fulfilling Democracy Reloading’s objectives and support youth participation at the local level within municipalities across Europe.
“Through Democracy Reloading, I deepened my understanding of how local authorities can create enabling environments for meaningful youth participation. The framework helped clarify the roles and responsibilities of youth workers and decision-makers and provided practical tools for assessing and improving our existing practices. I also appreciated the emphasis on democratic competences and the strategic dimension of youth involvement in decision-making” - Interview participant.
International training course participants, such as municipality officers, are often strongly able to use Democracy Reloading as a tool to improve their personal capacities in relation to youth participation. As a result of the trainings, they develop in the following areas:
- A deepening of knowledge of the role of municipalities in youth participation.
- An increased understanding of the varying situation of municipalities across Europe regarding youth participation.
- The ability to comparatively analyse participants' municipalities with others.
- Increased ability to identify improvements needed in their municipality practices.
- Ability to advocate and champion youth participation within a municipality.
This enhances participants' ability to understand and map their local contexts and identify areas for development. Many training participants can apply these competences to make positive improvements to their municipality. This is easier for participants working in municipalities that are supportive of youth participation.
“When I was in this training course, all the time I was able to compare what we have and what we don't have, and maybe what we need to improve” - Interview participant
The survey of Democracy Reloading stakeholders indicates:
- 70% of respondents state the influence of Democracy Reloading on local participation structures is high / rather high
- 85% of respondents considered Democracy Reloading to be a positive influence on local training opportunities
- Over 80% of respondents consider the influence of Democracy Reloading on local youth strategies as high / rather high
- Over 90% of respondents believe the DEMO SNAC initiatives had a positive influence on the involvement levels of young people in designing the local strategies
Democracy Reloading has a demonstrably high impact on the use of E+/ESC at the local level to support youth participation.
- In 2024, 77 E+ grants were made to Democracy Reloading stakeholders. There has been a year-on-year increase in this number since the start of the project in 2022
- In 2024, 19 ESC grants were made to Democracy Reloading stakeholders, compared with only 4 in 2020.
The research results are based on a mixed methods approach, combining data supplied by National Agencies against evaluation indicators, surveys with participants, interviews with participants and social media metrics.
