The international online webinar The Future of Democracy: Youth Engagement in a Digital World of the EGOV4YOUTH project took place yesterday.

The event provided an extraordinary opportunity for researchers, public entities, and youth associations, as it included the participation of prominent speakers from various academic fields, representatives of Public Administration, and experts in new technologies. This created a platform for exchanging views and sharing opinions.

The main focus of the meeting, which saw participants from several European countries, was e-governance, meaning the use of digital technologies to improve interaction between citizens and institutions. This is becoming essential to make decision-making processes more inclusive and to facilitate the active participation of young people, particularly those in vulnerable situations or those outside education and employment circuits (NEET).

In recent years, youth involvement in decision-making processes has become a central theme in international political agendas. The pandemic has further accelerated the digitalization of public services, making it even more urgent to develop tools and skills that facilitate young people’s access to participation opportunities.

The E-GOV project aims to promote collaboration between young people and public administrations within decision-making processes. The main objective is to facilitate youth participation in public life and to build long-term alliances among various actors, including civil society, research institutions, and the private sector.

During the meeting, the results from the Transnational Research Report were presented. This report is already available on the project’s website and will soon be accessible in all the partnership’s languages. The findings will be used to develop a training program on E-Government and civic participation, aimed at improving local development policies. The research results from the report, conducted with the contribution of all project partners, were analyzed and discussed in detail by expert speakers during the webinar.