This project is a youth-led initiative incubator and policy programme that serves as a launchpad for supporting young people’s solutions to community challenges such as hate, polarization, extremism and violence, in partnership with key local decision-makers.
Young Cities works at the community level with youth and local government stakeholders to enhance their capacities, develop a shared understanding of local youth issues, and facilitate new opportunities for cooperation. CATs have designed and are now implementing their initiatives in two communities (Cair and Gostivar) where they deliver activities to prevent violence in their municipalities. This joint programme supports a collaborative approach that bridges the gap between municipal efforts to engage youth in P/CVE and the needs and contributions of their young citizens. Through action-oriented capacity-building, seed funding and direct support, Young Cities facilitates youth-led initiatives as well as city-youth collaboration, and supports municipal youth engagement strategies. Initiatives have taken on issues such as discrimination, gangs, stereotyping refugees, and the stigmatization of young people charged with crime.