Dear friends of UNITED,
We hope this new season is starting in a good way for all of you. From our side, we've been busy with many meetings connected with the projects we're involved in and getting ready for our upcoming campaigns and opportunities, gathering energies, resources and inspiration to face together the current challenges regarding anti-racism and inclusion. Here you can read about them, but also discover some upcoming opportunities in which you and your organisation can get involved, so we hope they'll prove useful to you.
EYF Learning and Networking Days
UNITED took part in the European Youth Foundation's learning and networking days, held 8–9 September in Brussels and hosted by the European Youth Forum. Twice a year, the EYF brings together international youth organisations to walk through its grant priorities and reforms, and to build skills around project design, budgeting and financial reporting. Two days were spent going deep into the upcoming calls for one-off co-operation activities and long-term youth co-operation projects to be implemented in 2027, alongside workshops on proposal writing and grant management. It was a very useful useful groundwork as UNITED looks ahead to its own next funding applications, that will hopefully provide the whole Network with interesting opportunities.
SPARK Project Kicks Off
From 21–23 September, we met with partners of the new SPARK project ("Solidarity, Participation, Action, Restoration & Knowledge") for the kickoff meeting. Funded under the European Commission's CERV-EQUAL programme, SPARK is a two-year initiative to prevent and reduce discrimination and hate crime among young people in schools and higher education institutions, combining restorative approaches with the YouCreate participatory methodology.
The project runs in four countries — the Netherlands, Greece, Italy and Hungary — with an international consortium: Avans University of Applied Sciences (coordinator), CESIE (capacity building), Terre des Hommes Hellas (youth participation and child protection), and UNITED for Intercultural Action, leading dissemination and advocacy. Over its lifetime, SPARK aims to directly involve 160 young people and train 80 professionals, while developing youth-led campaigns and policy recommendations at national and European level, so we're keeping you posted about its future outcomes and developments.
Delegates Meet Again
UNITED's delegates represent the network at conferences, general assemblies and consultations run by the Council of Europe, the OSCE, ENAR, the Civil Society Forum and others. On 10 September, around fifteen of them joined the first delegates meeting since the programme paused.
They joined from Italy, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Belgium, Hungary and the United Kingdom. One has taken part in UNITED campaigns since the early 2000s, back when the office still posted out campaign materials. Others have represented the network at the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe, or sit on the board of the Civil Society Forum. Several were attending for the first time.
Most of the hour went on introductions, and several people brought opportunities with them. The group also discussed what makes participation possible: travel documents and visa rules shape who can be in which room, and so do cost, timing and format. Tell us what you would need, and it will be taken into account when choosing events and nominating delegates.
These meetings will run every couple of months. To join the next one, write to [email protected].
Call for Participants: International Training Course in Cyprus
Young refugees and asylum seekers often face serious barriers to mental health support, protection from discrimination, and reliable information about their rights — and it is frequently youth workers and civil society actors who are first to respond, without always having the tools to do so. For this reason, together with Generation for Change CY, UNITED is bringing together 20 young professionals, youth workers, volunteers and students (aged 30 or under) from seven Council of Europe member states to build exactly those skills. The programme covers psychological first aid, trauma-informed and culturally sensitive approaches, creative and arts-based methods, gender-based and intersectional discrimination, activity planning and evaluation, and accessible information for young refugees and asylum seekers. No background in psychology is required, and participants can apply for small grants for local follow-up activities.
📅 4–7 November 2026, Cyprus
📝 Apply by 4 October 2026 — application form
✈️ The project is supported by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe. International travel reimbursed up to €250 (contact [email protected] in advance if your costs will exceed this); accommodation and meals covered. Please don't book tickets before your participation is confirmed.
Applications Open: Empowered by ACTion – Final Get Together Event
Applications are now open for the final event in the "Empowered by ACTion – Civic Education Crossing Borders" series, an Erasmus+ cooperation on non-formal civic education for young refugees. The Get Together Event takes place 22–26 November 2026 in Krzyżowa, Poland, bringing together 20 young people with refugee experience and 20 youth workers from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary who took part in the project's previous trainings.
Participants will explore what meaningful youth participation looks like in practice, through biographical theatre, poetry slam and dedicated spaces for peer exchange, professional reflection and joint learning. Travel costs are reimbursed (up to €250 internationally, €75 within Poland), and participation fees range from €40 (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic) to €120 (Germany) — financial constraints should not be a barrier, and this can be flagged in the application.
📅 Deadline: 21 October 2026
👉 Register via this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfDXJfbOliAA8Ex-7kkQVlvNLasZ8bJ5QkA6vLxs9kHnHmTgg/viewform or get in touch by writing to [email protected]
That's all from our side at the moment, but it's just the beginning of the season, so please do not hesitate to reach out and to let us know about your activities as well and, always, #stayunited!
