Engaging the youth to build a better tomorrow

In Europe’s drive towards a more sustainable future, youth engagement is emerging as a pivotal force. The next generation brings fresh perspectives, creativity, and an inherent stake in the success of Europe’s green transition. Therefore, empowering them to participate in and even lead sustainability efforts is increasingly recognised as essential. While formal education pathways like school curricula and university programs offer structured learning opportunities, informal and community-based approaches can also spark significant change, providing hands-on experiences that encourage active participation. This engagement has been driven by various factors, including the rise of social media, digital tools and a growing awareness of climate challenges in young people. 

This article explores a range of Green Deal Support Office (GDSO) projects that demonstrate how both formal and informal channels can work in tandem to cultivate environmental awareness, shift behaviours, and embed sustainability into daily life. From SchoolFood4Change, which integrates healthy, eco-friendly meals and cooking skills into school systems, to GreenSCENT, a project using digital tools and open innovation challenges, these examples highlight the diverse methods available for engaging young people. SHARED GREEN DEAL further demonstrates the impact of participatory approaches, where schoolchildren in Lithuania actively contributed to sustainable urban mobility planning. We also look at ECF4CLIM, which empowers educational communities to co-design sustainability interventions, and I-CHANGE, whose creative climate game helps citizens translate complex climate issues into tangible local actions.

The importance of youth engagement

As the impact of climate change intensifies over time, it is the young people of today and future generations who will face the worst effects. Already, an estimated 1 billion children are at extremely high risk to the impacts of climate change[1]. In addition, with over 1.2 billion people aged 15 to 24 globally[2], the scale of exposure highlights the urgency of ensuring that youth are not just protected, but actively engaged in shaping climate mitigation and adaption solutions. 

Despite their significant numbers, young people's voices and interests have often been ignored. Yet, young people have a crucial role to play in climate mitigation and adaptation. They bring fresh perspectives, curiosity, energy, and a natural ability to think creatively, all of which are essential qualities to addressing complex challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable food systems. They can engage with decision-makers through youth councils or advisory boards (e.g., ECOSOC Youth Forum), increasing public awareness to inspire governments and communities to take action. Young people also have the ability to quickly build networks through the use of social media to raise awareness and propose innovative solutions. An independent study[3] also found that of age demographics below 45, young people are the most vocal about sustainability. They are also more likely to take action when it comes to physical protests and demonstrations [4], following the example set by young climate activists like Greta Thunberg, who have helped shape an environmentally conscious generation of students and young adults. 

Figure 1: Age demographics most vocal about sustainability © MeaningfulPlanet

The emotional and psychological toll of climate anxiety on young people must be acknowledged. Many are often burdened with eco-anxiety, which is defined as a “chronic fear of environmental doom” and climate anxiety, which can be defined as “anxiety which is significantly related to the ecological crisis”. Recognising this, the European Council has called for more structured support mechanisms that empower youth to channel their concerns into climate action. Their recommendations include ensuring access to reliable information on contributing to sustainability efforts, developing connections with like-minded communities for support, encouraging environmentally conscious choices, and promoting participation in nature-based activities[5]. However, young people face barriers to meaningful engagement in climate action, such as limited access to funding, resources, and mentorship, which can restrict their ability to contribute to project design and delivery. A key challenge is the lack of opportunities for young people to express their views on environmental policies and climate action. Nearly half (47.7%) of surveyed youth report that there are not enough platforms for them to participate in climate discussions, while 19.3% are unaware of any existing opportunities[6]. Without clear avenues to engage in decision-making, many young people feel unheard, exacerbating frustration and climate anxiety.

Climate justice demands youth inclusion, meaningful participation, and equity to ensure that those most affected and vulnerable are acknowledged as rights-holders and stakeholders. They must be allowed real participation, free from tokenism or discrimination, in climate policymaking and governance processes. Additionally, if their rights are compromised, mechanisms for fair and accessible solutions must be in place. 

Formal approaches to engaging young people

Formal education offers a structured and impactful avenue for engaging young people in sustainability. Schools, universities, and training institutions are uniquely positioned to embed environmental awareness directly into their curricula, ensuring sustainability concepts become a fundamental part of young people’s education and everyday experiences. However, many young people feel that their education systems are failing to equip them with the necessary skills for the green jobs of the future. A recent survey[7] highlights this concern, revealing that only 19.2% of respondents believe their education has adequately prepared them for a future in the green economy. More than a third (38.7%) feel only somewhat equipped, while 31.6% say their education has not provided the skills or knowledge they need. An additional 10.5% are uncertain, reflecting a broader lack of awareness about green economy education. Innovative solutions will need to be adopted more broadly to engage young people and provide them with the tools to enter into green careers. 

Bringing sustainable food practices into schools

A clear example of an innovative youth engagement approach is the SchoolFood4Change, funded by the EU Green Deal Call. The project engages young people through a structured educational model known as the Whole School Food Approach (WSFA), which focuses not only on the school, but also the school environment. Reaching more than 3,200 schools and over 650,000 students in 12 EU countries[8], the initiative promotes sustainable food systems by encouraging healthier, environmentally friendly eating habits from an early age. WSFA combines classroom education with practical workshops (e.g. cooking classes or growing vegetables in the school garden) and involves local farmers (e.g. through farm-to-school twinning programs), catering providers, and authorities in creating nutritious, plant-based, and locally sourced meal options.

One of the project’s most fundamental elements has been its on-site coaching and capacity-building workshops. These trainings were conducted in several countries to help stakeholders of the school food system implement the WSFA tailored to their specific contexts. While these trainings form the basis of the project's innovative approach (WSFA), it is the activities involving young people that make the real difference. One of the project's top priorities is to involve young people, i.e. those most affected by the problem, in activities at schools. Some SchoolFood4Change partner schools support the establishment of Student Councils, whose members are involved in decisions about the menu and the school food system, for example. In addition, a total of 66 canteen days - with programs for pupils, parents, school staff and the wider school community - have already been co-organised by pupils. On these canteen days, participants engage in hands-on activities, such as preparing fruit salads and smoothies, while learning about healthier eating habits and gaining insight into the operations of school kitchens, for instance. For more information, check out the news blog from a successful canteen day in Germany.

Beyond the local context, to foster dialogue across generations and political levels, schoolchildren and young people are involved in high-level discussions, forums and other events whenever possible. Recently, two groups of schoolchildren and youth took part in events in the European Parliament (in Strasbourg) and in the European Commission in Brussels, to exchange views with EU Commissioners and Members of the European Parliament. At the World Food Forum 2023, a SF4C Youth Delegation presented a Statement and in 2024, students were part of the SF4C contributions at both the Biofach Trade Fair (Nuremberg, Germany) and at the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto (Turin, Italy).

Last year, SchoolFood4Change also launched an online peer-to-peer exchange, connecting students across countries and continents. The first exchange between Vietnam and Belgium was successfully tested, leading to a webinar with 30 teachers from nine countries. Since September 2024, students aged 12-18 years from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Spain, Estonia, and Romania have participated, with more sessions planned for 2025, including Hungary, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, and Uganda.

Picture 1 on the left: On-site coaching session on the WSFA in Lyon, France. Picture 2 on the right:  Young students learning how to build little houses for insects at a Canteen Day in Germany. © SchoolFood4Change

To learn more about SchoolFood4Change, visit their website, read the Horizon 2020 article, watch the feature in the YouTube video and view the project’s success stories. 

Harnessing digital innovation for environmental awareness

Another compelling example is the GreenSCENT project, funded by the EU Green Deal Call, which combines digital innovation and hands-on learning activities to inspire environmental awareness among students across Europe. GreenSCENT has developed diverse educational tools, including the GreenAir application - an interactive, web-based platform using augmented reality and gamification to teach young people about air quality and its impacts. Complementing this digital tool, the CleanAir@School initiative provides students with practical experience in measuring local air quality through classroom experiments using test-tube sensors, connecting theoretical knowledge directly to students' local environments. Other activities include the Microplastics project, a hands-on investigation into waterway pollution that raises awareness about plastic waste in oceans, and the Climathon, an online course designed specifically for PhD students and postdocs to deepen their analytical skills in climate data alongside experts. GreenSCENT also organised three open innovation challenges that invited students, citizens, and start-ups from across Europe to propose creative solutions for sustainable food production, and waste management. Through the youth design assemblies, the project further encouraged active youth participation, gathering 58 young people from different European countries over 18 months to collaboratively discuss and shape innovative approaches to sustainability challenges such as Clean Energy in Copenhagen, Zero Pollution in Barcelona, Farm to Fork in Rome and Circular Economy in Serbia.

To learn more about GreenSCENT, visit its website. 

Picture 3: Microplastics demonstration created by students to raise awareness © GreenSCENT

Adopting green travel choices

A further example of successful youth engagement from a Green Deal project is from the SHARED GREEN DEAL, where the ‘Kids Behind the Wheel’ initiative in Panevezys, Lithuania, highlights how involving young people in urban mobility planning can lead to innovative solutions for sustainability challenges. This initiative was one of 24 local experiments conducted as part of SHARED GREEN DEAL and recognised that schoolchildren’s voices were often missing from discussions on transport and air pollution. To change this, the Environmental Centre for Administration and Technology (ECAT) implemented an urban mobility lab, where students, teachers, and parents worked together to rethink school travel. Students from three schools in Panevezys participated in workshops where they mapped out daily travel issues, engaged in ‘walk audits’ to analyse the safest and most sustainable routes, and collaborated with external transport experts to co-design solutions. A key output was the development of School Travel Plans (STPs), providing structured guidelines for improving school mobility, along with educational toolkits and policy recommendations. The STPs can inspire the local municipality in its work on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) in line with EU recommendations.

To make the process engaging for younger participants, ECAT introduced gamification elements, including ‘Let’s Grow the Sustainable Trips Tree’, a game that encouraged students to think critically about their travel choices and how they could make them greener. In a final conference, students were empowered by sharing their findings with municipal officials, public health workers, and police officers - demonstrating the power of youth-driven solutions in shaping city-level transport policies. The project had a lasting impact, developing a sense of responsibility and active citizenship among students as key contributors to problem-solving, advocating for safer and more sustainable school travel. The project showed that young voices can influence policy and several participating schools plan to continue implementing the mobility plans, and other schools in Panevezys are looking to adopt similar models. 

To learn more about the SHARED GREEN DEAL, visit its website, read the GDSO article, watch the feature in the YouTube video, and view the project’s success story. 

Picture 4: Mobility lab in action at a school in Panevezys, Lithuania. © SHARED GREEN DEAL 

SchoolFood4Change, GreenSCENT and SHARED GREEN DEAL illustrate how formal education can provide young people with structured yet dynamic opportunities to actively become engaged with the European Green Deal. They combine hands-on activities, structured curricula, and innovative digital tools, to embed sustainability into everyday learning experiences. This approach equips students with practical knowledge and skills, while also empowering them to become proactive, informed advocates for sustainability within their communities. In doing so, formal education emerges as a powerful platform, enabling young people across Europe to play a central role in shaping a more sustainable and resilient future.

Community-based and participatory approaches to youth engagement 

While structured educational programmes are crucial, meaningful sustainability engagement also requires approaches that move beyond classrooms and into communities. Through actively involving students, educators, and local residents in participatory processes, these methods provide young people and citizens with authentic opportunities to co-create solutions. Community-driven workshops, practical projects, interactive games, and peer-led activities all empower participants to become active leaders rather than passive recipients, directly contributing to Europe's Green Deal ambitions.

Creating solutions together

The ECF4CLIM project, funded by the EU Green Deal Call, exemplifies how community-driven, participatory education can build practical sustainability competences among young people and educators. Focused on developing a European Competence Framework (ECF) for sustainability education, ECF4CLIM actively engages educational communities from Finland, Portugal, Romania, and Spain. Young people were actively involved in co-creating 159 sustainability interventions tailored specifically to local contexts. These initiatives included practical environmental improvements, integration of sustainability into curricula, and individual competence-building through targeted campaigns. Guided by a structured "Roadmap for Sustainability Education," participants navigated a four-step approach - from initial engagement and complexity analysis to envisioning desired futures and implementing concrete actions. This process equipped young people with the skills and confidence necessary to address real-world sustainability challenges in their communities, reinforcing their role as proactive leaders in climate action. 

To learn more about ECF4CLIM, visit its website, view the project’s success story

Figure 2: An overview of the Roadmap for Sustainability Education © ECF4CLIM

Raising climate literacy through gamification

The I-CHANGE project, funded by the EU Green Deal call, highlights the power of interactive, community-centred education to increase climate awareness and inspire behavioural change. Aimed at providing citizens with accessible tools and knowledge, I-CHANGE employs innovative participatory methods designed to promote long-term action for climate mitigation and adaptation.

A standout initiative of I-CHANGE is the tabletop game, Our Climate Story, which simplifies complex climate issues into engaging, relatable scenarios through gamification. Tailored for schools, municipalities, and community organisations, the game combines interactive storytelling with role-playing elements, encouraging participants to collaboratively identify local climate challenges and develop practical strategies to address them. Players can take their pick of eight different cities across Europe, the Middle East and Africa – or they can craft a story for a specific local area - and play with the aim of making choices that reduce CO2 levels and the temperature. The game's inclusive format ensures it can reach diverse groups, enabling meaningful conversations about sustainability and encouraging collective action.

The success of the interactive climate game lies in its accessibility and adaptability, allowing widespread use across different cultural and geographic contexts. Comprehensive resources, including facilitator instructions and modular materials, ensure the game can easily be scaled up or tailored to specific community needs. Through actively involving youth in climate discussions through this interactive method, I-CHANGE has significantly raised climate literacy, strengthened collaboration within communities, and empowered participants to reduce their environmental footprints in tangible ways.

Pictures 5 and 6: Increasing climate awareness and inspiring behavioural change through ‘Our Climate Story’. © I-CHANGE

To learn more about I-CHANGE, visit its website and view the success stories. 

Key reflections for youth engagement

In conclusion, the GDSO project examples have shown the potential for young people to properly engage in Europe’s climate ambitions. They bring curiosity, energy, and creativity to the forefront of climate action, qualities that make them powerful catalysts for change. Their curiosity drives them to question the status quo and explore sustainable alternatives; their energy propels them into action, from co-designing school mobility plans to launching climate campaigns; and their creativity brings fresh, often unconventional solutions to entrenched challenges. They are valuable contributors to climate action who offer fresh perspectives and innovative ideas​, but require further pathways into being active contributors to both climate mitigation and adaptation. 

Youth engagement can take many forms, as the examples in this article has shown. In formal education, initiatives such as GreenSCENT and ECF4CLIM show how students can be co-creators of knowledge and solutions. GreenSCENT, for example, involves young people in open innovation challenges to develop innovative solutions for sustainable food production and waste management. Likewise, SchoolFood4Change and ECF4CLIM demonstrate that when sustainability is embedded in education, through climate-friendly school meals or student-driven eco-projects, young people’s curiosity and ideas can ripple outwards to families and local communities, shifting behaviours on a broad scale. Beyond the classroom, informal and community-based participation channels youths’ passion into real-world impact. The I-CHANGE project, for instance, mobilises citizen science living labs where young citizens and local stakeholders co-create solutions and adopt sustainable habits in their communities. Such community-driven approaches leverage youths’ energy, from volunteering in urban gardening and clean-ups to leading local climate councils, validating their ideas in practice. 

One clear lesson from successful youth engagement projects is that face-to-face interactions are key to capturing the energy, curiosity and creativity of young people. For instance, this was exemplified through the I-CHANGE workshops and GreenSCENT’s youth design assemblies, which highlighted how cultural exchanges among participants from different countries can enrich the dialogue, deepen mutual understanding, and lead to more creative, context-sensitive solutions. These personal interactions create the kind of dynamic learning environments where ideas flourish and confidence grows. In addition, this type of exposure for young people to be genuinely acknowledged as a stakeholder in climate action provides them with a sense of empowerment. This can be used as motivation, which then drives their future behavioural choices (in regard to their career paths or future engagement as a climate activist). 

Another key reflection from these initiatives is the importance of flexibility in participatory methods, which allow youth energy to be channelled into meaningful local action. As seen in the ECF4CLIM project, interventions were specifically tailored to local educational institutions, ensuring relevance and meaningful impact within each unique context to youth engagement. This is important so that young people can visually see impact from their active participation and are recognised with their voices being heard. This was also exemplified in the SHARED GREEN DEAL project, which encouraged students to rethink school mobility, leading to practical, student-driven transport solutions that addressed localised road safety, air pollution, and urban planning challenges. These projects provide clear examples engaging the creativity of young people related to their local context to create impact, while meaningfully engaging them to make contributions. 

Finally, interactive and hands-on approaches, particularly those incorporating gamification elements, have proven highly effective in making complex sustainability topics accessible and engaging. Initiatives such as I-CHANGE’s climate game, Our Climate Story, and GreenSCENT’s augmented-reality GreenAir application successfully simplify complex environmental issues, transforming them into memorable, interactive experiences to make the topic engaging, strengthening overall community engagement. These approaches appeal to how young people explore and express themselves, helping to sustain engagement over time while helping to develop knowledge and support a stronger emotional connection to climate action.

Together, these lessons highlight that when youth engagement strategies are designed to respect and cultivate curiosity, energise participation, and invite creativity, they become catalysts for co-creation, ownership, and systemic transformation.

[1] The role of youth in shaping climate action | UNICEF

[2] World Youth Report: Addressing the complex challenges facing young people today | United Nations

[3] Global Sustainability Statistics 2024: Region, Age, Gender | Meaningful Planet UK

[4] Global Sustainability Statistics 2024: Region, Age, Gender | Meaningful Planet UK

[5] 379fd2b0-1204-f88c-ff5f-a2f38e77a0e2

[6] 2024_Green Skills Report_Edited.pdf

[7] 2024_Green Skills Report_Edited.pdf

[8] Countries include: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden