Y-PLAN

The European project Y-PLAN aims to empower young people to actively participate in shaping their cities through participatory urban planning, transdisciplinary collaboration, and hands-on education. Through a combination of activities - including co-creation curriculum, spatial and social mapping, local ethnographic research, tactical interventions, and advocacy actions - participants will develop the tools and skills needed to propose, lead, and co-create people-centered urban policies tailored to the needs of their communities.

A key milestone of the project is the implementation of a 5-day Youth Camp, which will serve as an immersive educational experience. During the camp, participants will be trained in participatory urban planning, visualization, communication, and collaborative design. They will then co-develop neighborhood plans for four European cities - Nicosia, Niš, Athens, and Brussels - and implement selected pilot interventions that demonstrate the capacity of youth-led urban change.

The project also incorporates digital tools, urban archives, and visual storytelling techniques to make urban planning more accessible, transparent, and engaging for youth audiences, empowering them to intervene critically and creatively in urban governance processes.

URBANA leads the educational component of the project (WP2), focusing on developing participatory training materials and delivering capacity-building activities during the Youth Camp. Drawing from its expertise in participatory, inclusive and bottom-up planning, URBANA will guide the consortium in applying participatory and gender-sensitive methodologies to ensure equitable youth engagement in urban transformation.

Recently, the 10 interdisciplinary training modules have been completed by the project partners. These modules focus on topics such as fundamentals of urban planning, tools and methodologies for participatory planning, sustainable mobility, tactical urbanism, and more. These modules aim to help young people understand how cities are designed and empower them to actively shape their development.

All modules are now available here!

In addition, we are currently preparing for the Youth Camp, which will take place 16-20 September 2026 in Cyprus. During the Youth Camp, 25 young participants from Cyprus, Greece, Serbia, and Belgium will explore the Agioi Omologites neighborhood, engage with the local community, learn innovative participatory methodologies, and co-create interventions that address real challenges faced by the neighbourhood.

Participants will discover ways to actively shape their communities while building knowledge and skills in urban and participatory planning, mapping, storytelling, and civic engagement. Through a collaborative learning process, they will explore, co-design, and implement ideas that contribute to more inclusive, sustainable, and people-centred neighbourhoods.

For the latest Y-PLAN updates, visit the project’s website.