Y-PLAN

The EU-funded 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 the co-creation of an educational  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.

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, 10 interdisciplinary curriculum 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, aiming to help young people understand how cities are designed while empowering them to actively shape their development.

All modules are now available here!

A key milestone of the project was the implementation of a 5-day Youth Camp, which took place in Nicosia from 16–20 September 2026. The YouthCamp brought together young people from Cyprus, Greece, Serbia and Belgium to explore the Agioi Omologites neighbourhood, exchange experiences and take part in a process of learning-by-doing, collaboration and co-creation. 

Throughout the Youth Camp, participants took part in hands-on activities, discussions, and workshops, connected with the local community, and explored different experiences of public space. As part of this process, URBANA organised a gender-sensitive exploratory walk, creating space for observation, exchange, and discussion around the neighbourhood.

The process continued through work in built and non-built groups, with different areas of work including placemaking, engagement with local stakeholders, and communication. The groups developed and implemented small-scale interventions for LAOU LAOU, the local neighbourhood festival in Agioi Omologites, which takes place in the area each year. As part of the festival, sections of the neighbourhood were pedestrianised and transformed into spaces for art, workshops, installations, play, and collective activity. The groups’ interventions included a temporary shade structure, a handmade loom for “Weave Your Neighbourhood”, “Door Bingo”, a community radio broadcast, and other artistic and participatory activities.

The YouthCamp concluded with participation in LAOU LAOU, where young people had the opportunity to activate public space through the interventions and activities they had co-created.

More than a collection of individual activities, the YouthCamp became a process of exploring, listening, exchanging, co-creating, and activating public space, giving young people the opportunity to connect learning with real urban issues and experiment with different ways of participating in shaping the city.

Stay up to date with Y-PLAN

For more information and the latest Y-PLAN updates, visit the project’s website and follow the project on Instagram and LinkedIn.