Democratic participation by policy, not through luck

Several recent European frameworks and studies provide clearer direction on how participation can be supported structurally. The following developments highlight the most relevant signals for National Agencies (NAs).

The Braga Charter (Council of Europe, 2025) is one of the strongest signals of this shift. It broadens participation beyond youth work and calls for accessible, safe and meaningful engagement across all local policy areas. For NAs, the Charter legitimises embedding participation into long-term structures rather than treating it as an optional or one-off activity.

The NPiY Research on Youth Involvement (2025) adds further evidence that administrative complexity, unclear expectations and disconnected decision-making processes limit participation more than any lack of motivation. The findings recommend involving young people in communication of the National Agency, launching experiments in shared decision-making and emphasising the importance of building intergenerational relationships.

The Youth Participation Strategy (SALTO PI, 2020) further reinforces these findings. It sets out six aims for embedding youth participation in Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps, covering quality criteria, support measures, research use, inclusion and youth involvement in programme governance. Crucially, it establishes a monitoring and evaluation framework, including national action planning, participation officers, youth involvement pilots and outcome indicators to help NAs track whether participation is being embedded structurally or only symbolically. Its definition of youth participation as giving young people “the right, the means, the space, the opportunity and the support” to influence decisions aligns directly with gaps identified in the NPiY research.

Complementing these practice-based insights, the OECD’s work on Innovative Public Participation (2024–2025) provides system-level evidence on how institutions can support democratic engagement. These recommendations speak directly to challenges faced by NAs: complex applications, varying interpretations of the participation priority, and administrative burdens for both staff and beneficiaries. OECD guidance encourages lighter, more human-centred processes that open the door to broader participation.

Within the European Union, the EU Youth Strategy mid-term review (2024) highlights the need for stronger democratic competencies and cross-sector cooperation. At the same time, the Education & Training Monitor (2025) further emphasises that democratic engagement thrives when learning environments themselves model participatory governance, whether in NAs, schools, adult education centres, VET institutions or universities. This reinforces that participation is not only a thematic goal but a core principle guiding how educational organisations and public institutions should function.

Finally, while the adult learning sector has not seen major participation-specific policy releases in 2025, several EU developments point toward more learner-centred and engagement-oriented systems. The ongoing implementation of the European Agenda for Adult Learning continues to emphasise inclusion, second-chance learning, community engagement and the co-creation of learning pathways. More recently, an analysis published by the European Commission in 2024 on entrepreneurial and transversal skills in education highlighted that adults learn more effectively when they have autonomy, voice and opportunities to shape the learning environment — all elements that align with participatory principles. Although not framed explicitly as democratic participation, these developments signal a gradual shift toward more responsive and learner-driven adult education systems. For NAs, this indicates an opportunity to integrate participation more intentionally into Erasmus+ adult learning actions, especially through partnerships that strengthen community involvement, learner feedback and cross-sector cooperation. European Democracy Shield and European Civil Society Strategy

To summarise, the reason behind the struggle with participation is not the lack ofinterest from people / target audience. This happens when systems lack clarity, coordination, accountability, onboarding views and implementing the ideas. With stronger policy frameworks, participation becomes easier to embed across sectors, allowing NAs and their partner networks to shift from promoting participation to structuring and supporting it across their programmes and internal processes. To reflect on your specific case, we propose reflecting on the following questions:

• Where does our NA already align with these frameworks, and where do gaps remain?
• How can we make participation more organic and less administratively heavy for beneficiaries
• What policy frameworks can help us coordinate participation across units and sectors?