On December 20th, 2022, HUB NICOSIA’s project manager, Dora Heracleous, made a special appearance on a highly acclaimed radio program called Something for the Road (ΚάτιγιατονΔρόμο) of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
Ms. Heracleous discuss the scope and goals of the NEUEYT project highlighting the importance of encouraging young people to actively participate in democratic and civic life by enhancing opportunities and access to decision-making.
Moreover, Ms. Heracleous mentioned some of the initiatives that are currently implemented and focused on how they aspire to enhance youth active participation taking into consideration recent technological advances that allow a different kind of participation that is closer to youngsters today.
In addition to that, Ms. Heracleous mentioned that the young participants of the initiatives teach us a lot, and we have a lot to learn from them if we open our minds and actively listen to their suggestions.
Based on that, she was asked to comment on the main reasons that prohibit youth active participation. Ms Heracleous mentioned that young people do not see themselves reflected in the decisions taken for them. They understand policymaking at a macro-level which is not feasible to approach or influence. In that sense, the innovation of the NEUEYT project is the fact that it puts the micro-level, the local at the heart of its actions, where young people see themselves and feel that their voices are heard and their opinions have value.
