European Youth Capital

The European Youth Capital (abbreviated EYC) is a title awarded by the European Youth Forum to a European city annually, designed to empower young people, boost youth participation and strengthen European identity through projects focused on youth-related cultural, social, political and economic life and development.^[1] The European Youth Capital is an initiative by the European Youth Forum and is awarded for a period of one year. The first capital was chosen in 2009. Since 2014, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is an official partner the European Youth Capital title. The current, capital for the 2024 calendar year is Ghent, Belgium.

European Youth Capital
Logo of the European Youth Capital
Awarded for	Awarded to a city with innovative ideas, projects and activities that aim to raise up young voices and bring a new youth perspective to all aspects of city life.
Presented by	European Youth Forum
First awarded	2009
Website	Official website

Goals

The European Youth Capital aims in promoting intra-European co-operation between young people. Among the most important aspects of the institution is the betterment of everyday life of the youth in the city selected as youth capital, not just for the duration of the festivities, but in the long term.^[2] Additionally, participation of the youth in the design and implementation of the plans for each capital of youth is encouraged by the EYC.^[2] Ensuring that the youth are informed and actively involved in society and given opportunities for a better future is also a priority for the EYC initiative.^[1] Tourism and increased international prestige are some of the additional benefits of being named European Youth Capital.^[1]

Capitals (2009–2026)

Since 2009, there have been the following European Youth Capitals:^[3][4][5]

European Youth Capital

Year	City	Country	Notes
2009	Rotterdam	Netherlands
2010	Turin	Italy
2011	Antwerp	Belgium
2012	Braga	Portugal	Info
2013	Maribor	Slovenia	Info
2014	Thessaloniki	Greece	Info finalists: Ivanovo, Heraklion, other candidates: Barcelona, Konya, Perm, Trabzon
2015	Cluj-Napoca	Romania	Info finalists: Ivanovo, Vilnius, Varna other candidates: Katowice, La Laguna, Badajoz, Ganja, Lecce and Perm
2016	Ganja	Azerbaijan	other candidates: Varna, Vilnius, La Laguna and Badajoz
2017	Varna	Bulgaria	other candidates: Cascais, Galway, Newcastle upon Tyne and Perugia[6]
2018	Cascais	Portugal	other candidates: Kecskemét, Manchester, Novi Sad and Perugia
2019	Novi Sad	Serbia	other candidates: Amiens, Derry/Strabane, Galway, Manchester and Perugia
2020	Amiens	France	other candidates: Chișinău, Klaipėda, Timișoara and Villach
2021	Klaipėda	Lithuania	other candidates: Chișinău, Greater Nicosia, Varaždin and Yaroslavl
2022	Tirana	Albania	other candidates: Baia Mare, Kazan, Poznań and Varaždin
2023	Lublin	Poland	other candidates: Baia Mare, Kazan, İzmir, Lviv and Poznań
2024	Ghent	Belgium	other candidates: Chișinău, Lviv and Veszprém
2025	Lviv	Ukraine	other candidates: Fuenlabrada, İzmir and Tromsø
2026	Tromsø	Norway	other candidates: İzmir, Málaga, Sarajevo and Vila do Conde

Rotterdam

Turin

Antwerp

Braga

Maribor

Thessaloniki

Cluj-Napoca

Ganja

Varna

Cascais

Novi Sad

Amiens

Klaipėda

Tirana

Lublin

Ghent

Lviv

Tromsø

Locations of European Youth Capitals. Green designates current cities; red is for past cities; and blue for future cities.

See also

• European Capital of Culture
• European Region of Gastronomy

References

1. "The European Youth Capital". youthforum.org. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
2. "General Information". youthforum.org. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
3. "EYCs of the Past, Present and Future". youthforum.org. Archived from the original on 4 October 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
4. http://www.europeanyouthcapital.org/yfj/varna-bulgaria-awarded-european-youth-capital-2017/ Archived 2017-09-01 at the Wayback Machine Varna (Bulgaria) awarded European Youth Capital 2017, 20 November 2014
5. "And the winner is: Cascais, EYC 2018!". europeanyouthcapital.org. 3 December 2015. Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
6. "Five cities short-listed to become the European Youth Capital 2017". youthforum.org. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.

External links

• Official website
• Braga – European Youth Capital 2012
• Thessaloniki – European Youth Capital 2014
• Klaipėda – European Youth Capital 2021