YOUth Change València is a youth participation initiative to influence the new Youth Plan of València, connecting real needs with municipal policies.

developed by València Jove

An Erasmus+ project to transform the future of youth in Valencia.

An Erasmus+ project to transform the future of youth in Valencia.

A project framed within the Erasmus+ KA154 program – Youth Participation Activities.

In València Jove (known as the Consell de la Joventut de València, CJV), we launched this initiative with the goal of giving young people in the city a voice and directly influencing the drafting of the future Youth Plan of València.

The starting point is clear: young people want to participate, want to contribute, and want their needs to be heard by institutions.

That’s why, in September 2024, we opened a structured process of reflection and dialogue between young people, organizations, and policymakers, with participatory methodologies and open spaces to identify diagnoses and propose solutions.

It was not just about meetings or reports: the project generated a real, participatory, and transformative process that mobilized young people, organizations, and institutions around a single question: How do we want to live in our city?

The process

The journey began with an open presentation at the Youth Associations Fair, where the first ideas and impressions were collected. After that came the sectoral meetings.

Housing

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Employment

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Mental health

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Sustainability

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Equality

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Leisure

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Participation

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Housing 〰️ Employment 〰️ Mental health 〰️ Sustainability 〰️ Equality 〰️ Leisure 〰️ Participation 〰️

Each meeting had its own dynamics: collective diagnoses, debates with policymakers, group work, and creative methodologies such as design thinking or SWOT analysis.

Through the online platform, many other voices joined the process, enriching it and ensuring that no one was left out.

Finally, sectoral working groups were created to follow up and make sure that the proposals didn’t end up forgotten in a drawer. These groups gave continuity to the work and opened new spaces for collaboration between organizations and young people

This whole process led to four major pillars that summarize the needs and aspirations of València’s youth.

The Four Pillars.

Pillar 1 · Participation & Advocacy

Young people in València were already taking part in different spaces, but too often they felt that participation did not translate into real change. YOUth Change València focused on the quality and impact of participation, beyond the numbers.

Data

  • 75% of young people are concerned about setbacks in equality and diversity.

  • More than 88% have negative feelings towards politics, but democracy still scored 5.7 out of 10: criticism and discontent exist, but also the will to improve.

  • In just one year, more than 2,700 proposals and 54,000 votes were submitted in participatory budgets – historic figures.

Challenge

To move from symbolic participation to real influence. Youth councils must be recognized, and institutional channels must truly work. New formats of participation closer to everyday life – digital, cultural, and creative – also need to be explored.

Objectives

  1. Recognize and strengthen the role of youth associations with stable resources and training.

  2. Build effective mechanisms for young people to deliberate, decide, and evaluate public policies.

  3. Communicate through youth-friendly languages and channels, making participation more engaging and accessible.

Pillar 2 · Emancipation & Development

Becoming independent is still a distant dream for most young people. Inaccessible housing and precarious jobs define their reality and delay vital projects such as independence, family, or building their own future.

Data

  • Only 14% of young people are emancipated, and rent consumes more than 94% of the average salary.

  • Job insecurity exceeds 40%, with many contracts being part-time and involuntary.

  • 64% are unaware of public employment programs, and of those who know them, only a quarter find them useful.

Challenge

The challenge is twofold: to improve employment and ensure access to decent housing. Education must also be rethought to connect with adult life, including training in labor rights, finances, and personal autonomy.

Objectives

  1. Create real, quality job opportunities through municipal programs, paid internships, and support for innovative projects.

  2. Ensure access to affordable housing with more public stock, rent control, and advisory services.

  3. Make education practical and autonomy-oriented: digital skills, labor rights, and personal management.

Pillar 3 · Sustainability

Climate change is no longer a theory of the future – it is a reality that young people face every day: heatwaves, pollution, and lack of green spaces. That’s why we demand a greener, fairer, and more livable València, where sustainability is a way of life and not just a slogan.

Data

  • 40% of neighborhoods exceed WHO pollution limits.

  • There are only 20 climate shelters, insufficient for the city’s population.

  • Renewable energy use remains at 15%, far from the 42% target set by the EU.

  • 87% of young people say heatwaves already affect their daily lives.

Challenge

The challenge is to make sustainability a basic condition for the city. Young people are already acting responsibly, but without institutional coherence and accessible resources, individual efforts are not enough.

Objectives

  1. Promote a culture of shared environmental responsibility with education.

  2. Guarantee adapted urban environments: more shade, more green, more fountains.

  3. Encourage sustainable mobility: free or discounted public transport and safe bike lanes.

  4. Put young people at the forefront of climate policies.

Pillar 4 · Rights, Equality & Diversity

Equality and diversity are essential for youth well-being. Too many young people still face discrimination, and mental health has become their main concern.

Data

  • 25% of young people in the Valencian Community face mental health issues.

  • Among those under 25, suicide is the leading cause of unnatural death.

  • Over 70% say they need psychological support, but half don’t know where to go.

  • Two out of three young people have suffered or witnessed discrimination, with more than 200 cases recorded in València in a single year.

Challenge

To tackle structural inequality and the lack of resources in mental health, leisure, and culture, while addressing the gap between official policies and the real lives of young people. Communication also needs to adapt to youth codes.

Objectives

  1. Guarantee real equality with an intersectional and youth-centered approach.

  2. Strengthen diversity and equality training for public services and police forces.

  3. Co-produce policies with feminist, LGTBIQ+, anti-racist, and disability organizations.

  4. Expand services such as the T’Escoltem program to more neighborhoods.

  5. Decentralize cultural and leisure opportunities.

  6. Communicate in youth language through creative and digital campaigns.

YOUth Change València shows that listening to young people makes a real difference.

With a budget of €31,100 from Erasmus+, we launched a participatory process that brought forward data, diagnoses, and proposals.

The pillars we defined are not just the conclusions of a project – they are the roadmap to continue building the Youth Plan and making València a fairer, more livable, and more inclusive city for its young people.

A project carried out by València Jove, the Consell de la Joventut de València, with the support of Erasmus+ and the City Council of València.