RISE Balkans – Empowering Youth Voices: Responsibility, Integrity, Solidarity, and Civic Engagement in the Balkans officially started on 15 February 2026. The next day, the partner organisations from Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, Albania and North Macedonia met online for the kick-off meeting of the project, hosted by the coordinator, the European University Center for Crime & Justice (EUROCRIM).
The partners discussed the administrative and financial arrangements of the project and the first draft of the research methodology of Work Package 1, combining desk research, an online survey and focus groups with young people aged 18–26, followed by national validation workshops. They also prepared the next activities with young people: the Youth Bootcamps (Work Package 6), led by the National Student Confederation, and the mentoring of youth-led initiatives (Work Package 7), led by EUROCRIM.
Over the next 24 months, RISE Balkans will offer young people across the region opportunities to learn, to act and to bring their voices to institutions at national and European level.