The Pan-European Policy Workshop took place on 24 – 26 April 2025, Vila Boa do Bispo, Portugal.

Hosted in the week of Portugal’s 25 April Freedom celebrations, this kick-off workshop launched the Awareness, Capacitation, and Information phase of L-Democracy. It set out to:

• Collect baseline evidence on how young Europeans perceive democracy and local elections.
• Open an intercultural dialogue among municipalities on tools that raise turnout and digital literacy, and
• Co-create the project’s first policy outputs (Joint Statement and draft recommendations).

Before the event, a Google Forms questionnaire was designed to gauge young adults’ views on local elections and democratic participation. Partners then promoted this survey through their communication channels and via the project’s Instagram channel, ultimately collecting sixty-five valid responses. The data team cleaned the incoming responses and, by 22 April, produced a concise statistical brief that combined the survey findings with the latest EU figures on youth turnout and misinformation trends; these slides were scheduled for presentation during the Day 1 keynote and panel.

Day 1 of the Pan-European Policy Workshop took place on 24 April 2025 in the assembly hall of the Junta de Freguesia de Vila Boa do Bispo. Proceedings opened with a formal welcome from local officials, followed by a concise presentation that situated the L-Democracy project in the context of Portugal’s forthcoming municipal elections and the anniversary of the Carnation Revolution. 

A keynote address entitled “Challenges and Opportunities in European Democracy” marked the beginning of the event, with the presentation on the project’s preliminary survey findings and Eurobarometer and the Council of Europe data. Participants examined the analyzed survey responses, compared them with complementary EU statistics, and debated on the reasons and best practices to encourage youth turnout and combat misinformation. Each partner delegation delivered a concise presentation on its home municipality, outlining the local initiatives, programs, and good practices it uses to raise youth participation in democratic life; these presentations provided concrete reference points for later discussion. The partners reviewed and approved a Joint Statement Agreement setting out their collective commitments, which was printed for signature at the opening dinner. The project management team held, also, a consortium meeting about the next work packages and the dissemination tasks. The coordination team also provided a preview of the draft L-Democracy website.

Delegations reconvened at Casa do Pinheiro for a dinner celebrating the 25 April holiday, where the partners and municipal representatives signed the Joint Statement Agreement committing to the project’s recommendations. The day concluded with informal exchanges between participants and local community members, completing the first workshop day.

Day 2 of the Pan-European Policy Workshop took place on 25 April 2025 and was entirely dedicated to capacity-building. The morning began with a guided tour of the TEAR training space in Vila Boa do Bispo, where the morning activities took place. 

Participants took part in workshops that applied exercises from the draft handbook featuring Vila Boa do Bispo (Handbook Link). Each municipality analyzed the handbook’s good practices and then adapted selected activities to its own legal, cultural, and budgetary context. A small film crew recorded the first short videos for the project’s storytelling strategy, capturing participant testimonies and workshop footage for later release on social media. The group walked through VBB to inspect facilities that were built through successive Participatory Budget cycles, including the new skate park, which provided tangible evidence of how citizen input can shape municipal investment. 

In the late afternoon, the delegation travelled to Marco de Canaveses for a guided visit to the Carmen Miranda Museum. The day concluded with an evening concert at the Emergente Centro Cultural, staged as part of the local 25 April celebrations. The cultural program reinforced the historical context of the Carnation Revolution while providing informal networking time.

Day 3 of the Pan-European Policy Workshop, Saturday, 26 April 2025, was reserved for closing activities and evaluation. Participants joined residents in the Corrida da Liberdade, the annual “Freedom Run” through Vila Boa do Bispo that commemorates Portugal’s Carnation Revolution. The run offered a practical illustration of community-based participation. Immediately afterwards, the group reconvened in the TEAR training center for the final plenary session. The coordination team summarized the main deliverables produced over the previous two days, and each partner confirmed its next tasks and deadlines, and the dates for the subsequent project meeting were agreed upon. A structured reflection followed: participants completed the standard anonymous evaluation questionnaire (evaluation survey link), then discussed their feedback in small groups before reporting key points in plenary. Initial results indicated a high level of satisfaction with the practical workshops and the participatory-budget site visits.