The YouCare project is coming to an end, and throughout its duration it has been an unexpected and inspiring journey.

We began with a simple question: what happens when we take eco-anxiety seriously—not as a disorder to be treated, but as a rational response to real threats? More specifically, what happens when we give young people the opportunity to lead the research themselves?

The answer we found is not a simple one. But the process of exploring it together has been entirely worthwhile.

What We Did

Using the Youth-Led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) approach, teams of young researchers in Bulgaria, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, and Lithuania explored how their peers experience the socio-ecological crisis. They conducted interviews, facilitated workshops, created short films, wrote songs, designed posters, and organized local events.

Beyond talking about their feelings—which in itself is a challenge for many—they connected those feelings to specific and complex issues, such as the lack of spaces where young people can openly discuss how topics like deforestation, microplastic pollution, environmental disasters, food waste, and others affect them. They also shared their own ideas for creating meaningful change.

One of the project’s key outcomes is a set of youth-led policy recommendations entitled “Nothing About the Planet’s Future Without Youth.” This concise and practical document was written by the young researchers themselves. Among other recommendations, it calls on European and national decision-makers to:

• Involve young people in formal climate-related decision-making processes.
• Create a digital platform for exchanging experiences and knowledge about climate anxiety.
• Support schools in helping students understand and process complex emotions.
• Protect forests, biodiversity, and oceans from further degradation.
• Reduce the production of microplastics and tackle food waste.

You can read and download the full document here:

https://quest-eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/NOTHING-ABOUT-THE-PLANETS-FUTURE-WITHOUT-YOUTH-1.pdf

In October 2025, we also held a two-day final conference in Brussels, where the young researchers presented their findings to Members of the European Parliament and representatives of the European Commission. Together, they discussed what meaningful youth participation in policymaking should look like.

You can find a full overview of the event here:

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Thank You

To the young researchers who entrusted us with their time, doubts, and ideas—thank you!

To our partner organizations across Europe—thank you for making YPAR possible at the local level.

To the policymakers who engaged with openness and sincerity – Nela Riehl, Valérie Delrez-Humez, Benedetta Scuderi, Alina-Ștefania Ujupan, and Brando Benifei – thank you for listening and responding.

The project may be ending, but the young people we worked with are not disappearing. They have built skills, connections, and confidence, and they have produced recommendations that deserve to be read, shared, and put into practice.

So our final call is this: if you are in a position to make decisions related to youth, climate, or education, please read these recommendations. Share them. Use them.

Nothing About the Planet’s Future Without Youth.

Thank you for being part of the YouCare journey.

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The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the content, which reflects the views of the authors alone, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.