So, what happens when active young people, community representatives, youth leaders, and everyone who truly cares about what’s happening around them come together in the same space?
They form a network of people who work together to find solutions to the pressing issues affecting their communities. The offline event “Voices of Democracy in Action,” organised by the NGO “beYOUnd” in Kyiv as part of the “Voices of Democracy in the Digital Era”.
Throughout the day, participants worked together: identifying community problems, searching for their root causes, generating digital solutions, and brainstorming how to turn ideas into real civic initiatives.
One of the first steps was the “digital web of connections”—an interactive icebreaker that showed just how much people have in common, despite not even knowing each other an hour earlier.
Participants worked on the challenges within their communities, breaking them down into causes and consequences. Topics included low youth engagement, a lack of information and opportunities, digital barriers, employment, and other daily challenges. The teams also discussed youth employment and the brain drain of young professionals abroad.
This raised an important question: not only why young people are leaving, but also what we can do to convince them to return.
The teams looked for answers through real opportunities: job creation, professional development, international projects, support for youth initiatives, and the chance to make a real difference in their communities.
After analyzing the problems, the participants moved on to developing their own solutions. Teams developed practical initiatives, identified target audiences, partners, necessary resources, and digital tools. And then came the best part of networking—the ideas fair. Participants presented their work, offered constructive feedback, proposed assistance, and found partners.
Someone can help with communications.
Someone else—with design.
Someone has access to young people in their community.
Someone knows where to approach authorities.
And suddenly it turns out that your idea already has not only a problem and a solution, but also people ready to help bring it to life.
Throughout the event, participants also worked with digital tools for civic engagement and digital literacy: they discussed e-petitions, participatory budgeting, e-consultations, digital education, and tools for quick interaction with the audience.
“Thank you for the safe space to talk, make new connections, and work together to find solutions.” – Anna
And to make sure our brains were still functioning after a few hours of work, we wrapped things up with a Kahoot quiz. Because democracy is one thing, but a little competition for prizes never hurt anyone.
At the end, everyone answered a simple but very challenging question: “What action will I take next?”
Because knowledge without action quickly becomes nothing more than pretty notes in a notebook. The participants outlined their next steps — what they can do in the near future within their youth councils, organizations, and communities. And this, perhaps, most accurately captures the essence of this kind of networking. It’s not just about “getting to know each other.” It’s about finding someone with whom you can accomplish something meaningful. Not just “talking about problems.” But understanding what lies beyond them and how to deal with them. Not just “gaining new knowledge.” But returning to your community and putting that knowledge into practice.
“The power lies in people. Brainstorming as a team always generates far more energy and ideas than working alone.” – Misha
That’s exactly why in-person networking still matters.
Because behind every contact in your phone is a real person.
Behind every idea is a potential partnership.
And behind every partnership are real changes—ones you can see beyond just slides.
Thank you to everyone who became part of the project.
“Voices of Democracy in the Digital Era” is supported through the Digital Spark granting scheme, as part of the Regional Support Mechanism EECA project, implemented by Metamorphosis Foundation and TechSoup in partnership with CIVICUS and under the Digital Democracy Initiative (DDI), that covers the Global South.
