From 24 to 28 April 2025, Act.ival for Future brought Lübeck to life as a meeting point for young people from across Europe. In its sixth edition, the event gathered 185 participants aged 16 to 23 and 38 crew members for several days of learning, exchange, creativity, and action under the theme Social Justice. Co-designed by young people for young people, Act.ival created a space where different experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives could meet — and where questions of discrimination, participation, equality, solidarity, and civic engagement were discussed not only in theory, but through real dialogue and shared experience.
What made Act.ival especially powerful was its diversity. Young people from different countries, cultures, and social realities came together in one common space, bringing with them different stories, challenges, and hopes for the future. Throughout the programme, participants engaged in keynote talks, small group sessions, interactive workshops, city-based activities, side events, and creative evening formats. This mix allowed the event to be both politically relevant and personally meaningful: participants could reflect on major social justice issues while also building trust, friendships, and a stronger sense of connection across borders.
A strong focus of the programme was not only to inform, but also to activate. Workshops on topics such as youth advocacy, art as resistance, argumentation against discrimination, and social media as a tool for social change helped participants build concrete knowledge and skills for their own civic engagement. The final Take Action session then turned reflection into practice: participants developed their own project ideas, identified next steps and stakeholders, and shared their concepts with others. In this way, Act.ival did not end with inspiration alone — it encouraged participants to leave with ideas they could actually carry into their communities, schools, organisations, and initiatives back home.
The event also showed strong results in terms of outcomes. Participants reported that Act.ival motivated them to become more active in their communities, increased their confidence to express opinions on social issues, and deepened their understanding of Europe’s cultural diversity. Intercultural learning was one of the strongest dimensions of the event, with participants describing how conversations with others helped them challenge stereotypes, better understand different lived realities, and reflect more critically on their own perspectives. The evaluation also showed that participants gained useful knowledge on social justice, equality, and discrimination, and that many left with concrete ideas for future local engagement.
Act.ival also played an important role for SAME’s wider mission. The event helped introduce and spread the idea of the Solidarity Action Day, motivated participants to consider bringing the concept to their own countries, and strengthened interest in future engagement within the SAME network. According to the event evaluation, a very large majority of participants expressed interest in staying involved in future SAME activities, showing that Act.ival continues to serve as an important entry point into broader youth-led solidarity and participation across Europe.
Beyond all numbers and programme elements, Act.ival for Future 2025 became a space where youth participation truly came alive: dynamic, diverse, thoughtful, and full of energy. It was made possible by the openness of participants, the commitment of facilitators and speakers, and the dedication of a large crew and organising team working behind the scenes. Together, they shaped an event that did more than host discussions — it created momentum, strengthened connections, and reminded everyone involved that young people are not only part of Europe’s future, but already active in shaping it.
