The last day of the SFY project partners' visit was a time for summarizing, exchanging experiences, and discussing how to develop cooperation in 2026.

The discussions focused on cooperation with Vital Cities and the tools used in local activities, what worked well, what needed to be adapted, and what support local governments will need in 2026.

At the same time, the young participants took part in a workshop on architecture and urban planning led by Zuzanna Kaczmarzyk, gaining knowledge about architecture and urban planning and a new perspective on public space in a broader social, cultural, and international context. The workshops helped them better understand that a city is not only buildings, but also relationships, residents' needs, and decisions that have a real impact on everyday life.

Three days of joint work, workshops, and meetings strengthened the cooperation between the partners and provided a solid foundation for further activities in 2026.

Erasmus+ Streets for the Youth Project - Living Cities and Streets for Young People - on the first day of the study visit to Poland, a conference entitled “CITIES OF THE FUTURE - URBAN PLANNING - OPEN DIALOGUE” was held.

The event brought together representatives of local governments, experts, and young people to look at how to create cities co-designed with young people.

The program included lectures on the role of public administration and architecture in shaping urban space and the participation of young people in urban planning. Good practices from the Vital Cities program were presented. This was followed by a walking workshop and testing of participatory tools in the urban space of Elbląg, where participants learned about tools for consulting with users (including the YET application), tested them in a selected area of the city, and discussed their potential applications in the local context.

Yesterday was an opportunity to exchange experiences, gain practical knowledge, and reflect together on how to effectively involve young people in the process of shaping urban space.

The Erasmus+ Streets for the Youth project – Living Cities and Streets for Youth – the second day of workshops with foreign delegations from France, Belgium, and Portugal was devoted to the topic “When and how to include youth consultations in planning processes?”

This time, we had the opportunity to work in the industrial spaces of the City Culture Institute in Gdańsk, where we discussed how to conduct youth consultations in a realistic, rather than just formal, manner and how to effectively involve young people in the planning and design of public spaces.
The first part of the day focused on when and how to involve young people in planning processes.
The Vital Cities team presented practical approaches to consultation, and participants learned about good practices from Poland, Portugal, France, and Belgium. We then worked in workshops, applying a 9-step method to a selected case of public space and discussing possible solutions.
Representatives of institutions, local governments, and organizations then participated in meetings devoted to urban consultations, engaging young people in projects, and cooperation with the education sector.

At the same time, young participants took part in a co-creation workshop entitled “City of Tomorrow.” The young people worked in groups on their visions of future urban spaces, sharing ideas, needs, and challenges they see in the cities where they live. The results of this work were then presented in the form of posters, sketches, and simple digital visualizations, which helped translate the ideas into concrete concepts. The workshop ended with a joint reflection, during which participants and facilitators considered what the presented ideas teach us about effectively engaging Generation Z and how to better design participatory processes with young people in mind.

City of Elbląg on the map of Streets for the Youth activities

Today we held another meeting as part of our cyclical project meetings - this time at Elbląg City Hall. Together with engaged young people from the Elbląg Youth Council and Elbląg Deputy Mayor Katarzyna Wisniewska, we discussed the vision of the city 2050, how young people can really influence the appearance and functions of urban spaces and the selection of sites for pilot activities. We also touched on the future involvement of all parties in project activities and Elblag's participation in an international workshop in December.

Yesterday we visited Gdynia, where a study visit took place with the participation of the Youth City Council of Gdynia and representatives of the Gdynia City Office. During the meeting, we exchanged experiences, inspirations and ideas on how young people can co-create public spaces friendly to all generations. We discussed the next steps in the project of revitalizing urban spaces. We talked about the location of pilot activities and about plans for cooperation with young residents in the coming months.

Gdynia is another city on the project map and another step towards a common vision of the City 2050.

Street For The Youth - the first studio visit behind us! In the second part of the event we had an unusual opportunity to co-create a creative space, we independently created mock-ups on the broad design of public spaces, experimented and shared knowledge and ideas, using a range of materials available at the MaM - Mind- And Makerspace studio. The idea stating that everyone can become a creator, not just a consumer, fit the design guidelines 100%. There was also time to visit the Sports Innovation Campus in Brugge. (https://www.howest.be/nl/campussen/brugge/sportinnovatiecampus) and to be active at Sportscube, an innovative sports space aimed at supporting physical activity and technology development in the field of sports (Sport Vlaanderen Brugge). We were also enriched with knowledge of good practices regarding other projects in which young people actively co-create solutions, spaces, events and initiatives, such as art, technology, urban planning, education or sustainability projects.

The next physical meeting of the partners will take place at the end of this year in Poland, and until then we will continue implementing the planned project activities.