Having suffered the most, the European Year of Youth wants to shine a spotlight on the crucial role to be played by younger generations in a post-pandemic perspective. Putting young people at the centre of the debate means promoting freedom, values, solidarity and new opportunities for all. It means encouraging and supporting youth participation in decision-making processes. To bring a positive and long-lasting impact on young people's lives, young adults have to be put in a position to be engaged in political action across all aspects of their life. Democracy needs young voices to come through.

Xavier Rambla is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He has participated in research on lifelong learning policies in the European Union, the Civil Society Education Fund, and Education for All in Latin America. Rambla is co-convenor of the education policy network of the European Educational Research Association. He has been a short-term guest lecturer in the areas of social science and education at different universities in Europe and Latin America.

Hanna Toiviainen is a Professor of Adult Education at the Faculty of Education and Culture, Tampere University, Finland. Her research focuses on learning in and for change at work, learning networks and spaces, and pedagogic interventions for enhancing expansive learning. In the EduMap project Adult Education as a Means to Active Participatory Citizenship (Horizon 2020), she co-edited the book Young Adults and Active Citizenship: Towards Social Inclusion Through Adult Education (Springer 2021).

Nika Kovač is the founding director of the 8th of March Research Institute, a movement-building organization that uses storytelling and advocacy to confront gender and economic inequalities across Slovenia. Under her leadership, the 8th of March Research Institute’s advocacy campaigns successfully initiated the legal redefinition of rape in Slovenia, enforcing a new legal precedent for the "yes means yes" consent model and leading the biggest "Go out and vote" campaign in the history of the country.

Biliana Sirakova has worked for the European Commission since 2010. In her role as the EU Youth Coordinator she aims to strengthen cooperation between Commission services on youth issues and to integrate the youth perspective into all relevant EU policies. Biliana's educational background is in economics and management. She has eighteen years of professional experience across the public, private and non-profit sectors. Biliana's work has revolved around building and managing relationships with diverse stakeholders and communicating for impact and learning.