Becoming a European Year of Youth Ambassador
Selected as one of 40 young ambassadors in Italy, I joined a national network working to bring European opportunities, participation, and active citizenship closer to young people.
The European Year of Youth began for me with a responsibility: helping European opportunities feel closer, clearer, and more relevant to the young people they are intended to reach.
In 2022, I was selected as one of 40 European Year of Youth Ambassadors in Italy. The network was promoted by the Department for Youth Policies and Universal Civil Service together with the National Youth Agency. Its members were chosen from across the country for their experience in active citizenship and their knowledge of European opportunities.
What the ambassador role meant
Our role was to connect institutions with young people. That meant learning more about public policies and European initiatives, bringing that information into schools, universities, associations, and local communities, and creating opportunities for genuine dialogue.
The network’s programme combined training, communication, and co-design. We explored Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps, DiscoverEU, European funding, Agenda 2030, sustainable development, and Italy’s recovery plan. Regular network meetings created space to plan activities, compare ideas, and develop proposals from the perspective of young people in different parts of the country.
The themes reflected the wider priorities of the European Year of Youth: democratic participation, inclusion, the green and digital transitions, mobility, solidarity, and access to European programmes.
For me, the value of the role was practical. European programmes can change a person’s direction, but only if people know that they exist and understand how to take the first step. Being an ambassador meant translating large institutional ideas into conversations, examples, and possibilities that could make sense in everyday life.
The launch in Rome
The Italian launch took place on 24 March 2022 at the Ara Pacis Auditorium in Rome. The event brought young people and institutions into the same space and included an interactive dialogue with Fabiana Dadone, then Minister for Youth Policies, and Mariya Gabriel, then European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.
The launch introduced the ambassador network publicly and set the direction for the months ahead: not simply speaking about young people, but creating ways for them to contribute directly to the decisions and priorities shaping Europe’s future.
Meeting other ambassadors from across Italy was equally important. We arrived with different experiences and local contexts, but shared a common interest in making participation more accessible and making European initiatives easier to understand.
The launch in the media
The launch also placed youth participation in the public conversation. La Sicilia reported on the National Youth Card and introduced the Sicilian members of the ambassador network, including me; I have preserved that coverage in a dedicated article and newspaper scan.
Fanpage.it’s video report focused on Minister Dadone’s call to involve young people directly in decisions about their future. It records the central idea behind the day: rebuilding trust requires making room for young people at the table, not deciding everything on their behalf.
From a title to a year of activity
The ambassador role continued beyond the launch through institutional visits, public events, school and university activities, communication, recurring network meetings, and exchanges with other young people. In May, it took me to Brussels for the European institutions’ Open Doors programme. In February 2023, the network came together again in Rome to close the European Year of Youth and pass its work forward into the European Year of Skills.
The experience strengthened a principle that continues to guide my work: participation is most meaningful when information becomes an invitation, and when an invitation gives people a real way to contribute.
Learn more about the European Year of Youth Ambassador Network and the Italian launch event.