Encourages young people's active citizenship, participation and creativity through youth exchanges, youth initiatives and youth democracy projects.

• Youth Exchanges aim to get together groups of young people from different countries so they can explore their social and cultural differences and similarities. Youth Exchanges are targeted at young people between the age of 13 and 25 (up to 20% of participants may be aged between 25 and 30). Each exchange must have a theme that is relevant to the daily experiences of the young people involved but also has a clear European dimension.
• Youth Initiatives are projects entirely devised, planned and implemented by young people themselves at local, regional or national level. The goal is to stimulate young people’s creativity, enterprise and initiative. Youth Initiatives are aimed primarily at 18-30 year olds, but 15-18 year olds can take part if accompanied by a coach or youth worker.
• Youth Democracy Projects are aimed at boosting young people’s involvement in the democratic process at local, regional and European level. The objective is to provide young people (13-30 year olds) with experiences and ideas about democracy, to spark new national and transnational networks and exchanges of good practice. Youth Democracy Projects improve young people’s understanding of how democracy works, helping them to make the most of their right to participate in the decision-making structures of a democratic society.

Funds young people to volunteer for up to 12 months in another country. Participation is free for the volunteers (except for a possible contribution of a maximum of 10% of the travel costs) and they also get board and lodging, insurance cover and an allowance for the duration of the project. Beyond benefiting local communities, volunteers develop new skills and languages and therefore improve their personal, educational and professional development. An EVS project can focus on a variety of themes, such as culture, youth, sports, social care, cultural heritage, arts, civil protection, environment or development cooperation.

Provides young people and youth workers from Europe with the opportunity to take part in exchanges and other non-formal education activities with their peers living outside the European Union. This Action supports supports exchanges, training, networking and cooperation with EU Partner Countries, with a special focus on its neighboring regions – Eastern Europe and Caucasus, the Mediterranean region, and South-East Europe.

Provide youth workers and organizations with opportunities to develop co-operation and partnerships, to exchange youth work good practice, as well as to receive training in order to develop quality activities for young people.

• Civil society, youth workers and other actors involved in youth work can apply for a whole range of activities such as job shadowing, feasibility visits, evaluation meetings, study visits and seminars, training courses, as well as partnership building and networking activities.
• Financial support is also provided to European NGOs active at European level in the field of youth and to the European Youth Forum.

Promotes the development of youth policy cooperation at European level. Three sub-actions have been created to achieve this goal:

• National and transnational youth seminars: co-funding grants can be given to the setting up of meetings between young people and those responsible for youth policy. Targeted at young people aged 15-30, these meetings can take place either at national or transnational level. They should aim at promoting the exchange of good practice and ideas in relation to important topics in the field of European youth policy or the priority themes of the Youth in Action programme and structured dialogue.
• Improving knowledge and understanding of youth: support for activities to bring about better knowledge of the youth field.
• Cooperation with international organisations:.the Commission works closely with the Council of Europe, the United Nations or its specialized institutions, in order to develop a framework for co-operation in the youth field. Within this partnership a large variety of joint activities are implemented, including training, conferences, workshops, seminars, as well as the management of the European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy, a research database for youth policy across Europe.

This is mainly targeted at people aged between 13 and 30.

Applications could be made by a non-profit/non-governmental organisation; local or, regional public body; an informal group of young people or a body active at European level in the youth field legally established in one of the eligible countries: the 27 EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Turkey, Croatia and Switzerland.

This is mainly targeted at people aged between 18 and 30.

Applications could be made by a non-profit organisation; a local, regional public body; a body active at European level in the youth field; an international governmental organisation; or (but only for events in youth, sport or culture) a profit-making organisation in one of the eligible countries: the 27 EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Turkey, Croatia, Switzerland and countries covered by the European neighbourhood policy (eastern Europe and the Caucasus, the Mediterranean region and south-eastern Europe) and other countries which have signed relevant agreements with the European Union.

This is mainly targeted at people aged between 13 and 30.

Applications could be made by a non-profit/non-governmental organisation; a local or regional public body; an informal group of young people; or a body active at European level in the youth field established in one of the eligible countries: the 27 EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Turkey, Croatia, Switzerland and countries covered by the European neighbourhood policy (eastern Europe and the Caucasus, the Mediterranean region and south-eastern Europe) and other countries which have signed relevant agreements with the European Union.

These are for people in one of the eligible countries: the 27 EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Turkey, Croatia, and Switzerland. There is no age limit for this action, which is available to youth workers too.

This is mainly targeted at people aged between 15 and 30.

Applications could be made by a non-profit/non-governmental organisation; a local or regional public body; or a body active at European level in the youth field in one of the eligible countries: the 27 EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Turkey, Croatia, and Switzerland.