ACCESS! — Training Course for Local Action on Young People’s Social Rights

Benefits & funding

• Accommodation and meals at the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg are provided by the Council of Europe for the six working days of the residential seminar.
• Travel to and from Strasbourg is reimbursed according to Council of Europe rules.
• Visa costs are reimbursed and invitation letters are issued for visa applications.
• Simultaneous interpretation between English and French is provided during the seminar.
• An enrolment fee of EUR 72 per participant applies, deducted from the travel reimbursement or paid on site.
• The Council of Europe provides no funding for the local action projects teams carry out afterwards.

Eligibility

• Applications come from teams of two to three people working in different sectors of the same municipality or community; the format has no place for individual participants.
• At least one team member must represent a local or regional authority or one of its relevant substructures.
• Team members are people such as local or regional authority staff working on youth, social affairs, housing, education or inclusion; youth workers active in disadvantaged neighbourhoods; representatives of youth organisations, including young people with lived experience of exclusion; social and community service professionals; staff of education, housing, health or employment support services; and coordinators of youth participation structures.
• Applicants must be residents of a State Party to the European Cultural Convention: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Vatican City.
• Working knowledge of English or French is required.
• The call states no age limit, no minimum years of experience, no degree requirement and no gender requirement.

Application process

1. 1
   Read the concept note and call for participants published alongside the call.
2. 2
   Build a team of two to three people from different sectors of the same municipality or community, including at least one local or regional authority representative.
3. 3
   Agree on the local action the team wants to develop and outline it in no more than 300 words, in English or French.
4. 4
   Submit one joint online application for the whole team through the official form before the deadline; the 2026 round closed on 19 July 2026 at 23:59 CET.
5. 5
   Wait for the result: pre-selected teams are informed after the selection process, and a waiting list may be used.
6. 6
   The 2026 application form is now offline. A new call, if one is opened, appears on the Council of Europe youth sector’s calls for participants page.

Program timeline

1. 19 July 2026, 23:59 CET

   Application deadline for the 2026 round

2. Self-directed online module, 1–2 hours per week

   Last two weeks of September 2026

3. Residential seminar opens at the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg

   6 October 2026

4. Residential seminar ends

   11 October 2026

5. After the seminar

   Teams carry out their local action in their own community

6. 2027

   Advanced follow-up seminar for teams that completed the 2026 module