RYCOnnecting Youth is an annual project-grant call run by the Regional Youth Cooperation Office. Its seventh cycle supports regional youth initiatives focused on reconciliation, intercultural dialogue, peacebuilding, participation, and durable cooperation across the Western Balkans.
Applicants are non-profit civil society organizations legally established in the region and working with a cross-border partner. Funded activities take place in one or more of the six Western Balkan Contracting Parties and engage young people aged 14–30.
Benefits & funding
- RYCO offers grants of EUR 20,000–30,000 per selected project.
- Up to 15 projects are expected to receive support from a total call budget of EUR 300,000.
- RYCO may cover up to 95% of eligible costs for lead applicants with annual budgets below EUR 50,000, up to 85% for budgets of EUR 50,000–300,000, and up to 75% for budgets above EUR 300,000.
- Projects must run for 4–6 months; eligible costs can include staff, travel, subsistence, rented equipment, supplies, external expertise, communications, monitoring, and other necessary delivery costs.
Eligibility
- The lead applicant must be a legal, non-profit civil society organization established for at least one year in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, or Serbia.
- The lead must be compliant with tax and social-security obligations and must not be bankrupt, insolvent, winding up, or suspended. Individuals cannot apply.
- Each proposal must include 1–5 eligible non-profit CSO partners, with at least one partner registered in a different Western Balkan Contracting Party from the lead. Partners must also have been established for at least one year.
- A project must select one of the two call lots, involve partners from at least two Contracting Parties, and carry out all funded activities within the six Western Balkan Contracting Parties.
- Project participants must be young people aged 14–30; this is a target-group rule, not an age rule for the applying organizations.
- An organization may appear in no more than two applications: once as lead applicant and once as a partner.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Residence required
Albania · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Kosovo · Montenegro · North Macedonia · Serbia
Appears to have an age limit “aged 14”
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Application process
- 1Select one call lot and form an eligible cross-border partnership.
- 2Complete the English-language Application Form, the EUR Budget Form, and the Activity Timeline.
- 3Prepare registration records, statutes, financial statements, tax-compliance evidence, and signed and stamped declarations for the lead and partners.
- 4Register on the RYCO grants platform and upload the application, annexes, and supporting documents in PDF format.
- 5Submit through the online platform before the deadline; email, post, fax, and physical submissions are not accepted.
Program timeline
Seventh call launched.
31 December 2025
Deadline for clarification requests.
10 February 2026
Application deadline.
13 February 2026
Administrative and eligibility checks.
16–21 February 2026
Next cycle
RYCO has not published an exact opening date.