For many young Ukrainians, participating in community life has become increasingly difficult. War, displacement, misinformation, and unequal access to opportunities often leave them feeling disconnected from high-level decision-making processes.
When talking about democracy, many people immediately think about elections. But for young people in Ukraine, democratic participation can take many other forms: Submitting petitions, monitoring local government decisions, participating in public consultations, or advocating for community needs online.
Unfortunately, many young people are not aware that these opportunities exist. This challenge is especially true for internally displaced persons, youth from rural communities, and minority groups. At the same time, the spread of misinformation and low levels of media literacy make civic engagement feel confusing or even risky.
The NGO beYOUnd, a non-profit youth organization that creates safe, open, and inclusive spaces for young people from different regions and vulnerable communities across Ukraine, has created the project “Voices of Democracy in the Digital Era,” to empower youth involvement by helping young people understand how digital tools can strengthen democracy and how their voices can make a difference.
Empowering youth for political participation
BeYOUnd works to empower youth, strengthen their skills, and ensure that young people have opportunities to influence positive change in their communities. In line with these goals, we launched “Voices of Democracy in the Digital Era” to help young people gain practical skills and confidence to participate in democratic processes. The project combines education, interaction, and community-building.
We engaged 120 young people from different backgrounds — internally displaced young people, youth from rural and remote communities, representatives of national minorities, young activists, and young community leaders.
The first stage of the project focused on raising awareness through social media and educational webinars. Through Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, the campaign shared posts, videos, and accessible information about AI literacy, civic rights, transparency, digital participation tools, cybersecurity, media literacy, and more.
At the same time, three online webinars brought together 100 young people from 21 regions of Ukraine. Experts introduced participants to topics such as digital democracy, transparency, and identifying misinformation online.
During the workshops, participants shared personal experiences of trying to engage in local decision-making processes, finding trustworthy information online, and staying connected to their communities despite displacement caused by the war.
One of the participants, Iryna, said: “Now I understand much better how e-petitions work — it used to be confusing, but now everything has become much simpler.” Another participant, Nataliia, noted: “Now I know better how to spot fake news and fact-check information.”
The project was designed to go beyond simply providing information. Three interactive workshops and three webinars allowed participants to practice what they learned.
Using digital collaborative tools such as Zoom and Kahoot, young people worked together, discussed community challenges, explored cybersecurity basics, and developed ideas for civic action.
Participants collaborated in small groups, exchanged experiences, and explored how digital tools can help solve real-life problems in their communities.
Anastasiia shared: “For me, the most valuable thing was understanding how to develop an action plan to implement my own initiative.”
Face-to-face collaboration in Kyiv
The offline networking event in Kyiv is the most successful element of the project. For many participants, it was the first opportunity to meet peers from different backgrounds who shared a common interest in civic engagement.
Young activists spent a full day discussing challenges, exchanging ideas, and exploring ways to cooperate in the future.
The event created a space where participants could move from learning to action. Together, they developed civic initiative ideas and discussed how digital participation tools could be used to address local issues more effectively.
The start of democratic participation
Beyond the practical outcomes, the event showed that young people are eager to engage when they are given the knowledge, tools, and supportive environment to do so.
While the project activities take place over several months, the goal extends far beyond the project timeline.
Participants gain skills in media literacy, cybersecurity, digital participation, and civic engagement that they can continue using in their daily lives. Educational materials, recorded webinars, infographics, and the project toolkit will remain publicly available, allowing even more young people to benefit from the initiative.
The project also supports the creation of peer communities through Telegram and WhatsApp groups, helping participants stay connected, exchange opportunities, and support each other’s civic initiatives after the formal activities end.
Democratic participation begins long before a person enters a polling station. It starts when people understand their rights, trust their own voices, and believe they can influence their communities. Through “Voices of Democracy in the Digital Era,” young Ukrainians are gaining exactly those opportunities.
