From July 1-9, 2025, the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg hosts the Youth Peace Camp 2025, uniting 55 young participants from conflict-affected regions, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus (Greek-speaking and Turkish-speaking communities), Kosovo* (focusing on Albanian-speaking and Serbian-speaking communities), South Caucasus (particularly conflict-affected regions and ethnic communities), and both banks of the river Nistru/Dniester.
Organised by the Council of Europe Youth Department, with support from the Directorate of Political Affairs and External Relations and the Cyprus Youth Board under the Presidency of Malta, the camp was officially opened by Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General, Council of Europe and Justine Micallef, First Secretary, Permanent Representation of Malta to the Council of Europe.
This flagship initiative of the Council of Europe’s Youth sector fosters dialogue and peacebuilding through human rights education and intercultural learning. The camp creates a space for young people to engage in interpersonal dialogue with peers from “the other side” of conflicts, developing critical competences for peacebuilding through experiential learning. Over eight dynamic days, participants explore the Council of Europe’s peace-promoting mechanisms, including the European Court on Human Rights, the European Youth Foundation and the Youth Department, while designing initiatives as peer leaders and multipliers for intercultural dialogue and conflict transformation.
Objectives of the Youth Peace Camp 2025
- Develop awareness and competences (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) in human rights education, peacebuilding, and intercultural learning to support dialogue and confidence-building initiatives.
- Facilitate mutual learning from experiences of conflict and coping strategies.
- Foster relationship-building as a foundation for peacebuilding and dialogue.
- Share youth work practices and experiences in dialogue and conflict transformation from participants’ home communities.
- Motivate and support participants as multipliers and peer leaders in peacebuilding, encouraging follow-up initiatives.
- Strengthen the Council of Europe’s role, particularly through its Youth for Democracy programme, in peacebuilding and intercultural dialogue, aligning with UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Read more about the Youth Peace Camps
Visit the Youth Peace Camp 2025 webpage
*All references to Kosovo, whether the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations' Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.
