SpeakUP was developed in response to growing societal polarization, declining trust in democratic dialogue, and low levels of youth civic participation across Romania, Hungary, and Cyprus. Young people increasingly engage in fragmented online spaces shaped by misinformation, echo chambers, and extremist narratives, while opportunities for meaningful democratic participation and constructive debate remain limited. At the same time, many young people—especially those from vulnerable or marginalized communities—lack access to the skills, confidence, and civic spaces necessary to participate actively in public life.

The project identified a strong need to activate youth as democratic actors by combining debate education with practical civic engagement. Beyond critical thinking and public speaking, young people require capacitation in democratic participation, advocacy, local action, and interaction with decision-makers. SpeakUP addresses these needs by creating inclusive debate clubs, civic education workshops, advocacy initiatives, and youth-led public forums that encourage participation beyond online engagement. The project also sought to promote social dialogue, fostering democratic resilience, inclusion, and active citizenship

The project aimed to strengthen democratic participation among young people by leveraging debate as a tool for developing a culture of engagement and constructive dialogue in increasingly polarized societies. We aimed to plant inclusive debate circuits in Hungary and Cyprus, and extend the debate network in Romania, while infusing it with a civic orientation. We sought to establish sustainable national networks of debate clubs, expand them, capacitate their leaders and the participants with the skills and methodologies for civic action. A central objective was to provide young people, especially those with fewer opportunities, with accessible spaces where they could learn argumentation, public speaking, teamwork, and evidence-based reasoning while also learning about topics connected to democracy, citizen participation, and societal challenges. The project aimed to reduce barriers preventing vulnerable groups from elitist debate education. Another objective was to connect debate training with practical democratic participation through outreach activities, youth forums, advocacy campaigns, competitions, and participatory democracy workshops, encouraging young people to engage actively in their communities and democratic processes.

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