European Youth Capital 2028: we know the 5 finalist cities
Excited about what's to come? 2025 might be Lviv's year but let's briefly dive into the future to find out who the finalists are for European Youth Capital 2028. Are you ready?
After receiving applications from 12 amazing cities across Europe, the European Youth Capital independent jury has now narrowed it down to our final five contenders.
👏 Let's give a HUGE round of applause to (in alphabetical order) 👏
🇲🇩 Chișinău (Moldova)
🇳🇱 Leeuwarden (Netherlands)
🇨🇾 Paralimni (Cyprus)
🇧🇬 Pernik (Bulgaria)
🇲🇪 Podgorica (Montenegro)
All five finalist cities have shown a their commitment to investing in and engaging young people. So, who’s it gonna be?
Although not shortlisted this time, we would like to recognise the commitment of all candidates 👏:
🇧🇦 Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
🇹🇷 Bursa (Türkiye)
🇩🇪 🇳🇱 Euregio (Germany & Netherlands)
🇦🇹 Gratwein-Straßengel (Austria)
🇹🇷 Muğla (Türkiye)
🇸🇮 Velenje (Slovenia)
🇱🇹 Vilnius (Lithuania)
We hope that each of these cities will continue to boost youth participation in their community. Following the European Youth Capital application process, each city will receive feedback on their application from the independent jury. We encourage you all to reapply in the future, and we look forward to continuing to work with you all.
Ready for the next steps?
Now the finalist cities have time to submit a more detailed application outlining an extensive programme of youth-related cultural, social and political events and activities for the whole year until 17 June 2025.
The finalists will then receive further recommendations on their detailed applications from the independent jury and a focus group. Finally, they will submit their final and updated applications on 7 October 2025.
After that, the finalist cities will have the opportunity to convince the European Youth Capital 2028 selection jury why it should be them who should be awarded the title at the jury meeting which will take place prior to the official Award Ceremony in November 2025.
A big thank you to the independent European Youth Capital 2028 jury for dedicating their time and effort to thoroughly and fairly assess all the applications 🙌
Our jury is composed of representatives of the following institutions and organisations (in alphabetical order):
Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe, Centre for European Volunteering (CEV), Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Council of European Municipalities & Regions - CEMR-CCRE, Euractiv, Eurodesk, Europe Goes Local, European Association for Local Democracy - ALDA, European Committee of the Regions, European Disability Forum, European Economic & Social Committee, European Parliament - CULT Committee, European Youth Card Association - EYCA, European Youth Forum, European Youth Parliament, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD, and OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
Related articles & publications
Reaction to the amendment to the EU Climate Law from European youth networks
We, European youth organisations, welcome the European Commission's formal proposal to amend the EU Climate Law to include a 2040 target of 90% net greenhouse gas emissions reductions following months of delays and speculation. Read our reaction to find out more!
Open letter: Don't cut young people out
Young people deserve dedicated spaces for learning, mobility, and solidarity beyond classrooms. Diluting or merging Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps risks leaving many behind. On Friday 27/05/2025 we sent a letter to call for a strong youth chapter, an independent ESC, and five times more funding. Young people's future must keep moving forward, not backwards. Europe should not cut costs on young people.
EU Youth Conference: Where resilience means democracy
From 2-5 March 2025, the vibrant city of Lublin, Poland - holder of the European Youth Capital 2023 title - once again demonstrated their commitment to meaningful youth participation. More than 300 young people from across Europe gathered for the first EU Youth Conference of the 11th cycle of the EU Youth Dialogue. This conference marked the kick off for the new trio Presidency of Poland, Denmark and Cyprus. Together, they launched a new chapter of collaboration, dialogue and youth-driven policy at the European level.