After more than a year of training, international exchange and participatory design, two ideas developed by young people from the cross-border area of GO! 2025 are about to become reality. ARTBUS and PLAYGROUND'S BENCHES are the two projects selected within FLYE, a European initiative joined by EGTC GO, which places youth empowerment and active participation at the heart of territorial development.

Both projects are currently being implemented and will be presented to the public in September 2026, during FLYE's final dissemination event. Their transition into the implementation phase is the tangible outcome of a process that enabled young people to experience every stage of civic participation: from idea generation to public discussion, from voting to feasibility assessment, and finally to the realization of projects designed to leave a lasting impact on the territory.

The projects selected by young people

In March 2026, several project proposals developed by participants were presented and put to a vote. The most popular ideas then underwent a rigorous technical and financial feasibility assessment. At the end of this process, two projects successfully passed both stages.

ARTBUS

Conceived by a group led by Ivan and Tania, ARTBUS aims to transform the time spent on public transport into a cultural and creative experience.

Working alongside artists from the cross-border area, designers and cultural operators, the young participants selected a series of video art pieces and audiovisual content related to activities carried out during 2025. These works will be screened on public buses, offering passengers new opportunities to discover the territory, reflect and engage with culture.

Through ARTBUS, an everyday functional space such as a bus becomes a temporary cultural venue, bringing art beyond traditional institutions and into the rhythms and spaces of everyday life.

PLAYGROUND'S BENCHES

PLAYGROUND'S BENCHES began with a simple yet meaningful question: can a bench become a tool for inclusion in a public space located along the border between Italy and Slovenia?

This idea inspired the proposal developed by Marta, Urša and the young people who supported it through the voting process.

The project foresees the permanent installation of a table and several benches near a basketball court that is currently used mainly by those engaged in sports activities. The objective is to make the area more welcoming and accessible to a wider range of users, including women and girls, older people, people with disabilities and anyone wishing to spend time there without necessarily practicing sports.

The new facilities will encourage people to meet, study, talk or simply enjoy social moments outdoors. The furniture will also be customizable through artistic interventions and selected according to accessibility and environmental sustainability criteria.

A simple intervention, yet one capable of expanding the possibilities of using public space and strengthening its inclusive, social and cross-border dimension.

From training to project development

The two projects are the result of a process developed within the fifth phase of FLYE. Before moving to the design stage, participants took part in more than 90 hours of training activities and two international study visits, acquiring skills related to financial literacy, participatory planning and participatory budgeting.

The opportunity to submit project proposals was reserved for the GO! 2025 Youth Advocacy Group, the youth representative body established within the framework of the European Capital of Culture programme.

The Youth Advocacy Group emerged from the experience of approximately 1,000 young people aged 14 and above who participated in engagement and community activation activities promoted throughout the GO! 2025 process. During 2025, the group's representatives joined the training activities and international exchanges offered by FLYE, preparing themselves to design initiatives capable of generating positive impact for both young people and the wider community.

The roots of the FLYE project

FLYE was created in response to the challenges many young people under the age of 35 face in finding meaningful opportunities to participate in political and territorial decision-making processes. Many feel they are unable to freely express their views, needs and aspirations regarding the future of their communities.

In line with the objectives of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027, the project promotes active participation and personal empowerment, recognizing young people not merely as recipients of public policies but as key actors of social change.

The experience of ARTBUS and PLAYGROUND'S BENCHES is a concrete example of this approach: a journey that started with listening and training and ultimately enabled young people's ideas to become real, visible and shared interventions capable of improving community well-being and enhancing the quality of cross-border public spaces.