Introducing UPLIFT, a project putting young people’s voices at the centre of youth employment policy Addressing inequalities in urban and peri-urban contexts is at the heart of the UPLIFT project. This is particularly relevant as social and economic inequalities have been growing in most wealthy countries in recent decades, even more so since the 2008-2009 financial crisis. With a focus on vulnerable youth, the project aims to develop a Reflexive Policy Agenda through participatory co-creation that will hopefully lead to more flexible, adaptive policies. Society © Rawpixel.com, Shutterstock The 2010s was not kind to many young Europeans. Coming of age and entering the workforce just before, during or just after the late 2000s economic crisis, young people have faced high unemployment or very unstable employment conditions throughout the decade. Now, due to COVID-19, they’re experiencing their second major economic slump in just 10 years. Policymakers and traditional political elites have been viewed by many – young and older – as offering few real solutions to these challenges and this in turn has contributed to the rise of populist politics throughout Europe. The EU-funded UPLIFT (Urban PoLicy Innovation to address inequality with and for Future generaTions) project aims to address these very real socio-economic challenges, that have only been heightened by the COVID-19 crisis, by putting young people at the centre of their research. Young people have become the demographic age group most at risk of experiencing poverty in Europe, and in urban settings these disparities are particularly prevalent. UPLIFT’s focus on understanding the patterns and trends of inequality across Europe, how individuals experience and adapt to inequality and undertaking detailed research in 16 different European urban regions, will eventually result in a co-created policy tool – the Reflexive Policy Agenda – that will offer tangible policy solutions to address and reduce inequality and socio-economic divisions. To narrow down their scope, UPLIFT chose to focus on housing, education and employment policies. Importantly, this tool will be co-created with the communities that UPLIFT is working with, specifically communities in four of its chosen cities, those being Amsterdam, Barakaldo (Spain), Tallinn and Sfantu Gheorghe (Romania). The 3-year UPLIFT project began in January 2020 and will end in December 2022. It has received just under EUR 3 million through the Horizon 2020 programme. Keywords UPLIFT
