Many rural regions in Europe are facing similar challenges: Young people are migrating to cities, local social structures are crumbling - or, taking Luxembourg as an example, newly arrived families need to be better integrated into the village community. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get young people involved in voluntary work or political participation.

This is where the "Ju&Me Europe" project comes in - an innovative mentoring programme for young people and adults. The idea: young people are trained as mentors who work in tandems with decision-makers from politics, administration, business or associations. In this way, they actively contribute their perspectives to regional development processes - not as stakeholders, but as creative partners.

The project builds on a successful model from the Leipziger Muldenland LEADER region and is now to be extended to other European regions. Instead of talking about young people, we work with them. Mentoring at eye level creates a genuine dialogue between generations - a new form of youth participation that provides fresh impetus for rural development.

As part of the preparatory project, the basis for a subsequent LEADER project is to be laid together with other LEADER regions and future cooperation is to be prepared. Furthermore, the focus is on the development of a training programme.