As part of the project, we have promoted volunteering and engagement of youth in initiatives for local communities all around Poland. According to the data from the Central Statistical Office of Poland, Polish youth is rarely involved in volunteering and has a very weak sense of influence on their environment. Additionally, the youth often lack knowledge and ideas concerning civic engagement.

Thirty young people took part in the project, presenting their ideas for local initiatives. We have trained them and supported preparations and implementation of 22 original initiatives that involved both volunteers and the local community. We have selected and supported local youth leaders, who motivated others to act. Among the completed projects were concerts at the local senior living facilities and hospices, workshops for secondary school students on civic engagement and the civic budget at their schools, building pollinator gardens, or inter-generational cultural events and Oxford debates. We have also organized a summer and winter schools for young people, which offered leadership workshops, discussion clubs and individual consultations on how to run successful projects.

Thanks to these projects, the youth got experienced in organizing grassroots events and built a core group of volunteers around them, who are willing to work in their community. Except for the leaders, there were 192 volunteers taking part in the project from all over Poland. At the conclusion of the project, we conducted a survey, in which 92% of the participants declared their involvement in the Academy of Leaders as a positive influence on their level of engagement in their community, and in volunteering broadly. Ninety-six percent said they want to continue their civic engagement.