YOUTH ON STAGE: Theatre and Local Politics
PROJECT SUMMARY
Youth on Stage was a project that received finding from Erasmus+ in August 2024. It is a collaboration between Cosmos Youth Association in Izmir, Türkiye (https://www.cosmosyouth.org/) and Crooked House Theatre Company, Ireland (www.crookedhouse.ie)
Youth on Stage was a Key Action 154 Youth Participation project. The official number of the project is 2024-2-IE01KA154-YOU-000258567. The national agency that approved the project is Léargas, the Irish national agency.
It began on 01/10/2024 and ended on 30/09/2025.
PROJECT AIMS
With this project harnessed the skills of one organisation to help the young people in the other organisation. Cosmos showed Crooked House young people how to explore policy, get involved in local committees, and how to engage in community development. Crooked House showed Cosmos young people how to use theatre to share their ideas, concerns and plans with decision-makers.
Youth on Stage:
- carried out local active citizenship and theatre initiatives in Ireland and Turkey, involving 15 young participants from each organisation, aged between 18 and 26, who engaged with 10 decision-makers.
- In Ireland, the participants presented policy ideas through drama to local representatives, while in Turkey, they collaborated with decision-makers through workshops, receiving informal training.
PROJECT DETAILS
Regular weekly drama workshops with 15 participants, aged 18 to 26 began on Friday 4th October 2025 (from 7.00pm to 9.00pm) and were held in Newbridge Town Hall. These drama workshops resulted in a performance for local decision makers and politicians in Ireland about issues to do with the lack of public space for youth in Newbridge and Kildare.
The Cosmos team met once a month to develop a short drama that they presented to Izmir City Council. The piece was about the lack of accommodation for students in third level colleges in Izmir, and about what young people perceived to be the poor public transport infrastructure in the city.
Online meetings (Crooked House and Cosmos). There were 8 online meetings between the two groups of participants and the coordinators. They were in November 2024, January 2025, February, March, June, July, August and October 2025.
Training Course 1: Youth Participation and Active Citizenship Training, Izmir, Türkiye (Crooked House and Cosmos).
Mobility identification: YPMOB01
Dates: Saturday, 30th November to Saturday, 7th December (including travel days).
Participants: 15 Crooked House participants plus 2 facilitators travelled to Izmir (17 Crooked House participants in total).
15 Cosmos participants, 2 Cosmos facilitators and 6 Turkish decision makers participated.
Theme: Cosmos shared their skills with us in active citizenship strategies: how to engage with local democracy and public institutions.
Training Course 2: Performing Policy Training Course, Newbridge, Ireland (Crooked House and Cosmos)
Mobility ID: YPMOB04
Dates: 24th – 28th May 2025 (included travel dates)
Participants: 15 Crooked House participants and 15 Cosmos participants and 1 facilitator.
Theme: Crooked House shared their skills about how to use theatre methods to devise plays about policies and issues that can be presented to politicians and to decision makers.
Impact
The project directly supported young participants in developing their civic competences, confidence, ability to express opinions and willingness to engage in democratic life. Many of the young people involved reported increased motivation to participate in youth councils, local initiatives and school-based activities after the project. They also improved their communication, teamwork, intercultural understanding and creative problem-solving abilities, which continued to influence their personal development beyond the activities.
For Crooked House and Cosmos, the project strengthened their operational capacity, partnership experience and knowledge of youth participation methodologies. Cosmos Youth and Crooked House both enhanced their ability to design, implement and evaluate projects that combine civic engagement with creative approaches such as theatre and storytelling. The organisations also gained practical insight into organising meetings between young people and decision-makers, facilitating structured dialogue activities and creating safe and inclusive learning environments. These developments contributed to higher organisational competence in managing European-level youth work. It led to the creation and submission of a second Youth Participation project between the two organisations in 2026.
The project also had a positive impact on the target groups. Young people who did not directly participate in the activities still benefited through peer-to-peer sharing, local presentations, informal discussions and social media communication. They met with TDs in Newbridge and shared their points of view about local development.
The presence of decision-makers in certain activities increased their awareness of young people’s perspectives and encouraged them to consider more youth-friendly approaches in their own work. Stakeholders in Turkey such as youth councils, municipal youth units, universities and local NGOs also benefited from the project’s outcomes. Through cooperation with Cosmos Youth, organisations such as İzmir City Council and İzmir Youth Assembly gained insight into how dialogue sessions, creative workshops and youth-led reflections can be integrated into local participation structures. In particular, the exchange of knowledge supported İzmir Youth Assembly in preparing and submitting its own project proposal in the following period, demonstrating a direct and concrete impact on local youth policy structures.
The Irish participants were impressed to learn about structures for involvement in local decision making such as Comhairle na nÓg, and the Kildare Public Participation Network. We had a presentation session about these at the Newbridge mobility. They were also impressed about how easy it was to speak to the politicians who came to visit us. Those discussions also left a strong impression on the politicians. However, the Irish young people were also very disappointed that only one local politician attended their performance in May.
At an international level, the partnership between Cosmos Youth and Crooked House helped strengthen mutual trust, improve communication routines and increase the capacity of both teams to work together on future initiatives. The methods tested during the project—especially the combination of civic participation training and creative expression techniques—were shared through ongoing Erasmus+ partnerships, allowing other youth organisations to learn from the experience.
The project also contributed to a broader cultural and social impact. It encouraged young people to feel more connected to their communities, more aware of European values and more capable of expressing their ideas through both political and artistic tools. Many participants reported that the project helped them feel included, respected and motivated to pursue future opportunities in youth work, active citizenship and intercultural exchange.
Overall, the project generated sustainable impact at individual, organisational and community levels. It strengthened youth participation structures, contributed to the development of future projects, improved cooperation between institutions and inspired young people to remain active beyond the duration of the activities. The outcomes continue to influence local youth ecosystems and support ongoing efforts to promote democratic engagement among young people.
