On 21 and 22 August, Ljubljana, Slovenia, hosted the international hackathon “Nobody’s Coming to Save Us”, bringing together more than 60 young people from Portugal, Slovenia and Estonia, including 10 young people supported by Rosto Solidário.

Over the course of two days, participants had the opportunity to meet young people from different countries, exchange experiences and work together on challenges related to active citizenship and youth participation in society.

Working in international teams, they were challenged to share perspectives, identify problems and find creative solutions to issues affecting their communities. With the support of mentoring sessions focused on artificial intelligence, public speaking and active participation at European level, they transformed their ideas into concrete proposals for local initiatives, which were presented at the end of the hackathon.

More than just developing projects, the meeting provided a space for learning, creativity, communication, collaboration and intercultural exchange, strengthening young people’s confidence to make their voices heard and take a more active role in their communities.

Rosto Solidário’s participation took place within the framework of the European project LOUD & CLEAR, which promotes young people’s democratic and civic participation through non-formal education methodologies and youth-led activities.

The project brings together organisations from Portugal, Slovenia and Estonia and is funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.

The hackathon came to an end with new ideas, learning experiences and connections between young people from different countries, showing that participation begins when young people are given the space to express themselves, collaborate and turn their ideas into concrete action.