Date: September 18, 2025
Time: 9:30 – 11:00 CET
Location: Vienna, Austria
Host Organization: European Capital of Democracy
Virtual Participation Link: Details coming soon!
The Innovation in Politics Awards is an annual event that recognises courageous and creative political projects. Its aim is to create a growing network of the best minds in politics with a view to sharing knowledge and promoting the exchange of best practice at all political levels and across borders and party lines. This hybrid session will be organised on the day after the Innovation in Politics Awards 2025, 18 September.
Two to three finalist projects of the Innovations in Politics Awards 2025 present the use of technology and online tools as a way to better empower categories that often risk to be left behind. Such examples provide a great opportunity to discuss the role of technology in our society, and how its potential could be better exploited, overcoming the mistrust technology is facing by an ever growing part of the population.
The “#aktivizIM App – Empowering Women and Youth in Politics” finalist case tackles youth empowerment and focuses on active participation of women and youth. It is aimed at boosting youth activism and political participation of women and girls in Albania. Despite their critical role in shaping the future, these groups face persistent barriers and remain underrepresented in political processes. The app provides an inclusive, innovative platform designed specifically to empower young people, especially girls and women, to actively engage in their communities.
“EurHope – The Youth Agenda for a Democratic Europe” is another finalist project which focuses on youth participation. It responded to the growing disconnection between young Europeans and EU politics by launching the first EU-wide, multilingual consultation focused on youth. Over 1.5 million votes and 5,000 proposals were collected to form the Agenda of Hope—a set of 15 priorities representing young people’s vision for the future of Europe. At a time when youth are often excluded from meaningful participation, the project positioned their voices at the heart of the
European democratic process.
“Puntos Vuela: Bridging the Digital Divide in Andalusia’s Rural Communities” created a network that bridges the digital divide in rural areas of Andalusia, empowering communities with free digital skills training and access to technology for social and economic development. Puntos Vuela offers free training in basic and advanced digital skills, facilitates access to online public services, and fosters social inclusion for historically marginalised groups. For instance, the network actively supports entrepreneurship and innovation by integrating cutting-edge technologies in the agricultural sector.
A representative of the Office for Participation from the City of Vienna will introduce the session, highlighting the international relevance of this topic, and sharing how Vienna is working on the use of technology for citizens’ engagement during their Democracy Year as European Capital of Democracy.
Participants will be invited to engage with the topic through online tools (e.g. Mentimeter).
Event Programme:
