Would you like to play a key role in uniting and strengthening the voices of youth advocates in diabetes across Europe? Apply to be the next host of the IDF Europe Youth Leadership Lab in 2023!
In 2011, IDF Europe launched the Youth Leadership Camp (YLC), an initiative aiming to nurture a new generation of youth advocates and create a strong pan-European network of Young Advocates in Diabetes. Each year since, a group of around 24 youth advocates aged 18-30 from IDF Europe’s Members are invited to participate in the Youth Leadership Camp. With the pandemic in 2020, it was of paramount important to continue to foster connections between young people living with diabetes, and this initiative evolved into Youth Leadership Labs with online meetings and trainings incorporated into the program until an in-person camp was possible. With the ease of restrictions the YLL successfully ran this year with online inductions, training and preparation ahead of the wonderful in-person camp in Poland in July hosted by the Polish Diabetes Assocation.
The YLL aims to strengthen the collaboration between IDF Europe and European youth advocates and to establish a concrete and constructive dialogue with them on diabetes and youth issues. Combining sports activities and interactive workshops, the Youth Leadership Lab is an opportunity for Young Advocates to learn about different advocacy, policy and communications techniques, but also to find out about the differences in diabetes care and daily-life realities across Europe, share their strategies on how to cope with diabetes and learn from their day-to-day triumphs and challenges.
To date, we have successfully collaborated with the Slovenian Diabetes Association, the Italian National Diabetic Athletes Association (ANIAD), the Croatian Diabetes Association, the Dutch Diabetes Association, the Cyprus Diabetic Association, the Romanian Federation of Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases, the Association of Diabetics of the Czech Republic, Turkish Diabetes Foundation, the Polish Diabetes Association. You can see can get a taste of what’s involved and the impact that previous YLCs and YLLs have had on youth advocates in the past here!
IDF Europe wishes to continue working closely with Member Associations on this project in 2023 and build on the momentum created in past editions. The YLL will take place the week of 9th – 15th July 2023 (arrival on the Sunday).
If your member association wishes to apply to host the next YLL, please follow the link below to the form.
The deadline to apply is Friday February 3, 2023.
