About

Since July 2025, the Florence School of Transnational Governance (STG) has become a partner of the Africa–Europe Youth Academy (AEYA). The AEYA is funded through the EU Global Gateway strategy and implemented by Expertise France (EF) and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). The four-year project aims to support African youth in developing leadership skills and implementing sustainable solutions while building bridges between Africa and Europe. The STG collaborates with two Italian universities, Pavia and Torino, supporting the Academy by providing capacity-building and soft-skills training and mentoring to over 1,200 young people across 20 African countries.

Objectives

The goal of AEYA is to empower young Africans (ages 18-30) to implement sustainable initiatives and to foster connections between Africa and Europe. The objectives include increasing opportunities for young people to become leaders and advocates for socio-economic development across the environmental, economic, cultural, and political spheres. Additionally, AEYA aims to enhance the quality and accessibility of youth leadership activities in Africa and facilitate connections with Europe.

Activities

The STG participates in 'Working Package 3—Connect Potential’, which is focused on organising horizontal activities. The STG is specifically responsible for two components: the Virtual Mentoring Program (VMP) and Local Connecting Events (LCEs), to be delivered across different countries until 2029. Through these activities, the STG will leverage its expertise in transnational networks, peer learning, and policy dialogue to strengthen connections among young leaders, facilitate knowledge exchange, and support the development of sustainable Africa–Europe partnerships.

Virtual Mentoring Program (VMP): comprises online modules focused on themes from the Africa-EU Agenda. The goal of the VMP is to promote deeper interactions among African youth, fostering a sense of connection, ownership, and empowerment. The virtual mentoring programme encourages exploration of new ideas on important topics such as governance, growth, and sustainability, as well as challenges such as peace, climate change, inequality, and resource management. As a programme centred on the mentee’s needs, it includes interactive discussions to understand the mentee's goals, challenges, strengths, and areas for development on their own terms. It helps Mentors guide Mentees in developing practical ideas and recommendations for educational initiatives, social entrepreneurship, policymaking, and community projects. This programme aims to have mentors share their experiences, lessons learnt, networks, and leadership skills with young Africans across the continent. The pool of Mentors will come from YALP Alumni and other EUI Alumni from the continent, given their profiles and expertise in Africa-Europe engagement and partnership, as well as their connections with the EUI and the STG.

Local Connecting Events (LCE): builds on YALP's successful model for regional outreach events. These experiences have demonstrated the value of structured, high-level youth engagement in policy discourse, skills development, and cross-continental partnership. The LCEs will engage approximately 1,200 participants across Sub-Saharan Africa, with themes adapted to the priorities of each host country and young population. In consultation with our partners in the AEYA Consortium, the STG will select countries and local organisations/ collaborators to organise the events with a focus on empowering participants by providing a forum for honest and fruitful discussions and relevant policy initiatives.