The Gothenburg Summit 2026 Report is out!

The programme centred on three hands-on activities. In Neighborhooding Democracy, groups of Fellows explored four  neighbourhoods beyond Gothenburg’s city centre – Ernst Jungens Plats, Kortedala Torg, Kvilletorget, Stigbergstorget – observing how public spaces are used and talking with residents about their everyday lives. They captured their findings in photo essays available on our website “Publications” page, which they then presented to civil servants and urban planners from the City of Gothenburg at a dedicated breakfast meeting.

At the World United pavilion, hosted by Gothia Cup as part of their “Celebrate” sustainability program, Youth Fellows used football as a starting point for conversation. Visitors of all ages signed the ball, wrote their thoughts on jersey-shaped cards and got the chance to reflect on their experiences through a different lens. These simple questions about the game often opened up deeper discussions about friendship, belonging, identity and community.

Through the Open Chair Democracy Talks, Youth Fellows spoke with people from many countries at Kviberg park, one of the main Gothia Cup venues, asking what democracy means to them, whether they feel free to choose their own path, and whether they feel they have power as citizens, using the signature method of the IYTT, implemented in five continents already!

The week also included a breakfast with Stena AB, where Fellows discussed leadership, inner development and the links between business, civil society and democracy. We thank Nancy Nordanstad, Head of Learning Experience at Stena AB Group for creating this great opportunity! Five IYTT Youth Fellows are now also part of the 100 Days Program of Skill Building program, and they talked about this opportunity in a recent post on our website.

The Summit was prepared months in advance with the Fellows themselves. Working groups co-created individual activities, presented their ideas and helped shape the final programme. In their reflections after the Summit, Fellows described a strong sense of ownership. Above all, they spoke of the network it strengthened: a group of young people who, after a week together, left Gothenburg as friends and collaborators, with new ideas and a renewed commitment to the IYTT and its mission. As one Fellow put it, the Summit “transformed what can sometimes feel like an online network into real relationships built on trust and shared experiences.”

Not every invited Fellow could join us. Two Youth Fellows based in South Africa and one based in the USA had their Schengen visa applications refused, and their appeals rejected, despite meeting the requirements for the visa process. Their experience, which they describe in our blog post How Visa Barriers Undermine Global Civil Society, is a stark reminder that the openness and dialogue the Summit set out to celebrate are not yet equally available to all young people.

We could organize the summit thanks to a generous project grant from The Sten A Olsson Foundation. We want to extend my sincerest thanks to the foundation for supporting our endeavour, and to Lindholmen Science Park for administering the grant.

The collaboration with Gothia Cup and the City of Gothenburg Place Developers was very productive and enjoyable. Heartfelt thanks go to the many hundreds of Gothia Cup attendees, and to people in the four Gothenburg neighborhoods, who generously shared their ideas and experiences. Many thanks to ESS Group for supporting the summit by inviting us free of cost to reside in the conference section of Hotel Bellora.

A warm thanks go to all Youth Fellows who worked very long hours with challenging activities, and afterwards generously sharing experiences and views of the summit, thus contributing invaluably to this report. In times of a rising authoritarianism, their energy, passion, and humility lend big hope for a brighter democratic future.

One strength of the IYTT lies in trusting curiosity to embark on exciting paths, while being ready and keen to learn as we go. Another key feature of the IYTT is to cultivate dialogue and cherish optimism. We have followed through this in two Gothenburg World Youth Openness and Democracy Summits, and we look forward to continue to evolve.