Our history and vision

Our history

In 2020, the Danish Youth Council (DUF) and the Danish Cultural Institute (DCI) formed a consortium for the establishment of a Ukrainian-Danish Youth House. Both DUF and DCI already had several projects in Ukraine, so after joining forces and receiving a grant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the work began on establishing a youth platform in Kyiv that can strengthen the voice and participation of youth through partnerships, creativity, and civil engagement.

In 2021, a local secretariat was established in Kyiv, and activities were kicked off on our virtual platforms.

In February 2023, despite the ongoing full-scale war, we opened the physical Youth House in Kyiv that has become a safe place where youth experesses themselves in various formats.

Since the beginning of 2024, we have been developing an office in Mykolaiv that has already conducted Grant Compass for south regions, Ambassadors Program, and joined numerous conferences. While the local physical Youth House is under repair, the youth has been still conducting events there.

Our vision

The Ukrainian-Danish Youth House is a platform to strengthen youth participation through dialogue, capacity building, and partnerships.

The Youth House is a base for co-creative, democratic activism and youth-to-youth cooperation, and for strengthening the relationships between youth from Ukraine and Denmark by exchanging ideas, culture, and knowledge. We will create a safe space, located physically in Kyiv as well as in our online networks, which are used and cherished by a broad variety of youth organizations, groups, and individuals.

We want to be the place you go to if you want to participate in activities, workshops, and courses, and where you can come and ask for support for your art projects, your activism, your organizational development, or where you come and feel as a part of something bigger.

The users of the Youth House will reflect the diversity of young people in Ukraine and Denmark - with respect and tolerance towards differences. Our aim is to be a place that is relatable, open, and available for all young people - no matter their political or cultural background.