The YOUTH ADDENDUM TO THE PORTO SANTO CHARTER (2023-2027) is a LiDA collaboration with the National Plan of the Arts. The Charter guides EU programs, governmental strategies, and citizen engagement in cultural affairs, emphasising culture, arts, and education’s pivotal role in fostering democracy and cultural rights, and this Addendum will focus on the voices of young people to share their perspectives and views on future cultural citizenship and artistic education.

This work follows the “Youth – Action – Culture: Towards Cultural Democracy” International Conference (https://portosantocharter.eu/) organised in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair in Arts and Cultural Management IPLeiria, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and the European Network of Observatories in Arts and Culture Education, and the “Learning from the Young: Cultural and Artistic Education Towards Cultural Democracy” (https://learningfromtheyoung.pna.gov.pt/), a side event for the UNESCO Cultural and Arts Education World Conference. Both presented “Tell those in Charge”, a new consulting method that gathers social sciences, popular education and global citizenship that is now being applied in workshops across Europe: Portugal, Austria, Scotland, Spain, Estonia, Netherlands, Latvia, Sweden, and Belgium.

A residency program is being designed to draft the Addendum based on the reports of young people’s input, and a public discussion for feedback will follow. A final version will be unveiled at a European conference in Caldas da Rainha and presented to political leaders, the European Commission, and UNESCO by the first trimester of 2025. From April 2025 to the end of 2027, efforts will focus on disseminating the Addendum, its recommendations, and the ongoing collaborative process worldwide.