Project “impACT,” financed by the USAID Civic Engagement Project, was a Democracy Lab initiated program, implemented from June 5, 2017 to December 15, 2017, designed to provide an e-platform with video tutorials, tools and resources for youth and grassroots organizations, enabling them to transform their ideas into actions addressing community needs. As of December 2017, the e-toolkit reports over 5,000 unique visitors and over 18,000 visits. Please visit our e-toolkit at www.impact.mk to view our online courses, project idea bank, and volunteer opportunity map. Through this e-toolkit, young people throughout Macedonian have the structure and support they need to make an impACT in their communities, all in their local languages.

As part of the project, Democracy Lab partnered with four local youth NGOs to bring the e-toolkit resources to life through a series of public meetings in Tetovo, Gostivar, Kicevo and Kavadarci. Through this local impact series, Democracy Lab and our partners hosted 16 public meetings, engaging 367 young people across the four communities. As a result of these meetings, Democracy Lab received 24 small community action project proposals, resulting in the implementation of 20 small community actions led by the youth participants that engaged a total of 1,309 individuals. This project empowered young people to find their cause, take action, and understand and adapt the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to the local context.