Heads of Track (HOTs)
Deliver your own sessions and support Track Leaders to design and deliver theirs
The Heads of Tracks (HOTs) coordinate teams of facilitators (YES Track Leaders), who are in charge of leading educational sessions for the participants. As a HOT, you will lead a team of 2-6 Track Leaders to design and implement educational activities for your chosen Track.
Within your Track, you will propose a vision for the activities and define the learning outcomes. You will ensure that the YES theme is present in all sessions, and that they are well-structured and interactive. You will work closely with the Education Activities’ Coordinator, who will help you select your Track Leaders.
Tracks divide the YES participants into sub-groups. This year, we aim to have 4-5 tracks, but we have not predefined any of them.
In addition to the general volunteer requirements at the YES, you should
Be fluent in English.
Have an active interest in youth participation models and forms of youth civic engagement.
Have experience in designing and leading educational activities.
Have experience in training, facilitating, or coaching.
Understand the YES event and its aim in the YFU world.
Be organized and able to coordinate a small team.
Have time to work with the team during the 8-9 months leading up to the YES.
Be able to attend the 4-day in-person EDU prep meeting (around December 2025-January 2026, dates TBD)
Commit to implement follow-up activities at the local level after the YES 2026 (July - October 2026)
About your role
Recruit and select (together with the EDU activities coordinators) the track leaders who will design and deliver sessions at the YES, under your coordination.
Support and mentor the track leaders who will deliver sessions at the YES under your track.
Develop the detailed educational content for your track together with your track leaders.
Work with the YES Database.
Deliver your own session at the YES.
Collaborate with other team members, responsible for content at the YES 2026, to ensure a comprehensive approach across the different educational components of the event.
Support the development, if needed, of the training course “Empower to Participate” co-funded by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe and implement its follow up activities. Details on the training course can be found below.
During the YES, organize meetings and/or small training sessions with your track leaders, if deemed necessary.
During the YES, attend team meetings.
We want to emphasize innovation and interactivity of the educational content at the YES. The goal is to move away from Tracks loaded with theory or facilitator’s input, and to offer a new exciting way to look at the YES theme.
The Tracks will have one session per day, aiming to make connections with other sessions that participants have attended previously.
Your Tasks
The Heads of Track of the YES 2026 will be participants - together with the Track Leaders - of the parallel training course “Empower to Participate” co-funded by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe and specifically designed for the EDU team.
The training course aims to empower young people to overcome structural barriers in youth participation in democratic processes and become active and engaged citizens. The EDU team will be engaged in a learning process about tackling discrimination, promoting civic and democratic behaviour in young people and raising awareness on the importance of youth participation in society. The ultimate goal is to prepare new generations of young active citizens to live, prosper, and make their voices heard even in difficult times for our democracies. The EDU team, led by the Head of Content and the Educational Activities Coordinators, will have the opportunity to:
increase and strengthen the knowledge of young people - i.e. YES 2026 participants - on how to meaningfully engage in the democratic life of their communities by promoting civic and democratic behaviour and raising awareness on youth participation models.
share methods and tools for creating a tangible change in society, and to act as multipliers, while at the same time improving their own skills.
The topics addressed in this training course will be aligned with, and will help define and shape, the theme of YES 2026, which will be further refined during the first preparatory meeting taking place between October and November 2025.
The training course will be divided into three phases:
an e-learning course (January - May 2026) led by the Head of Content and the Educational Activities Coordinators, with the support of the Project Coordinator and the GO intern. Heads of Track might be involved in facilitating some parts of the training course.
practical phase at the YES 2026 through the track sessions and the Common Activity
Follow-up activities (July - October 2026): Heads of Track and Track Leaders will organise at least 1 non-formal education workshop, either in person or online, at the local level based on the Training Session Outlines (TSOs) from the YES 2026. These activities can be coordinated with YFU Member Organisations.
Please note that, in accordance with EYF requirements, 75% of the Heads of Track and Track Leaders should be under the age of 30. While we strongly encourage all interested volunteers to apply, the Core Team will need to comply with this requirement when selecting the EDU Team.
