SMILE Incubator – Social Media Leadership Incubator for Danube Region

Centar za promociju civilnog društva from 1 April 2025, as a member of the consortium, implements the project  SMILE Incubator – Social Media Leadership Incubator for the Danube Region for 30 months.  

The project is managed by the lead partner, the School of Advanced Social Studies in Novi Gorici, Slovenia, and implemented by a diverse but balanced consortium of 19 partners from all 14 countries of the Danube Region. 
The project is 80% financed through the European Danube Region Interreg program in the amount of 1,568,000.00 EUR, and 392,000.00 EUR will be financed through the partners’ funds. 

The Danube Region (DR) is home to many vibrant yet remote rural communities. However, these areas are increasingly facing challenges such as high emigration rates, brain drain, an ageing population, and a growing digital divide. In response to these pressing issues, the SMILE Incubator Project – Social Media Leadership Incubator for rural youth – emerges as a bold and innovative initiative designed to reverse these trends by empowering the next generation of rural leaders.  

The project’s core mission is to equip young people living in rural areas with the skills, confidence, and tools they need to thrive within their communities. Through this, SMILE aims to ignite sustainable development, nurture resilience, and foster vibrant, participatory democracies across the Danube Region. At the heart of the SMILE Incubator is the development of a transnational incubator for social media leadership. This platform will cultivate leadership qualities, digital competencies, and civic engagement among rural youth. This incubator will serve as a dynamic hub, offering young people both the voice and the means to shape the future of their communities.  Although youth from underdeveloped rural areas remain the primary focus, the project actively seeks to engage a broader ecosystem — including academics, SMEs, NGOs, and media organizations — in order to create a lasting, multi-sectoral impact. 

The main objective of the project is to develop a transnational Social Media Leadership Incubator for rural youth, which will serve as a mechanism to strengthen leadership skills and empowerment, contributing to the development of sustainable democracies in the DR. The main target group is youth from underdeveloped rural communities, but activities will also aim at academics, SMEs, NGOs, and media outlets. Building leadership capacity and social media skills will encourage youth participation in active citizenship and ultimately the future leadership of rural communities in the DR. 

SO1 focuses on assessing the state of youth participation and leadership in the DR, developing policy guidelines to strengthen social media and rural youth leadership through workshops, producing a comprehensive position paper on social media, leadership, and rural youth participation in the DR, and providing a roadmap for policymakers and stakeholders. 
 
SO2 aims to build a cooperation network between different actors in the field of youth leadership, involving relevant stakeholders and developing a comprehensive strategy document. An operational toolkit will equip facilitators and participants with practical resources for the effective delivery of training programs. 

Under SO3, the project will focus on developing social media leadership capacity-building tools for rural youth. 

Let’s collaborate! 

If you or your organization would like to contribute, participate, or explore partnership opportunities with the SMILE Incubator Project, please contact us [email protected]. 

Together, we can ensure that rural youth are not only included but also empowered to lead.