State of Art Research | Gender Equality, Digital Communication and Storytelling among Youth

HERStory, Our Future (2025-1-ES02-KA220-YOU-000360770) is a two-year Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership in Youth, running from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2027, with a total budget of €250,000. The project empowers young people aged 18–30 as advocates for gender equality through digital storytelling, online activism, and structured capacity-building. The project operates across four European countries - Spain, Portugal, Serbia, and Italy - and responds to a shared need: despite high levels of digital access and social awareness among young people, there is a significant gap between concern and structured, sustained action for gender equality. This document presents the European-wide diagnosis report produced under Task 2.2 (State of the Art Research) of Work Package 2 (Foundations for Action). It consolidates the findings gathered by all five consortium partners across four national contexts through three complementary data collection methods: Desk research: 27 reports, policy papers, and academic studies reviewed (5–6 per partner). Quantitative surveys: 105 survey responses collected from young people aged 18–30 (42 in Spain, 22 in Portugal, 21 in Serbia, 20 in Italy). Expert interviews: qualitative interviews conducted with key stakeholders and professionals in each country. The report is structured around three thematic axes: gender equality activism, digital communication, and storytelling techniques, and presents findings at both national and European levels. Its purpose is to establish an evidence base that informs all subsequent project activities, in particular the competence framework (T2.4) and the training programme (WP4).