The Next Generation Academy is a non-partisan political leadership incubator which aims to sustain the renewal of political candidates across all political parties and boost the quality of Portuguese democracy.
EMPOWERING YOUNG ADULTS
The next generation are growing up in world of polarised debate, growing right wing and anti-democratic movements, chaotic social media and fake news, together with high abstention rates in Portuguese elections, low participation in structured activism and old political operators. The Next Generation Academy is a non-profit founded by young tech entrepreneurs, scientists, university professors, fundraisers, and product managers looking to provide the context, toolkit, and community for diverse high-potential young adults to become empowered citizen-activists and/or politicians.
BEST-PRACTICE TEACHING TECHNIQUES
The programme is based on the best practices of startup and tech company acceleration programmes, and is aimed at young adults between ages 16 and 30 who want to positively impact their communities. The high intensity, immersive programme (hybrid in format) trains critical skills required to become a politician, while exposing them to frontier progressive thoughts. Building on the best practices of learning theories and pedagogy, including project based learning and peer reviews, the Academy develops proprietary templates, frameworks, and tools.
INFLUENCING FUTURE POLICIES
Over 200 young adults have already enrolled, and the aim is to reach 1,000 young adults over the next four years (before the next national elections). Former participants have created an NGO, researched and successfully lobbied for diabetes treatment legislation (which passed), researched and lobbied (in progress) for food waste mitigation policies, are applying to run for European elections, and have also published dozens of opinion pieces in the national press.
