🇪🇺 Youth AI Lab Officially Kicks Off in La Rochelle!
On January 28-29, 2026, all five partners of the Youth AI Lab project gathered in La Rochelle, France, for the first Transnational Project Meeting. Hosted by the Social and Cultural Centre Vent des Iles, this two-day event marked the official start of our European adventure.
Representatives from L.A.B (France), Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain), Perlatecnica (Italy), Digitale Wolven (Belgium) and Social and Cultural Centre Vent des Iles (France) came together with one shared ambition: opening the black box of AI for young people across Europe.
What happened during these two days?
The meeting was an intense mix of strategic planning and creative brainstorming. Partners shared their local implementation plans – and the diversity is one of the project's greatest strengths. From after-school clubs in Naples to intensive summer workshops in France, from classroom integration in Barcelona to Tuesday evening sessions in Belgium, each partner is designing a unique pathway adapted to their local youth. Each lab will welcome young people aged 12 to 18, guided by mentors aged 18 to 25 – PhD students, engineering students, and young professionals from the AI field. Together, they will explore how generative AI works, build small language models, and apply them to civic and social projects.
Evaluation and quality at the heart of the project
The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona introduced the project's assessment strategy: pre- and post-questionnaires for both participants and mentors, measuring specific AI skills, transversal competencies, motivation, and satisfaction. The consortium also adopted the "Maker Skill Tree" methodology to track learning pathways – a tangible way to map the progression from exploration to creation. Reporting milestones were set at months 9, 15, 21, and 30, with individual trajectory comparisons and video interviews to document success stories throughout the project.
First activities already underway!
France is the first to launch on-fields activities with two workshops completed. Italy, Spain, and Belgium are finalising their recruitment and will start in the coming months. The first ideas for workshop activities were shared and co-designed collectively – from building chatbots to exploring AI ethics, the range of explorations promises to be rich and diverse.
Team building, Rochelais-style
Beyond the work sessions, the partners took the opportunity to discover La Rochelle through a Tèrra Aventura geocaching trail – a treasure hunt combining riddles and local heritage. A great way to build team spirit while exploring the host city's maritime history and hidden corners.
What's next?
The consortium will meet again in Barcelona on June 18-19, 2026, to share progress, compare results, and keep building this European network of youth AI labs together.
Stay tuned – the journey has only just begun! 🚀
Youth AI Lab – Young Research League Around AI is co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ programme. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
