About US

Who we are?

Rural Youth Hub (RYH) – is a platform of youth activism focused on supporting young people, especially those in rural areas, to raise their voice to influence in agricultural and rural policy-making, to make these processes oriented and closely linked to concerns, interests and priorities of young people.
The Center includes young people, students, entrepreneurs, farmers, etc., who are enthusiastic and motivated to take an active role and contribute to rural development processes and local decision-making.
The establishment of RYH was encouraged and supported by the Albanian Rural Development Network to enable young people to be involved in the sustainable development of the country, and in particular in the transformation of their rural communities. ANRD believes in the important role of the Albanian youth in the development and progress of our country. Since December 2019, ANRD started to form the platform of the Rural Youth Center (RYH) in order to express the voice of young people in rural Albania by promoting the self-activation of rural youth.

Why RYH?

Public policies in Albania at both central and local levels have been ineffective in addressing issues related to the involvement of young people in agriculture, as well as the ever-increasing trend of their migration. Despite the important role and contribution of young people, their migration is one of the biggest challenges and the main risk of sustainability for the entire sector of agriculture and rural development, as well as food security.
Its time and challenges require policies that reflect the real needs and priorities of rural youth, and that are guided by young people’s aspirations for the rural future. It is therefore important to understand the current situation of rural youth (needs and priorities) as well as their aspirations and dreams (vision for the future) for rural communities. To do this, one must take a fundamentally new approach to rural reality – looking at the rural world from a youth perspective. RYH can contribute a lot in this regard!

The History of RYH

RYH was founded on December 11, 2019 – International Mountain Day, during the traveling workshop organized by ANRD ‘The reality of youth in rural areas between challenges and aspirations for the future’.

This two-day trip marked the beginning of the rural youth movement in Albania towards improving welfare and sustainable development of living in rural areas. The participating youth discussed the reality, needs and challenges of Albanian youth, their aspirations and desires.

They also reflected on how rural policies can respond to their perspective; what youth can do to influence field processes and reforms to improve livelihoods and the future in rural areas. RYH aims to become the voice of rural Albania’s youth generation and promote its self-activism.

What is our activity??

The Rural Youth Hub (RYH) as an active platform in support of rural youth, is based on the exchange of experiences, knowledge and vision sharing for the future of rural communities.

The Rural Youth Hub consists of members who have different activities in agriculture, tourism, civil society, and aims to become a Center which gathers all young rural entrepreneurs, directs, guides and becomes their voice for realization of rural development policies.

RYH and Rural Albanian Youth (RURAL-YOU) Project

The Rural Albanian Youth Project is a project funded by the European Union that aims to strengthen the representation of the interest of rural youth and contribute to the implementation of the agenda of Albania’s EU membership in the sector of agriculture and rural development.

This project aims to involve rural youth motivated to play an active role and contribute to rural development and decision-making processes by increasing youth participation in the social, economic and political life of rural communities. The project enables rural youth to be aware of the opportunities that exist at the sector level, to actively participate in the sustainable growth of their territories and to raise its voice in the public arena.

With such a goal, ‘Rural You’ is the first project to respond to the Albanian Rural Development Network initiative to consolidate the Rural Youth Resource Hub as a pilot experience to engage young people living in remote rural areas in networking operations. The project aims to enable RYH to become an enabling platform for rural youth to take part in rural development processes, network with civil society, professionals from all over Albania, and advocate for their needs.

The Albanian Rural Youth Project is an invitation to see the rural world from the perspective of young people and enables rural youth to be aware of opportunities in the sector, to actively participate in the sustainable growth of their areas and to be active in decision-making processes.

Get involved

The Rural Youth Hub is open to all rural youth, students, entrepreneurs, farmers who are enthusiastic and motivated to play an active role and contribute to rural development processes and decision-making.
Reasons why you should join the Rural Youth Hub?
At the Rural Youth Hub, we invest in our members by offering concrete opportunities for young people through trainings, workshops, study visits so that young people are:
• Part of a dynamic youth organization that supports the development of rural communities;
• Capable of raising and addressing the problems of their community;
• Capable of bringing about improvements in the community where young people belong;
• updated about information, initiatives and projects they can join;
Members of the Rural Youth Hub have the opportunity not only to network with their peers who share the same vision for rural communities, but also to be supported and trained by experienced professionals during this memorable journey.
The future of rural communities is in our hands let us act without hesitation!
REPRESENT YOUR RURAL COMMUNITY EVERYWHERE YOU ARE, JOINING RYH!