The seminar “Democratic governance & leadership for the development of civil society” will bring together youth leaders from the EFIL/AFS network in order to exchange experience and discuss the democratic mechanisms in the participating organisations, as well as in their countries in the wider sense. The important focus of the seminar will be on the role of youth leaders in civil society organisations.The event will take place in Croatia, and will involve 21 participants, 4 trainers and 1 support staff from 17 European countries. EFIL, as the applicant organisation, will co-ordinate the communication between the project partners. The hosting role will be played by its Member Organisation, AFS Croatia. All the promoters will co-shape the event, recruit and prepare participants and conduct dissemination and follow-up activities.During the 4-day programme participants will share different realities from their countries and organisations, reflect on democracy and its intercultural aspects, learn about national/European policies influencing the work of youth orgs and finally focus on the role and skills of leaders to ensure the participatory decision making.The project content will touch upon issues of youth participation, with its contribution to building democracy and local, national & European civil society. The location in a SEE country will be an opportunity to study the reality of a younger democracy development, faced with the European context around it.Through interactive participatory methods and peer learning, the competence existing among participants and their organisations will be explored.As key leaders, participants will have a big impact on the results multiplication in their countries. Hence, the project outcomes will affect a large number of young volunteers involved in exchange organisations, enhancing their democratic participation also in the wider scene of national and European civil society.