ERUA iDeaThon 2026

The ERUA report identifies barriers to suitable employment, recognition of qualifications, language learning, housing, education, and access to reliable information and essential services. It also highlights discrimination, administrative uncertainty, psychological trauma, and the particular protection needs of refugee children. Integration requires more than helping newcomers navigate procedures: it involves mutual understanding, opportunities to participate, and support that can continue beyond the initial emergency. Your idea could develop a service or product that improves everyday life, creates meaningful opportunities, or strengthens cooperation between newcomers and local residents.

• 1.1Access to suitable employment
• 1.2Communication and access to information
• 1.3Social integration and acceptance
• 1.4Legal and administrative obstacles
• 1.5Housing and financial support
• 1.6Education and inclusion of migrant children
• 1.7Protection of refugee children
• 1.8Mental health and trauma
• 1.9Inclusive receiving communities
• 1.10Migration and demographic change

The ERUA report identifies discrimination, inaccessible education and infrastructure, limited employment prospects, gender inequalities, violence, and barriers to healthcare and reproductive support. It also draws attention to ageing, loneliness, care responsibilities, poverty, housing insecurity, depopulation, and the difficulties facing young people outside education or employment — alongside challenges of democratic participation, institutional trust and the continuity of community initiatives. Your idea could improve an essential service, remove a barrier to participation, support a disadvantaged group, or bring an unused building into community use.

• 3.1Discrimination and exclusion
• 3.2Disability inclusion and accessibility
• 3.3Education and essential skills
• 3.4Youth pathways into employment
• 3.5Workforce and enterprise continuity
• 3.6Ageing, care, and loneliness
• 3.7Healthcare and mental health
• 3.8Gender equality and economic participation
• 3.9Violence and reproductive health
• 3.10Poverty, housing, and essential services
• 3.11Depopulation and regional attractiveness
• 3.12Democratic participation and institutional capacity
• 3.13Sustainable community support
• 3.14Reuse and preservation of buildings

The ERUA report connects climate adaptation with water scarcity, soil erosion, pollution, waste, energy costs, food sovereignty, and changing conditions for agriculture and tourism. It also identifies gaps in environmental monitoring, green and digital skills, public awareness, and access to sustainable solutions, particularly for smaller businesses. Your idea could help a community conserve resources, adopt circular practices, improve environmental decisions, or develop an inclusive nature-based activity — delivering environmental benefits with a financially sustainable social purpose.

• 2.1Climate adaptation and resilience
• 2.2Environmental evidence for decisions
• 2.3Natural-resource protection
• 2.4Pollution, waste, and circularity
• 2.5Accessible sustainable production and consumption
• 2.6Energy transition
• 2.7Skills and a socially just transition
• 2.8Environmental awareness and participation
• 2.9Sustainable places and institutions
• 2.10Food sovereignty
• 2.11Inclusive access to nature and nature-based livelihoods

The ERUA report identifies difficulties communicating in education, employment and public services; insufficient language support; cultural misunderstandings; and limited representation of minority languages and identities. It also highlights unequal opportunities, gaps in knowledge of other societies, and internationalisation support that does not reach smaller enterprises. Your idea could make communication more accessible, support learning across cultures, give underrepresented voices greater visibility, or help people and organisations build international connections — thinking beyond translation alone.

• 4.1Language access and support
• 4.2Intercultural understanding and cohesion
• 4.3Cultural and linguistic representation
• 4.4Education and economic inclusion across cultural backgrounds
• 4.5Global and cross-cultural knowledge
• 4.6Inclusive internationalisation

The ERUA report highlights dependence on public funding, gaps in entrepreneurial and project-management skills, limited access to artistic resources, and difficulties earning income from creative work. In peripheral communities, depopulation, concentrated cultural provision and weak intergenerational continuity further restrict opportunities. Your idea could widen cultural participation, support artists' livelihoods, connect generations, or strengthen cultural activity in an underserved community — generating lasting social value on a sustainable economic foundation.

• 5.1Cultural-sector sustainability
• 5.2Professional and entrepreneurial capacity
• 5.3Culture in peripheral communities
• 5.4Inclusive cultural access and production
• 5.5Resources and diversity in arts education
• 5.6Cultural identity and acceptance
• 5.7Creativity, well-being, and social connection
• 5.8Human rights in socioeconomic transformation