YOUNG LEADERS ACADEMY.

Next generation education & consulting.

YLA is a value-driven education and consulting collective by and for the next generation of sustainable urban development.

YLA addresses Young Professionals who work in the field of sustainable urban development and consists of an annual Curated Programme at UF Conferences (next up: UF23 in Stuttgart) and an Online Academy that takes place multiple times through the year.

YLA Consulting places Young Leaders as consultants for multi-stakeholder workshops & projects, local interventions & implementations, urban innovation & strategy development, prototyping & research.

WHAT WE DO.

It’s about change, not career.

Our philosophy

YLA focuses on the powerful, contagious and vibrant next generation of young leaders that truly cares about the future of our planet, cities and people. We provide a place where this generation can connect with like-minded people, unfold talent in a protected space, get new insights, grow both on a professional and personal level, mutually educate and create true impact.

Education begins where knowledge ends; where unanswerable questions arise which reveal the complexity of the world we live in.

At YLA we are keen to enter those places that question, transform and enhance our perspectives, beliefs, thinking habits, techniques and skills to unfold our talent in order to tackle the major challenges our cities face. Places where we can truly be pioneers.

Creating collateral benefit.

Our mission

Our mission as a collective is to make the sustainable city of the future desirable and attractive for everyone. Therefore we do not only believe in the effectiveness of shared narratives that give people ideas of how future urban life could look like. Rather, we attach importance on effective strategy and project work that includes various stakeholders and adds real value to the urban society.

That is why we dedicate ourselves to intersectoral and transdisciplinary social innovation designs that change human behaviour and urban life to more sustainability, health, quality of life, social justice, strong communities, participation and creativity.

In other words YLA is about creating collateral benefit.

Unfolding talent, dedication & connection.

Our educational concept

YLA includes both inner and outer work. Therefore our educational approach is based on the following concepts:

Transformative Knowledge means an emerging knowledge as a consequence of self-awareness and self-observation while learning, enduring uncertainty and contradictions, and thus integrating change and the new.

Post-heroic leadership stands for a more dynamic, agile, participative and network-like understanding of leadership and organisation that enable co-creation, co-development and encourages peering and the intelligence of the collective.

So what?

Curated Program

We believe in workshop designs that really make a difference and have the ambition to challenge you. Cause our curated program is about issues that are bigger than any expertise:

Break it down: Translate best practices into your own work and learn about tools, methods, and strategies for transformation, participation or funding projects.
Future Labs: Get in deep talks about topics that are new to the market but with ground breaking potential for the future.
Facing Reality: Work on existing case studies that challenge local companies, municipalities or NGOs to create real impact.
Community Building: Make friends for a lifetime – our networking formats include Speed Dating sessions, Lunches, Clubbing or our favourite: Aperitivo hours.

It's your turn.

Online Academy

The YL Online Academy includes virtual workshops in which we learn from each other. It is all about the individual expertise you bring to the cohort. You can share (alone or with your peers):

your story on how you set up your business or project and main takeaways
the business case or idea you are working on and would like to get feedback on,
your knowledge on a topic you have been studying to get a deeper understanding through discussing it with your peers,
how you landed your dream job on the field that we are all interested in.

Fresher than you.

Next generation consulting

Let’s face it, there is very much to do in sustainable urban development. Taking responsibility and action for the major societal challenges our cities face YLA provides a pool of young international expertise that brings a fresh perspective and isn’t afraid to ask the relevant questions.

Standing for transdisciplinary know-how involving all actors of the urban transformation we place our courageous Young Leaders as consultants for

multi-stakeholder workshops & projects,
local interventions & implementations,
urban innovation & strategy development,
prototyping & research.

CONNECT.

YLA Team

Our founding team combines expertise in Urban Design, Architecture, Entrepreneurship, Sociology, Political Education, Democracy, Participation, Innovation Management, Place Making, Sustainable Mobility Design and low-resource Real Estate Development and therefore represents the interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach that we strive for with YLA.

Check us out

Former Young Leaders

Check out the international education and working experience of our collective. Young Leaders come from all continents and a variety of professional backgrounds.

Scroll through their profiles and get in touch with them. You are a former participant of the UF Young Leaders Program and would like to be part of YLA? Just drop us a message. We are always glad to hear from you.

YL Gallery

Leading Experts

YLA brings together renowned experts from all over the world to share their practice experience, challenges and key learnings with the younger generation.

At YLA we care about insights and charisma which is why we select our external experts through an interview and briefing process. For us, they not only enrich our workshop designs, but are also mentors for our young leaders.

Apply as Expert