Youth Word: South Tyrol's youth word of the year 2026

Youth Word: catching language in real time

Youth Word captures words in real time to find out how young people in South Tyrol speak.

Language changes constantly, and youth language changes faster than the rest.

Youth Word makes visible which words 14 to 20 year olds in South Tyrol actually use today: a snapshot of youth culture, taken while the words are still in circulation.

The project comes from Youth Info, the team behind the bilingual Youth App, in collaboration with Eurac Research and the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (unibz), together with partners from youth work across the province and backed by the Amt für Jugendarbeit of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-South Tyrol. 

The mechanism is simple.

Until 20 September, young people submit the words they hear and use.

A jury filters out the top five.

From 1 to 12 October, 14 to 20 year olds across South Tyrol vote for their favourite.

On 14 October, the word that wins the vote becomes the Südtiroler Jugendwort des Jahres 2026.

→ strategy, Comms, Design, Illustrations & Campaigning, by zukunvt

If you're between 14 and 20, add your word at youth-info.it/youthword.