Youth exchange and youth participation in the upcoming Trio EU Council presidency
Protests against climate change and attacks on the freedom of expression in the age of digitisation, or the promotion of the EU project countering rising populism and nationalism – young EU citizens increasingly set the agenda with political demands that are relevant to the broad spectrum of society.
At the occasion of the Trio EU Council presidency of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia, the project #EngagEUrCouncil provides young people from those countries the possibility to jointly develop European political demands based on information and debate and to present them to political decision makers and the public.
Due to the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic the process of developing the ideas for the future of the European Union is implemented in a virtual think tank. The young participants take part in interactive digital workshops and discuss on an online platform to develop demands for the German, Portuguese and Slovenian EU Council presidencies together.
Methodological Components
#EngagEUrCouncil is based on a holistic proven and tested youth participation concept. The methodological components establish a 6‑month cycle of youth empowerment and agenda-setting. This cycle is implemented for the German, the Portuguese, and the Slovenian presidency respectively.
#YoungCitizens’FutureLabs that aim at sharing knowledge on the European Union and at identifying first demands. The #YoungCitizens’FutureLabs take place in a virtual think tank.
#YoungExpertsLabs that aim at deepening the content of the demands developed. The #YoungExpertsLab take place in a virtual think tank.
#YoungIdeasPanel at TEPSA Pre-Presidency Conferences aimed at presenting the developed youth demands to political decision-makers.
#EngagEUrCouncil builds on the European youth participation project #EngagEU, that was implemented leading up to the European Parliament elections in 2019.