On February 15th and 16th, 2024, a delegation of 25 youth from Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Hungary and Austria will met in Bruxelles to prepare the presentation to Members of the European Parliament and/or EU officers working on Youth issues the Advocacy Manifesto produced as part of the YOULEAD project, funded by European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).
YOULEAD is based on a participatory approach that puts youth at the centre of change. The aim is to enable youth to define a set of priorities concerning issues such as climate change, education and civic participation.
A first step in this direction was taken with a European youth survey to gauge perceptions about the EU values and democratic participation.
To stimulate critical thinking, a debating contest was organized in each country; Within this activity stands Exponi le tue idee! , the Italian debate contest created by WeWorld which aims to make schools and territories protagonists of the national debate on priority issues.
The national finals’ participants from the 5 project partner countries were invited to participate in the online European training meetings with the goals of sharing experience among peers from different countries and increasing their knowledge about policy processes and climate change issues.
121 participants, sharing their views, opinions, and needs, created the advocacy manifesto that will be presented by national delegates to members of the European Parliament.
The European Youth Conference in Bruxelles is scheduled for February 16th from 4.00pm at the European Commission Building. The meeting will be streamed live, facilitating the participation of all students involved during the previous phases.
Furthermore, the experience will be shared in a subsequent online European Multistakeholder meeting to capitalize on the experience of young people with their peers and relevant stakeholders at national level. Young people will be the protagonists of the event and will tell stakeholders about their experience, their points of view and their proposals. The event will be the final stage of the YouLead project started in 2022.
