On the 1st and 2nd of June, three YEE representatives took part in the European Youth Event as members of the Youth for Climate Ambition Delegation in order to raise awareness and propose solutions to tackle climate change.

What is the European Youth Event?

Imagine 9000 young people from all around Europe and beyond, gathered for two days in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The aim was to raise new ideas for building tomorrow’s Europe, to be shared in the form of a report to all the Members of European Parliament.

What happened there exactly?

Altogether, the activities were tackling five big topics:

- Young and old: keeping up with the digital revolution
- Rich and poor: calling for a fair share
- Apart and together: working for a stronger Europe
- Safe and dangerous: staying alive in turbulent times
- Local and global: protecting our planet.

The program was very wide: debates, panels, workshops, battles of ideas, artistic performances… Outside the European parliament there was the “Yo! Fest” organised by the European Youth Forum, also offering various activities: workshops and debates, but also some concerts and spaces for getting together in a relaxed atmosphere.

As part of the “Yo! Fest” village, the European Youth Foundation organised an exhibition in their stand, presenting 16 projects they supported. One YEE project was selected for this exhibition, and we thank again EYF for their support!

What is the Youth for Climate Ambition Delegation?

The delegation, composed of 20 motivated young people from all around Europe, focused mostly on the topic “Local and global: protecting our planet”. Our aim was to advocate for most ambitious targets in order to tackle climate change.

We actively took part in discussions and some of us met several MEPs to discuss with them some ideas for a greener future. We are also present on social media, and created a website in order to raise our voice and share our ideas.

What’s next?

The EYE team collected tons of ideas that were raised during these two days. The 100 most concrete ones will be compiled in a report that will be sent to all MEPs, and presented to parliamentary committees next October.

The work of our delegation is not over! We look forward to taking part in the COY14 in December, to discuss youth involvement in climate action right before COP24. In the meantime, take a look at our delegation’s blog, and hear about what youth voices have to say about climate change.