A bootcamp for civil influencers: How can young Europeans influence the future of their continent? One thing is for sure: They need to make their voice heard – by becoming an active part in civil society.
During five convention days of Y Vote Düsseldorf, you will be offered the possibility to improve the necessary skills to be an active voice within the civil society and towards policy makers: How to develop political ideas, and how to address them? How to promote active citizenship on a local level? Learn about these questions in interactive workshops, discuss your opinion with participants from all over Europe and address your ideas to the people being capable to change them: EU commissioner Tibor Navracsics, MEP Sabine Verheyen and other political leaders will be part of our convention programme.
Y Vote aims to empower young people to make informed choices at the European Parliament elections while developing the needed knowledge about topics that are relevant for young Europeans. To reach this goal, seven conventions, corresponding to the topics of the EU Youth Agenda, are organised. As a participant, you will learn about the functioning of the EU, Participation in Civil Society in the EU and discuss how to become active in society.
The result of this events is a set of political recommendations on the topic, which will be combined with all other Convention results and then be presented to stakeholders: Our Agenda for Europe.
Date: 6th – 10th of February 2019 (arrival day: 5th of Feb)
Place: Düsseldorf, Germany
Travelcosts, accommodation and meals are covered*
Participating countries: 40 participants from Germany, Hungary, UK, Netherlands, Spain, Serbia, Slovenia, Finland, Poland & Belarus.
Organisers: AEGEE-Düsseldorf & Y Vote
Facebook: https://www.fb.com/events/955068934700572/
Included
Learning points:
Outcomes:
The participants selection will be done with all organising entities, and the results be shared within 7 days after the application deadline. We encourage all young people, AEGEE members and not, to apply for this event.
This project is made possible with the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.
*Travel costs reimbursed according to the official Erasmus+ Distance calculator for all people from the participating countries.
Tibor Navracsics is the current European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport. Having graduated in law and politics, Tibor Navracsics already served as member of the Hungarian parliament and Hungarian minister of foreign affairs and trade. Since 2014, he accounts for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport in the European commission. Part of his political responsibilities is among others to create opportunities for young people to fully participate in civic and democratic life, for example through the European Solidarity Corps, a flagship initiative launched by the Juncker Commission, and DiscoverEU, a new travel scheme enabling young people to experience their European identity.
“I am happy to support the “Y Vote” campaign because I think it is important to exercise one’s democratic right to vote. For me, voting also means taking responsibility as a citizen. And bearing in mind that the right to vote is not a matter of course in many countries, we should once again become aware of this privilege and make use of it. I would like to encourage young people in particular to take part in the European elections in May 2019 and use their vote to play a part in shaping Europe’s future.” – Sabine Verheyen
“I find it important to support Y Vote, because without the support, creativity and enthusiasm of young people, we can’t develop Europe in a way I would like.” – Arndt Kohn
Philipp is a 28 year old computer scientist from Germany. Since he discovered AEGEE in 2013, he has been an active volunteer ever since. Now the project manager of the Y Vote project, his interests include photography, traveling, design and web development. One of his first events was a Y Vote Convention on Education and Mobility in 2014, which got him interested in European Politics and which inspired him to work on Y Vote nearly 5 years later.
Leonardo is a, half-Italian half-British, 19 year old student of Political Sciences and American Studies at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. Europe and the European Union were a part of his whole life, whether it was in his school or his parents’ work. His passion for politics and Europe lead to his joining both AEGEE-Frankfurt and the organising team of Pulse of Europe in March 2017. Even though he left the latter in November 2017, he continues to do all he can within AEGEE. Aside of his work for Y Vote, he currently holds the position of president of AEGEE-Frankfurt, moderator of the Public Relations Committee’s Design team, Moderator and PR responsible for the Politics Interest Group of AEGEE-Europe
Elitsa is a 25 years old political scientist from Bulgaria that loves to talk a lot and sometimes is about serious topics like the European Union, Structured Dialogue and elections. Right now she is finishing her Master’s degree in European integration and diplomacy in the EU with the topic of youth policy-making in the EU and the Structured dialogue process. Her first ever AEGEE event was a Y vote debate on the topic of compulsory voting in Sofia in 2014. One year later she became a member of AEGEE-Sofia motivated by a charming Italian Summer University and 3 years later she is the president of her local, part of the current Y vote project team and having no free time and other interests in her life.