Kick-off meeting in Brussels

The core objective of the EYA – European Youth in Action: Policymakers for Climate Justice project is to empower European youth to voice their perspectives to decision-makers on pressing climate justice issues, focusing on three key themes: energy transition, greenwashing, and biodiversity.

The project organizers, representatives from the partner organizations, and youth leaders from EYA finally gathered in person for the kick-off meeting in Brussels in January 2025.

This first training, which included team-building activities, lectures, and workshops, helped establish a shared foundation for collaboration in the months ahead. It also provided an opportunity for them to present the project to the European Commission.

Here are some insights from the four youth leaders representing Allianssi Youth Exchanges in Brussels!

Lisa’s Thoughts

The training included a variety of sessions, ranging from role-playing exercises based on real-life scenarios to debates on hot topics. For example, we heard experts present arguments in favor of nuclear energy production, followed by researchers who challenged these views, opposing nuclear energy production.
In other informative sessions, we learned about the structure of European institutions and related practical matters, such as how to plan mobilizations aligned with the European policymaking schedule, ensuring they are effective in addressing politicians at the right time.
Throughout the training, participants were provided with valuable insights. For instance, we discussed the difference between lobbying and advocacy.
During our stay in Brussels, we had the opportunity to visit the European Commission and present our project to Gaëtane Ricard-Nihoul, Senior Expert and Deputy Head of Unit at the European Commission, who is responsible for citizen engagement. She shared the European Commission’s efforts to promote citizen participation in EU policymaking.
I also had the chance to deepen my understanding of organizations I was already familiar with, such as Legambiente, the project’s coordinator, and to discover new associations from other countries, such as the Young Researchers of Serbia.
I was pleased to learn that the organizations involved in the EYA project are working to collaborate with large networks like the Climate Action Network to plan coordinated mobilizations.

Sarella’s Reflections

The intense three-day training provided valuable insights into various topics from experts in the field, which we got to unravel and discuss as youth organizations together. The training allowed us to connect with other youth organizations from across Europe, something that rarely happens during youth advocacy. I expected a wide and fair representation of various organizations working on climate issues within their countries, and this was indeed the case. It was very interesting to compare views and opinions and realize the varying starting points we all come from.
My favorite activity by far was the interactive role-play game. Although the training provided extremely important and novel information for me, the long days and sessions made it difficult to absorb everything. Therefore, this interactive aspect of the session really helped reinforce the material in more detail and practice. I hope to use the idea of this role-play game for other youth, to help them learn about the EU decision-making process and also develop their negotiation skills.

Disa’s Impressions

I learned about decision-making in the EU on a deeper level and which factors affect decisions. I now understand how much lobbying influences EU decision-makers, but I also got some tips on how we, as citizens, can try to make our voices heard. I will use this information to motivate young people to participate in politics at both the local and international levels.
We had interesting discussions about renewable energy and nuclear energy and their potential risks. The discussions benefited my critical evaluation skills and broadened my vocabulary around these topics.
It was a great experience connecting with people and organizations from all over Europe who are passionate about environmental issues.

Armas's thoughts 

The training in Brussels was definitely an intense three day dive into the world of European policy making! We got a chance to meet a lot of interesting people, as mentioned above. For me the most fascinating topic was to learn more about how the European parliament, Commission and many other parties function together and how to influence politics on an international level.