After the last EYE edition in 2021, where we could only see each other's eyes (ahah), we are now back at enjoying fully the biggest youth event in Europe, aka the European Youth Event.
On the 9th and 10th of June 2023, 10.000 young people met in Strasbourg to exchange their ideas, interact and inspire - hopefully- policy-makers.
And among those 10.000 people, 20 were OBESSU school student activists. Our delegation spent two days getting to know each other and all the youth organisations out there, attending workshops and learning more about the EU institutions. For most of us it was the first time attending such an event, and despite a heat wave and long queues, surely not the last.
OBESSU organised two workshops on youth political participation and vote@16 - “Cast your vote! Exploring young voter turnout”. The level of engagement during these workshops and the quality of the discussions shows the passion and willingness of young people to have a say in the political life of our democracies, especially in sight of the European Parliament elections 2024.
This was also the chance to present the outcomes of our report “Why vote?” carried out through the project COYV in collaboration with the Young European Federalist. The report investigates the attitudes, challenges and views of youth on the vote for the European Parliament elections 2024. Discussions around young voters' turnover were carried out in all the spaces available: within the European Parliament, in the EYE village, during the workshop in collaboration with JEF and the Chicago Vote, during informal conversations with other activists.
The message is clear: OBESSU and the student constituency are ready for the months to come. We have clear demands and big hopes for the future of Europe and the EYE was the perfect space to enhance the discussions and future collaborations.
We are looking forward to bringing the results of these two days outside of Strasbourg!