The 4EU+ Alliance has officially inaugurated a campaign aimed at increasing the participation of young voters in the upcoming elections to the European Parliament. The ambitious initiative kick-started with a two-day meeting held at Charles University in Prague on 18 and 19 January 2024.
The meeting brought together an enthusiastic group of students, academics, and staff members, all committed to making a difference in Europe's future. They actively engaged in discussions about the unique challenges and opportunities within their local contexts and key electoral topics. By consulting a wide array of data on voter engagement trends, the team identified key issues that resonate with young people and brainstormed effective strategies to address these concerns. The group agreed on 'HeyEU!' as the campaign's title, capturing the mission to connect with Europe's youth and address their concerns through targeted actions.
A valuable aspect of the initiative is the collaboration with the 'You&EU' team, affiliated with the Europaeum Scholars Programme, which effectively executed a social media campaign to mobilize young voters in the 2019 European Parliamentary elections. Their representative, Anna Lukešová, participated in the meeting and provided an insightful presentation summarizing lessons learnt and main results of the campaign. The 4EU+ Alliance warmly extends its gratitude for the support from the 'You&EU' team, including the financial contribution to the meeting, made possible by the prize awarded by the Financial Times.
The collaborative spirit and student-driven approach were vibrantly present throughout the meeting, underlining the initiative's core ethos of empowering young people to take part in the democratic processes that shape their future. One of the next steps is to increase involvement in the campaign at the local level across the 4EU+ universities and harness the collective energy of the diverse 4EU+ community. The Alliance is optimistic that these collective efforts will lead to positive change, enhancing youth involvement in the European Parliamentary elections.
Everyone interested in participating in the campaign can either contact the HeyEU! team centrally at [e-mail] or reach out to specific contact persons at the involved universities for more localized information and involvement opportunities:
Charles University: [e-mail]
Sorbonne University: 4euplus-su@sorbonne-universite.fr
University of Milan: [e-mail]
University of Warsaw: [e-mail]