Your Europe, Your Say! 2025

On March 13-14, 2025, I found myself in Brussels standing among 100 young voices from across Europe, gathered for Your Europe, Your Say! (YEYS) 2025 organized by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). 

Our mission was to work together to draft recommendations that could potentially influence the EESC’s advisory work. One such recommendation I contributed to was “Active Citizenship: From Classroom to Community”, which focused on stronger civic education, equipping young people with the tools to engage in democratic values, combat disinformation and contribute to the social and cultural development of Europe. 

Our Executive Committee Member Luka Lešić worked to ensure that this recommendation reflected ESU’s positions, which have emphasized the importance of active citizenship education in fostering democratic engagement. Active citizenship education plays a crucial role in ensuring that young people understand their rights, participate in decision-making and take an active role in shaping their communities. It ended up ranking second among all proposals, which means a good number of people agreed that education is the foundation upon which democracy stands.

But if there’s one thing to take away, it’s that young people care. We have ideas, we have opinions (so many opinions) and given the chance, we’ll put forward solutions that might actually work.