Your Future Starts Today
WORK Plan 2024
The average age of an MEP is 50, with national averages fluctuating between 44 and 60. The youngest MEP this term, Kira Peter-Hansen (elected at 21), was a Europe-wide exception. The average age of national government leaders is 53.
The lack of intergenerational representation stops the changes that the younger generations want and contributes to disinterest in political and social processes [source]. The lack of interest or ability to successfully run for office may, among other things, be reflected in a reduced interest in voting [source]. This reduces the popularity of electing young, progressive candidates in favour of the far-right vote, which remains popular mainly among older voters [source]. The far-right vote often brings to the forefront discriminatory policies and undermines democratic processes, as seen in Europe with the examples of Poland or Hungary. This leads to a further deterioration in young people's access to rights, as there is no one there to strengthen mechanisms and address existing problems.
The lack of youth participation is a direct threat to healthy democratic systems [source]!
In 2024, FYEG will continue supporting young people - from community organisers to candidates, from activists to campaign volunteers - to have a say, influence decision-making and increase diversity in participation, with a focus on electoral times everywhere in Europe.
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A 3-day kick-off event in Rome, Italy, will unite young people from FYEG Member Organizations, progressive youth, and former young politicians. The goal is to refine ideas and skills for the launch of the European electoral period.
The event comprises two main components: an open festival, created to celebrate the European Train Tour kick-off and to showcase initiatives, campaigns and narratives of European green youth, and workshops, created to equip young people with tools to mobilise their communities and influence the upcoming European elections. Activities will promote knowledge exchange and strategic planning through non-formal education methods.
The aim of this activity is to empower the community leaders that emerged during the 2023 Work Plan to mobilise more young people to influence the debate around the 2024 European elections.
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS [CLOSED]
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In the second phase, we will engage around young participants through four decentralised activities. Our impact will ripple further, indirectly reaching over a thousand young individuals across Europe through smaller actions. The central element of this initiative consists of four events, marking key stops on the European Train Tour, strategically spread across four different European regions.
Moreover, we are extending support in the form of small grants to our Member Organizations in other regions, enabling them to launch their own stops. This entire tour revolves around a cohesive theme: ‘Getting the youth vote out.’
The aim of this activity is to promote the passive and active political participation of young people in the European elections, consequently increasing their interest in the EU as a whole.
CALL FOR PREP TEAM [CLOSED]
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A 5-day event will unite participants from various European regions, representing FYEG members and other youth organisations. The event's activities will emphasise political and activist participation, the effective exercise of rights such as protesting and accessing public information, and the development of skills in community building and forming partnerships with like-minded organisations.
The aim of this activity is to establish a space for dialogue on the future actions within the green youth movement, taking into account the present (post 2024 EU electoral) context and the aspirations of young people in Europe.
CALL FOR PREP TEAM [WILL OPEN IN APRIL/MAY]
CALL FOT PARTICIPANTS [WILL OPEN IN APRIL/MAY]
Young Green election stories
WORK Plan 2023
According to the 2021 European Year of Youth Survey, 62.9% of respondents did not know or were not sure how to make their voice heard or express their opinion. Nonetheless, young people want to participate. In the 2019 EU elections there was a record turnout driven by young people. That same year, the climate youth united 7.6 million people around the globe in protest against climate inaction. During the Conference on the Future of Europe, over 1,500 ideas were collected from youth.
In 2023, FYEG will give support to young people - from community organisers to candidates, from activists to campaign volunteers - to have a say, influence decision-making and increase diversity in participation, with a focus on electoral times everywhere in Europe.
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The event will consist of 3 days of exciting programme including meet-ups with Green Members of the European Parliament, campaigning training and workshops designed according to the principles of non-formal education, one public event where to meet influencers, artists and decision-makers.
The aim of the event is to connect young campaigners, community organisers, politicians and candidates to a new generation of Green young leaders, and set a solid base for improving youth participation at the national and European level during election times.
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FYEG will bring young people together for this six-day summer camp to elaborate a common narrative for Europe’s progressive youth, to explore the importance of narrative building, storytelling and political communication.
We will get trained on the basics of campaigning and how to frame complex issues through clear messages and impactful stories. Following this narrative-focused approach, they will be guided by two experts to elaborate the foundational document outlining the winning story and messages to influence politics in time of elections as a Young Green activist.
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This 4-month gamification experiment will see young people competing against each other to become FYEG volunteer leaders in 2024. A series of 4 online monthly training sessions will develop the practical skills of participants on media literacy, public speaking and debating, community organising and innovative campaign elements and tools, and digital campaigns. Hosted parallel to the training series, an online customisable digital platform will gamify the learning process.
By the end of the four months, a small group of trainees will be promoted to Young Influencelection Leaders and help young people have a say in elections in 2024 .
Call for Participants (OPEN)
The Future is Green: Youth assembly aftermovie
Each and every person at FYEG events are people fighting to try and make the world a better place, often in circumstances where change can feel impossible.
When you put these people in a room together and let them imagine a better future, magical things happen. At the Youth Assembly, we worked together to create a better tomorrow for ourselves and the generations to come.
The 2024 EU elections are approaching, and we need more young people to step up and stand! We want to see a future where young voices are heard, and we can only make that happen by running as candidates and campaigning for our values.
WORK Plan 2022
The Politics of Mental Health
The WHO constitution states that “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”, but according to a 2017 UN report nowhere in the world does mental health enjoy parity with physical health in budgeting, education or practice.
The poor access to health, decent work, housing, education and a healthy environment of young people was subject of FYEG’s AWPs on social rights in 2019 and on just transition in 2020. The pandemic exacerbated this reality.
Young people also struggle to take part in democratic processes, not only because their participation has moved online but due to limitations on their freedom of association. Meanwhile, in activist spaces the topic of mental health is being centered, with terms such as burnout, compassion fatigue, anxiety, climate grief, and self-care becoming of daily interest among groups that wish to invest in the long-term resiliency of their memberships.
The project plan will unfold in three international activities to understand the causes and consequences of worsening mental health among young people and ensure the youth’s role in building and sharing the solutions needed to address it.
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This seminar was a five-day event that took place in Podgorica (Montenegro) on 20-24 April 2022. Its aim was to identify the systemic causes and advocate for the political solutions needed to prevent and address the intersectional impacts on mental health among youth.
During the seminar we:
understood how broad the topic of mental health is, and collectively decided to focus more on the systemic level rather than on the individual one;
framed mental health in the context of intersectionality;
created our very own narrative on mental health, the one we are sharing with you today;
thought about action points to address the mental health crisis; and finally
worked on communication skills, which were all very useful in the following parts of the project.
Call for Prep Team (CLOSED)
Call for Participants (CLOSED)
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This 6-day summer camp took place in France on 23-28 July 2022 in Rouen (France) and gathered young activists to discuss how mental health problems peculiarly affect people who are oppressed.
During the summer camp we:
learned about our rights as activists, specifically the right of expression, freedom of assembly, and access to information;
learned about how human and social rights are violated, in turn affecting our mental health, and took a closer look at two specific groups: activists, and oppressed people;
came up with solutions on the local, national, and European/international level and designed specific actions for all levels;
shared among each other best practices and resources so that we could disseminate this new knowledge.
Call for Prep Team (CLOSED)
Call for Participants (CLOSED)
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This 3-day LAB organised in Brussels on 11-13 November 2022 closed one year of work on the politics of mental health. We gathered around 80 people, including representatives of NGOs, party political youth organisations and movements, to discover our outputs and solutions, and join forces in lobbying for better mental health.
We created a platform to address decision-makers our vision of mental health, an international network of mental health supporters to work together in the future.
Call for Prep Team (CLOSED)
Call for Participants (CLOSED)
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FYEG ran a one-month campaign on Mental Health in October and November 2022 to showcase how mental health is political and the way services, housing or work function in our societies and affect our mental health.
It kicked off on World Mental Health Day on 10th October 2022 with this video and culminated with the launch of the Mental Health Is Political video featuring Finnish MEP Alviina Alametsä and Swedish MEP Alice Bah Kunke.
The campaign was multilingual, meaning outputs were translated into Azerbaijani, Spanish, Greek, Catalan, Estonian, Finnish, French and German. Moreover, one of our posts regarding refugees was partially translated to Arabic and Ukrainian.
The campaign was successful and managed to reach around 50.000 people all over Europe!
Check it out!
World Mental Health Day (video)
Bad housing creates bad mental health
Refugee rights include the right to mental health
Work under capitalism is damaging our mental health
Better mental health requires better mental health services
Trans healthcare is mental healthcare (video)
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FYEG Executive Committee together with the support of the Mental Health Working Group, drafted a resolution on inclusive mental healthcare targeted at marginalised communities. The resolution called Mental health is political: Addressing Europe’s mental health crisis holistically was submitted to the European Green Congress 2022 in Copenhagen. The resolution was voted unanimously by the Congress.
You can find the adopted resolution here.
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At the end of the project, we invited organisations to sign our joint statement to demand that, to do justice to this mental health crisis, the EU and national governments:
Recognise that marginalised peoples are most at risk and most prejudiced from oppressive systems.
Factor in mental health when any resolution, report, or motion is drafted or debated.
Continue spreading awareness about mental health and illness and work to reduce stigma, particularly for and among underrepresented groups.
Read our joint statement here !
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With the help of The Burning Case podcast we produced the podcast episode Mental Health is political: How oppressive systems hurt our minds. In this episode, a member of our Executive Committee and the host of the podcast discuss together the intersectionality of mental health, how covid influenced our mental health, how our society sees mental health, and much more!
Go grab your headphones and listen to our episode here!
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The final product, fruit from this one ye-long work plan, is our Mental Health Toolkit.
Developed by our Mental Health Work Group, this toolkit combines what we learned across the different phases, explains how society is affecting our mental health, how the policies oppress our mental health (and how to change that!) and other useful informations! To wrap it up: it's the perfect first step to start understanding the politics of mental health!
You can read our Mental Health Toolkit here!
Work Plan 2021
As a result of COVID-19, the world is going through an unexpected social and economic crisis with long-term consequences for young people. In 2021, as we reimagine our societies after the COVID-19 crisis, we need young people to show decision-makers what better inclusion and participation look like.
The project plan involves a wide range of actions, both in digital form and IRL intending to pursue more inclusive and democratic interactions, processes and structures among youth-led groups and organisations. It will allow young activists from Young Greens and other progressive movements to learn about the different online and offline tools to advocate for better youth participation in civil society.
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After one year of virtual organising, FYEG Member Organizations aims to support one another through the exchange of best practices and tools for building resilience and invest in participation in difficult times!
This series of webinars will be led by people from Member Organizations, not in the traditional top-down approach, which means it will be rather facilitated than created by FYEG. It aims to build the skills of MOs and increase international networking between them.
These workshops are rather facilitated than created by FYEG. Differently from the traditional top-down approach, the trainers will all be members of our Member Organisations.
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After one year of virtual organising, FYEG Member Organizations aims to support one another through the exchange of best practices and tools for building resilience and invest in participation in difficult times!
This series of webinars will be led by people from Member Organizations, not in the traditional top-down approach, which means it will be rather facilitated than created by FYEG. It aims to build the skills of MOs and increase international networking between them.
These workshops are rather facilitated than created by FYEG. Differently from the traditional top-down approach, the trainers will all be members of our Member Organisations.
Work Plan 2020
The Young Greens strive to see a transition to the carbon neutral society while at the same time making sure that the structural obstacles for marginalised groups are being diminished. Just transition is not only an energy transition, but the transition to the democratic and inclusive society where everyone is fulfilling their rights. FYEG is organising a year long project in order to ensure young people’s say in the political processes leading to a carbon-neutral just society.
The project activities ranging from workshops to seminars, field trips, conferences etc. will also form a foundation for a joint vision and produce a concrete set of actions to enhance youth participation in important decisions on mobility, infrastructure and food production while reflecting on the different contexts of urban and rural living.
Work Plan 2019
A lot of young people across Europe live in precarious situations: job insecurity, inaccessible housing, unequal access to education and quality healthcare. There is a discrepancy between guaranteed social rights, and what is experienced by young people in reality.
FYEG organised a year-long project in order to empower young people to understand and gain access to social rights and increase their capacities to advocate for them through different international actions ranging from workshops, conferences and hackathons.
Work Plan 2018
Today commoning is on the rise as it has become increasingly clear that “business as usual” is failing us, both economically, and ecologically. People want to create a better world and to write a new narrative for the future. As a result, individuals and organizations have begun to embrace the commons as a concept and practical approach for transcending the dominant paradigm of modern life, for solving pressing issues, and for creating a more life-giving future.
As the result of the project, we created a publication that offers a youth-friendly introduction to the commons, generates curiosity and perhaps motivates young people to get engaged in local and transnational struggles to protect our commons. It contains a list of sources for exploring commons further both in theory and its application in practice.
