Currently, the local youth groups within the Generation Europe – The Academy network are planning their local activities for this year. For example, in Bochum, Germany, the young activists dedicated an entire weekend to developing and refining plans for upcoming projects and initiatives.
Among other things, the young people from Bochum want to create a political message in the form of graffiti to inspire more young people to get involved in social issues and to inform them about Generation Europe – The Academy. A number of workshops on current topics are also planned. In addition, the group is thinking about how to continue to take care of the trees they planted last year.
A particular highlight of the weekend was the exchange with another youth group that was staying at the accommodation at the same time: the Bochum group took the opportunity to motivate the other young people to take part in the U18 election. More than 160,000 young people across Germany took part in the simulated parliamentary election, which was open to anyone under the age of 18. This makes the youth election a major project in civic education. In addition, the active young people from Bochum informed their colleagues about the upcoming local elections in the autumn, in which, unlike in the federal election, young people aged 16 and over are also allowed to vote. The dialogue led to a lively exchange on political topics, in particular on the current demonstrations against the far-right. It was great to see how the discussion continued even after lunch and that interest in political participation was growing.
In the past years, the Bochum group has mainly worked with their partner groups from Rome (Italy) and Évora (Portugal). But not only, because the Generation Europe network also offers further opportunities. A special friendship has developed with the local group from Bochum’s partner city Nordhausen, Thuringia. This also played an important role during the planning weekend: the young people from Bochum are very happy that the Nordhausen group has invited them to the ‘Rolandsfest’. This is an important festival for the Nordhausen group, and the two groups already met there last year.
With this motivating kick-off, the young people of Bochum are looking forward to a year full of joint activities, civic engagement and creative projects!