Sixteen of the Western Balkan Young European Ambassadors (YEAs) – a creative network of future game changers – participated in this year’s European Youth Event (EYE) hosted by the European Parliament in Strasbourg. They joined thousands of young people from all over the European Union and beyond to engage in this year’s topic, “The future is ours”. The event was an opportunity for participants to make an active contribution to shape and share their ideas on the future of Europe – to feed into the citizen-led Conference on the Future of Europe process underway.

Amongst several activities taking place in different formats, the YEAs organised their own interactive workshop on 8 October, “Voices from the Western Balkans”. Addressing a capacity audience, the youth representatives presented the YEA network, the Western Balkan region, and their views on the most important topics for youth activism in the region. They underlined the importance of the YEA network as an exchange platform to share concerns and work together on pressing issues with peers across the region and beyond.

At a second event, one YEA from the Western Balkans and one YEA from the EU neighbourhood East region participated in a panel – “27+? Youth take on EU Neighbourhood Policy and enlargement” – with Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Željana Zovk. Discussions centred on what young people think about the EU’s role in its neighbourhood and on future EU enlargement.

The YEAs also attended dozens of other activities during the two-day event, from sessions on ‘how to green our lives’ to discussions on human rights and democracy. Rounding off, the YEA contributed to the YouthIdeas.eu platform – which will feed into the political debate of the Conference.

The EYE is a unique opportunity for 16- to 30-year-olds to interact in-person and online, inspiring each other and exchanging views with activists, influencers and decision-makers, right in the heart of European democracy.