Category: Netherlands

Youth for Europe Event – the Hague, the Netherlands, May, 18, 2019

We have gathered at the HYF (The Hague Youth Factory) on the afternoon/evening of May, 18, 2019. It was been a lovely sunny day, and the event involved 30 citizens, from the city of The Hague, the Netherlands. The majority was a young public, with 2/3 being young people till 30 years old and we had represented 9 organizations/companies.

The opening of the event was a lovely talk with 3 young Dutch ladies telling us about their international experience in Estonia, under the programme Erasmus plus. They were very touched by the exchange of cultures and knowledge, with 6 different European countries. This made them understand the richness of different perspectives and expressions within the European Union.

This was followed by a super tasty dinner with a lot of vegetarian and vegan options and a wide selection of drinks. We could then enjoy worldwide music played by two talented Dutch musicians – Jaime Nanoha & Juliana Martina. We could close our eyes and travel the world with our imagination to understand how much beauty there is in the world and that we can only profit by integrating diversity into our music and lives!

After this warm-up, we jumped into the theme of our night – European elections in May 2019! Divided in smaller groups to ensure that everyone can easily express their opinion, we add 3 activities to perform.

The first was the quiz – “Who wants to be European?”. By using a similar visual identity of the known TV programme “Who wants to be a millionaire?”, we created a quiz with 8 questions focusing on the European Parliament elections 2019. The content included facts about the Elections and its process, the role of the UK and consequences if a country leaves the EU, what are the functions of the European Parliament and why we should vote. The end question was intended as an invitation to start a dialogue about the topic. We must say that some participants were skeptic regarding the role and power that voting can have in change the Europe to what they would like. Others were very enthusiastic to defend the duty of voting responsibly in order to convey our message and change Europe in the desirable direction. Despite some different perspectives, it was unanimous that it is important to vote in the elections and all group is committed to do so.

The second activity was an invitation to reflect in the Europe we want to live in, with us being active members in creating this space. We had flip charts, paint, markers and our creativity to express in participatory way the future of Europe. Equality was the main word of the night. The group express the need to be more humane, to redistribute opportunities to all, to create a healthier community. The European desirable portrait is: less discrimination, more acceptance, more respect for our environment/planet, sustainable solutions to deal with problems, a holistic perspective when analyzing the challenges, more gender equality, more solidarity towards migrants and refugees… Our challenge: we are not there yet, and that implies the involvement of all of us!

The last but not the least was to leave a message in our canvas for the future European Parliament. Without any censorship and let the public totally free to express themselves, gathered the following messages: respecting the environment and going green, do not follow populist ideas and politicians as Trump, to unit, promote equality, choose love and inclusion over hate and to be more efficient and coherent!

The evening goes on with the dream of having a better Europe and by listening good DJ’s and enjoying each other´s company… It was a lovely evening!

Gallery

2025-11-12
Using stop-motion animation tools to debate Europe’s future – Orvelte, the Netherlands, August, 11, 2019

On the August, 11, 2019, in Orvelte, the Netherlands, a group of 37 people came together to discuss the future of the EU, youth challenges, and express themselves using stop-motion animation tools. The event involved 37 citizens, including 7 participants from the city of Orvelte, The Netherlands, 6 participants from the city of Rome, Italy, 6 participants from the city of Brussels, Belgium, 7 participants from the city of Warsaw, Poland, 6 participants from the city of Bucharest, Romania, 5 participants from the city of Riga, Latvia.

Having as reference points the 5 future scenarios put forward by the European Commission, the discussion was centered on the difference between East and Western Europe in terms of purchase power, economic systems, mindsets and opportunities. The group agreed that something has to be done to reduce the gaps that separate EU member states and after that, countries could work together from a more balanced power status to find the better alternatives to their challenges. Even if for some the last scenario – Doing much more together – was appealing, it seems that some preparatory work on develop the poorer countries from the East side of Europe should be done first.

“we believe that we cannot always solve our issues just by being alone, we need to share…”

Watch the participants’ videos:

2025-11-12
Online workshop – Improve 4 Europe, The Netherlands, September, 19, 2020

The activity took place on September, 19, 2020, online, via Zoom. The event involved 28 citizens, including 25 participants from the city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1 from the city of Lisbon, Portugal, 1 from the city of Rome, Italy, 1 from the city of Budapest, Hungary. This activity aimed to familiarise the participants with the complexity of decision making at the EU level and to promote the discussion of the type of Europe we would like to see.

The methodology used was in line with non-formal education and the tools used were from Improve Theatre – improv games and role playing. Each participant was given the role of the leader of a random EU country and had to conciliate national interests with the European interests in solving a case study (the event that had happen few weeks ago about the refugees in Moria camp).

The programme of this workshop session included:

1 – Welcoming & Ice-breaking exercise

2 – Small groups games to start to enter the character

3 – Plenary discussions and exchange of experiences

4 – Case study presentation and the 5 scenarios explained

5 – Same small groups get together to discuss what to do with Moria situation – each group had to act has one of the possible scenarios for the Future of Europe

6 – Big group discussion and exchange of opinions about the best scenario

7 – Voting

8 – Informal discussion

9 – Closure

We had a few people leading each small group that were training in Improv, and the rest of the participants were young adults from different backgrounds.

For the ones that have o previous knowledge of politics and decision making at the EU level the 5 scenarios are concepts difficult to grasp. In the end there were more questions that answers but the groups felt that scenario 3 would be the desirable in order to avoid complex never ending processes and being able to take fast and efficient decisions.

2025-11-12
E(U) Lections’19 Kickoff Meeting – Lisbon, Portugal, January, 24, 2019

The kick-off meeting of EULECTIONS’19 took place at Iscte- Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, on January, 24, 2019.

It was the first time that the representatives from the four organizations, CEI-Iscte and EAYE (Portugal), Fondazione Flaminia (Italy) and CAAT Projects (The Netherlands) had the chance to meet in person, discuss general ideas about the project and set common outputs.

This full day preparatory activity involved 8 participants (5 from Portugal, 2 from Italy, 1 from The Netherlands) in brainstorming and planning sessions to prepare the project’s activities, develop the communication strategy, reflect about methods and evaluation.

2025-11-12
EULECTIONS’19 – Information Template

The information regarding the implementation of the EULECTIONS19 is available in the Information Template.

2025-11-12
Raise your voice to debate Europe – Rotterdam, The Netherlands, July, 6, 2019

On the July, 6, 2019, in the theatre Formaat, in Rotterdam, a group of people came together for the “Raise Your Voice Festival”. The festival was organized by Stichting CAAT Projects in collaboration with Stichting Formaat Wekplaats voor Participatierf Drama.

The event involved 53 citizens, including 23 participants from the city of Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1 participant from the city of Budapest, Hungary, 8 participants from the city of Lisbon, Portugal, 6 participants from the city of Brussels, Belgium, 7 participants from the city of Warsaw, Poland, 6 participants from the city of Athens, Greece, 1 participant from the city of Bucharest, Romania, 1 participant from the city of Skopje, North Macedonia.

The artistic acts were previously prepared by a group of 30 young people and then presented to the wider group. They were challenged with that task and even if most of them were not artists themselves, they worked together to plan a 2 hours act with poetry, dance and music.

In preparation to the festival we have talked about possible issues that young people are facing in their local setting. The main problems identified by the young people, that were common to their countries, were the following: women’s rights, minorities ‘rights, integration of refugees, discrimination, medical and educational staff are not prepared to deal with the ones that have issues, pressure from the society to hide/suppress your feelings and emotions, a post-colonialist mindset that was preserved in Europe, to have easy access to healthy food and the lack of psychological support in mental hospitals and school.

We also need to set an example and to promote the type of society that we want to see. So the European Union and the National politicians should provide the resources needed, but then it has to be each one of us the agent of change.

When the group analysed the 5 scenarios of the White Paper on the Future of Europe, they immediately refuse the scenery to continue as it is or to focus on the single market. In general, their idea is that the politics in Europe and in each national country is way to focus on the economic interests and that is why they neglect the minorities and their rights. Thus, the only scenery that would be desirable for an united Europe was the last one, “Doing much more together”.

After this discussion and when the group was deciding for the collective message to be send to the European Parliament, they reach the conclusion that we cannot just seat and wait for the politicians to solve their challenges.

For the group the priority was to look to people as lives full of potential and not as numbers.

2025-11-11
Want to learn more about the EU?

EULECTIONS’19 has developed an online course about EU’s history, its institutions and the instruments available for citizens’participation. Check the programme.

2025-11-11
EULECTIONS’19 policy paper – Citizens’ perspectives about the future of the EU

EULECTIONS’19 partners have produced a policy paper with key information collected during the project’s events. It summarizes citizens’ perspectives about the future of Europe, the pros and cons of the 5 scenarios and how the EU can improve its relations with Europeans.

About the policy paper

This report presents the main reflections produced by the many participants of different nationalities who, over the last two years, have taken part in the various activities promoted within the framework of this project. In such events, which varied in format over time, they had the opportunity to think about the current state of the European Union, their European citizenship, and to reflect on the future of Europe. Apart from this introductory part, which briefly presents the project, the document is divided into two main parts. In the first, there is a summary of the main pros and cons associated with each scenario of the ‘5 Scenarios for the Future of Europe’ – considerations taken from all the presentations and conversations held in the different countries. In the second part, which is in turn divided into two parts, it is possible to give an account of the main recommendations for the EU on the one hand, and on the other hand, recommendations for the citizens themselves. Both produced throughout the different activities, completed with direct quotes from the participants and the place where those events took place.

Consult the policy paper here.

2025-11-11