Secondary school students are shaping the future of Europe!

Stories from Assemblies

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Below you will find the stories, photos, snaps, words, and memorable quotes from the self-organised school student assemblies. You can contribute to this by sharing your content or ideas/results above.

These are photos from the latest student assembly of our Generation D-Liberation project.

Generation D Liberation works to engage young people on the topic of Europe and support them with the resources they need to form their vision and make it heard.

Generation D-Liberation - Strasbourg

Here are some moments of the Generation D-Liberation project’s first event. This initiative has centred around students from secondary schools and universities in Europe, with the aim of giving them a platform to discuss the Future of Europe.

Three young men attended the Generation D Liberation first event in Strasbourg, on the 9th of October 2021, in order to debate their future in Europe so we asked them:

Q: What/Who would you like to become in your ideal future?

Prokop: Well, I want to use my privileged background, and use that as the tool to give back to society and to elevate the communities that aren’t fortunate enough to have this privilege. I don’t want to be paralyzed by the Western guilt but instead shake off this paralysis and do whatever I can to give back. I can’t tell you the exact profession I’m aiming for...probably something that has to do with the Law.

Petr: I am not sure yet, but I know I would like to influence people around me. Not as in becoming a social media influencer no, I think there are more ways to influence people: by your actions, by working to change your surroundings, by organising an event in your town or something. I don’t want to influence people’s opinions; I want to influence their lives.

Adam: I am a very sociable person so I want to do something that brings people together. It’s a fundamental core belief of the EU - to bring people together, and it’s something that aligns very strongly with myself.

Iman: I remember this time, when I was in kindergarten, I saw one of my friends falling and I helped her out, I mean, I helped as much as I can while others were cleaning her wound and putting a plaster on it. Eventually I realised I wanted to save other peoples' lives. So when I grow up, I want to become a doctor.

Q: Why did I come to this event?

Iman: Well, in a sense coming to these events feels like contributing to help other people. Better lives and a better future for other people. By impacting just one person, you can impact the entire world, right?

Photo & stories by: Soundous Boualam.

Student Assembly - Brussels

Here are some photos and recommendations from the student assembly in Brussels, created through our Generation D-Liberation project.

The assembly took place in Brussels and some recommendations that students came up with during the event were:

- Simpler international participation procedures.

- More accessible resources.

- Make students’ councils mandatory at all levels.

- More unions for young people and more space to underrepresented countries.

Student Assembly - ULB

Here are some photos, interviews, and recommendations from the student assembly at Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), created through our Generation D-Liberation project.

Séverine is a first-year ULB student doing her Bachelor in Information and Communication. She is one of the many participants at the latest ULB student assembly in Brussels:

Q: What recommendation do you have to give to European policymakers right now, when deciding their priorities for youth?

“I think the best thing they can do is to come to universities or schools to speak with students, so come to classes and ask questions about what they think the most important things are. [They should also] do interactive activities with [students’] clubs to know what really matters for them. We don’t know a lot about the European Commission, so if they come to the place where we are is the best.

Q: What is the most important topic/issue for you, that will impact your future? 

“As a lot of other students, I think the most important topic is climate. We have to focus on that because otherwise, we don’t have a future clear for ourselves and our children.”

Alexia is a first-year student studying a Bachelor of Information and Communication at ULB:

Q: What recommendation do you have to give to European policymakers right now, when deciding their priorities for youth?

“I think a good way [would be] to go more on social media, to do videos to explain […] what the job of the European Commission is because I think I don’t have a lot of opinions on it because I don’t know what they do. I have no idea of what they are really doing. [They should] come here on the campus to have more interaction. [They should] be more accessible.”

Q: What is the most important topic/issue for you, that will impact your future? 

“Feminism, climate, all the big ideas in our era, the big topics. About feminism: more diversity, more discussion about women’s rights. In my opinion, people think that it’s finished now, women have rights and it’s good, but I think that in reality there is still a lot to do.”

Oscar is a first-year student studying a Bachelor in Political Science at ULB:

Q: What recommendation do you have to give to European policymakers right now, when deciding their priorities for youth?

“Policymakers should get in contact with students’ assemblies. They should listen more [to us] and go more on the field, talk to young people about what they need”.

Q: What is the most important topic/issue for you, that will impact your future? 

“Ecology, climate change. I think it’s very important for young people. We are the generation that will fight against all these issues, but it’s important for everyone who lives on this planet. Global warming involves a lot of subjects and it will really be the basis of a lot of problems: social, economic problems, or poverty. There will be more and more land that will be unlivable. It will necessarily change a lot of things demographically, move a lot of populations, so it will impact all the areas in which future generations live. We have to reform the whole way in which our generation lives. This is the biggest source of issues, and at the same time of work, that we will have in the future”.

Diane is a first-year student studying a Bachelor in Civil Engineering at ULB:

Q: What recommendation do you have to give to European policymakers right now, when deciding their priorities for youth?

“Even though I’m a first-year student, I do realize it’s quite a hard transition between university life and active life because for example job hunt is quite hard for everybody. There are certain aspects of life that become way more expensive when you are no longer a student, for example, transportation [...]. So I’d like them to take that into account when deciding whatever they decide for the future”.

Q: What recommendation do you have to give to European policymakers right now, when deciding their priorities for youth?

“I believe it’s mental health, how it’s viewed by society, how everybody expresses their mental health, and the measures put in place to conserve everybody’s mental sanity”.

Sarah is a second-year student studying a Bachelor in Architecture at ULB:

Q: What recommendation do you have to give to European policymakers right now, when deciding their priorities for youth?

“If it concerns young people, they should do surveys among the students. They should do more surveys within the university [...]. Personally, I think they should address directly the people concerned instead of making decisions for us when they don’t specifically have our opinion.”

Q: What recommendation do you have to give to European policymakers right now, when deciding their priorities for youth?

”Global warming.”

Manuel is a second-year student studying a Bachelor in Geology at ULB:

Q: What recommendation do you have to give to European policymakers right now, when deciding their priorities for youth?

“What I would tell them is to come to the ULB campus, see how things are going, attend classes, talk with students, see where their problems are if there are things to improve [...]. But I think the most important thing is to put themselves in the shoes of the student, participate in courses and perhaps participate in certain activities that there are at the university.”

Q: What recommendation do you have to give to European policymakers right now, when deciding their priorities for youth?

“The lack of perspectives, not seeing where we are heading concretely as young people.”

Sara is a second year student studying a Bachelor in Architecture at @insta_ulb (Université Libre de Bruxelles). She is one of the many participants at the latest ULB student assembly that took place in Brussels:

Q: What recommendation do you have to give to European policy makers right now, when deciding their priorities for youth?

“I would tell European policy-makers that if it concerns young people, they should do surveys among the students. They should do more surveys within the university [...]. Personally, I think they should address directly the people concerned instead of making decisions for us when they don’t specifically have our opinion”.

Q: What are your recommendations to European policy makers?

Gaia, 15, from Spain:

“If I was a policy maker, to ensure a better quality of life for youth, my main goal would be to make education accessible, intercultural, and free for everyone. Once we open education for everyone our society will be more cultured, more educated and forward thinking.”

“We, the European youth are the future but also the present, so if I were a policy maker my absolute priority would be to include students and young people in political decisions, as we know what is best for our education and our future. There should be no decisions about our education, and our future without us and I feel like this is something that all policy makers should strive to do.”

Q: What are your recommendations to European policy makers?

Martin, 18, from Czech Republic:

“In many countries in Europe, the role of youth has been disregarded and not taken seriously for years. However, it is us, the youth who should also have their say in decisions which directly influence them, especially in 2022, the European Year of Youth. Thus, if I had the chance to be a policy maker with decision making power, I would definitely give the opportunity to the youth representatives to take part in the decision making process.”

“I think that we should bear in our minds that when it comes to student rights, students are the ones who take the most out of the educational system and therefore their voice should not be forgotten.”

Q: What are your recommendations to European policy makers?

Adam, 19, from Ireland:

“If I were a policy-maker, I would aim to improve education for young people with a couple of main priorities: Firstly I would make further and higher education publicly funded and completely free for everyone. That would include public universities, public institutions, institutes of technology for people to pursue trades, traineeships, and university qualifications as well.”

“I would also try to improve mental health in schools by having psychological practitioners included as a part of the school staff, so in some schools where you may have guidance counselors, those would have to be trained in dealing with mental health and they would be mental health practitioners basically in schools so that those schools are fully prepared to deal with stress and anxiety and other mental health issues for young people.”

Azra, 21, Bosnia and Herzegovina, providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“If I was a policy maker with decision-making power for one day, I would first include young people in all decision-making that affects them. The people that know the needs and problems of young people are young people themselves. As John Stuart Mill said: „One person with a belief is equal to a force of 99 who only have interests.“ Young people truly are the revolutionary force who believe and work towards a society with a foundation of freedom, equality, solidarity, democracy and education.”

“It is our duty as citizens to participate, correct, create and amend laws and processes according to our needs. If one of the sectors that creates democracy (in this context, the civil sector) does not function properly, we do not have a democratic society.”

“As a policy-maker, I would invest my energy in quality, free and inclusive education for all young people. Only with education and critical thinking as the basis of democracy can we have citizens that can participate in all aspects of society.”

“Generally speaking, our responsibility as people who strive to be democratic is to first and foremost learn about ways to participate in decision-making processes and democracy as a whole. Only in that way can we fully involve ourselves and participate in promoting the commonwealth. Democracy works better where there is a strong tradition of civic engagement.”

“Citizens in a democratic rule of law have the obligation to participate in democratic practices and use tools which are implied for them to create a civil society. Public politics thrives in solidarity, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, justice, equality, diversity and truth. By including diverse groups in dialogue, we can create more sustainable and useful mechanisms for participation in public politics. Different needs and points of view help build the civic space.”

Valentina, 21, from Italy. She works for a cultural association that promotes European citizenship and mobility. Here are her recommendations to European policy makers:

“If I was a policy maker for a day, I would legalise several things and issues that at the moment are not legal in Italy, which creates illegal markets and much money out of the legal sphere.

I would invest a big part of public funds in sectors in which it is highly needed: healthcare, that after Covid-19 is falling apart; and education, because it is not possible that the education young people are receiving now is the same one as it was 50 years ago, using the same old fashioned methodologies. In this sense, I would integrate much more non-formal education into the formal education system, as they are not opposed as many people think.

Dominic, Italy, providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“Young Europeans must start being part of political, social and commercial life, they have to start taking positions towards every topic. They need to give voice to those that still do not have it, they have to unite to become a great power.”

“To my dear politicians, starting from those from Italy, I ask them to get updated and to keep up with the times, to do something that is for the polis, and not to use their position to give a public position to their 4 relatives; to European policy-makers, I would like to ask them to commit and start to understand the new generations, to start interacting with us. Because only by getting to know someone can you really do something good for them.“

“One of the issues that affects me the most is freedom, its full achievement, but also the possibility of guaranteeing it to all, in all its forms. I hope the utopical world that we all want sooner or later won’t only be fantasy, but I hope for the whole world an absolute freedom.”

@_gmntv_ providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“Young people have to fight to send the messages of their own discomforts and problems, they have to speak up, become active and make themselves heard.”

“Then, it is the task of some people to listen to us and to try to improve the world that we will inherit. Listen to us, do not let your own interest and the things around you fall in a negative way on us, young people, and our future.”

@0_.shroom._0, Italy, providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“My belief is that the creation of a network of collaboration which is united by real collective interests and benefits can happen where there’s objectivity and absence of prejudices: it is not about not following your own interests, but of doing it taking into account the others, both to grow and to know when to stop.”

“My recommendations? I don’t think I can make many more if not to listen to the voices of the starving, instead of the voices of those who make the rations - that is to say, listen more to students, and less to ministers. I believe there is a condition of oppression which might not be immediately obvious, and some people, each according to their capacity, tend to capitalise on that, for reasons we might not know or fully understand.”

“Surely global warming is a priority topic for me, which should be supported by a serious positive intervention at social level: a world in which certain dynamics that are established nowadays prevail, for me either it changes or it may also burn.”

Henry Schuckmann providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“If I had a commitment for one day in the EU, I would tackle a lot in the area of education, participation and opportunities for all.”

“I would launch various projects and laws around these issues. For education, I would launch the law "everyone has the same opportunities for education". For participation, I would ensure that an advisory council is established and staffed with young people. This would advise the European Union from the youth side on all issues. So that young people in the EU can participate in the future of the EU and are not forgotten.”

“On the subject of opportunities, I would initiate a budget that could be used annually to support equal opportunities in all member states. So that everyone in all member states has the same opportunities. I would also bring the UN children's rights to the EU level and anchor them.”

Johanna Herbst providing recommendations to European policy makers:

"If I had anything to say in the EU, I would implement a Europe-wide energy policy, switch to renewable energies and phase out coal and nuclear power." 

Nico Bökenkamp providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“If I have something to say in the EU, I woud advocate better economic cooperation between the individual EU countries and promote more Europe as a business location. I would also increase the EU’s support for developing countries to enable them to achieve a better economic recovery.”

Jona Gadow providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“If I had anything to say one day in the EU, I would try to establish better cooperation between the Member States. This should focus on healthy economic growth and climate protection. Climate protection would be the main topic of my term of office.”

“I would commit the EU to do all it can to become climate positive in the next 10 years and impose sanctions on countries outside the EU that do not actively protect the climate.”

“In conjunction with the unification of all the Member States into one large European State, a general education system, completely redesigned from the ground up, should be created.

Of course, these are all goals that cannot be achieved in a day and probably not in a legislature, but they are goals that are extremely important (especially climate protection)”

Alona Shulipa, @alona.shulipa, Dnipro, Ukraine, Translator/interpreter providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“I think that now during these difficult times, this is an opportunity for Europe to become more united, to enhance this mutual understanding, and remind ourselves that we are human and the principles of humanity and democracy must prevail. Europe should be a safe place where each person feels valued and able to realize all the potentials he or she has. I think we should work more on global communication and understanding of each other to increase this support and interaction ; give more opportunities for youth to increase their voice.”

“Europe should realize its strength and ability to counteract this [Russian] aggression […]. Europe should be brave to show the world that [with its] unity and integrity, it is able to struggle with any threat or aggression coming from the outer world. The principles of truth should win in the end.”

Yuliia Sudzilovska, @yuliiasudzilovska, Novomoskovsk, Ukraine, Associate Resources Management Officer, providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“I see the future of Europe together with Ukraine, that we are all united in values, in our diversity, in our common respect to each other and recognition of national identities.  […] I see Europe as an innovative power, a driving force, a strong and united geopolitical actor in the future.”

“I do believe that Europe will be stronger together with Ukraine, because Ukraine is now on the front line fighting for European values, protecting European identity […] and our vision of the European future.”

“The EU should keep having this focus on citizens and citizens’ needs, reach out to citizens, support all the democratic movements inside the countries, protect minorities […]. The EU should keep having a dialogue with citizens via events such as the Conference for the future of Europe [...].”

“EU should support its member States and react to different paces of transition and different paces of development, support [the member States] in digital and green transition […]. In the time of Russian aggression, we feel that in order to confront it we need to stand together. If one country doesn’t have, let’s say, energy resources, other countries should back it up. […] We already see this solidarity towards Ukrainians […] : many differences were forgotten for the sake of a bigger aim, and I think this is one of the proofs that Europe is reactive and full of solidarity and empathy. […]”

​​Inga Yakymenko, @inga.yakymenko Zhytomyr, Ukraine, QA engineer providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“I see Europe as a strong union. I would like to see that each country within the Union remembers its roots […]. At the same time, [countries should] build a strong relationship with each other and help each other to grow and develop themselves. I see the power in diversity. It should be a union, but we should remember who we are in this union, complete each other […].” 

“I see Ukraine in this unity as a big and important part. Historically, Ukraine is already part of this unity. […] We have the same values, we can bring things that other countries don’t have, so we can complete each other.”

“I appreciate that the European Union built this peaceful world, but as we see peace and being peaceful sometimes is not enough. We have to have strong bonds as well. […] My recommendation is that Europe should improve its army and have a strong voice to declare its values.”

Anna Kozachenko, @ann_kozachenko Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine, Jazz singer providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“I know the EU has good sides and bad sides. One of these [bad sides is that the EU] is so slow to make decisions. […] I think in the future this can be changed : more digital stuff, faster stuff. If Ukraine starts to be part of the EU, I think the EU has a very good breach to the Eastern side. […] So more digital, faster, and more conversations with other countries – especially from the Eastern side of Europe.”

“The EU is really addictive [she means dependent] from one country because of gas [...]. [EU should] try to have a lot of partners in different countries. If you have economic relationships with different partners, you are more flexible. […] Education is expensive for students of States that are not part of the EU.”

“They should make education more accessible for young people of States that are not part of the EU. If someone wants to study, politicians should support him or her, because if someone wants to be better, it’s also better for the system.”

Caitlin Faye Maniti, She/Her, Ireland, 18, providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“If I was a person in power in Europe, one thing I would do to make the lives of children better is to make sure there is equal access to education. Because education is the key to enable students to do what they want to do in the world, to make their mark and to raise their voice.”

Bohdan Yeromenko, @bohdan.yeromenko , Kharkiv, Ukraine, IT Consultant providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“The future of Europe I cannot imagine it so far, because what has happened in the past two years, no one could have imagined: Covid stuff, before Covid there was a small [economic] crisis in many countries. Now when the war has escalated, you can see that Europe is united. Europe should transform into a more united organism.”

“Countries should have more harmonized laws. But see now what happens in Hungary for instance. […] If the EU survives as a legal entity, they should have more harmonized laws and decisions, so they will act as a kind of one body. […] Decisions can take months or years, but in the case of war it cannot take months: you have to react fast. Young generations would also like [the EU] to act fast.”

“If I look at the future of Europe in the context of what is happening now, I see there is a positive side because countries like Poland […] try to push towards faster decision making, but countries like Germany [are not]. […] I don’t see the EU as collapsing – I hope not – but it should transform definitely to a faster decision-making machine. It is hard, but I suppose it’s possible.”

“They need to adapt different technologies to make decisions faster. […] They need to enable more data-driven decisions. […] One important part about the EU is that we have data privacy, so all data will be protected, which other countries [do not have]. […] So one thing I would suggest to the EU policymakers is to adapt technology to their decision making, make decisions faster. In policy making, this is difficult because there are different political lobbies and so on, but they can find different solutions by looking at startups for example. […] The EU should adapt the business mindset to public decision-making.”

Olena Kuzhym, @promoteukraine , Kharkiv, Ukraine, Student in urban research providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“I would love to see Europe as a strong and united unit, at the same time preaching the diversity and feeling more empathy between the member States. I see a bigger EU family. I hope that the EU understands how to preserve its values.”

“Old democracies forget what they have been fighting for at some point. I hope that this crisis will be a very strong reminder of what democracy is, what are the values that we are united with […].”

“It’s nice to nourish values of peace and pacifism, but EU policymakers should understand that the EU is not an island. There are other forces in this world and these forces can radicalize at any point and we should be ready, both in terms of unity and mobilization, but also military-wise. We should be ready to defend the values, otherwise democracy will fail into autocracy – and this is not something we want.”

Denis Lynch, He/Him, Ireland, 18 providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“If I was a change-maker I would focus on making education accessible for every single student, removing the barrier of cost. Because I think every student should be entitled to second and third-level education and the cost is currently and unfortunately a massive barrier to that.”

Yevhen Kuwnietsov, @y3vh3n.k , Kyiv, Ukraine, PhD researcher at KU Leuven, providing recommendations to European policy makers:

“Europe should be more open. Now other countries are waiting to get integrated into the EU. Some countries [that are already part of the EU] are opposing. […] [The EU should be] more open and less political. The human values, and not politics, should be put in the first place.”

“The EU is pretty good at inclusivity already […]. Of course, education is the thing which helps with everything. It should be explained at school that people might differ, but that’s fine. [In the EU] there are good conditions for people with disabilities as well. I think that at least Western Europe is very good at inclusivity. Probably this has to be adapted to some Eastern countries. It is already getting better compared to the past, but there is room for improvement […].”

All photos by Valeria Mongelli.