Your Europe, Your Say (YEYS), 2018

The European Economic and Social Committee is organising the ninth edition of "Your Europe, Your Say", a simulated youth plenary session allowing secondary school pupils from the 28 EU Member States and from the five official EU candidates countries (Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey) to see how the EESC decision-making process works in relation to a specific subject. The topic for this year is: "United in diversity: a younger future for European culture".

Pupils will work together on various aspects of this subject, tackling questions such as:

What is European culture: is it just the sum of the different national traditions or are there common values that make us all Europeans?
What is the role of culture and cultural exchanges with other people in pupils' lives?
What can the European Union do to promote culture (cinema, music, dance, literature, theatre, etc.) and better protect cultural heritage sites?
What role could culture play in the economic rebirth of Europe's regions and cities? How can this rebirth give new opportunities to young people in terms of new jobs?
What can the EU and Member States do to facilitate this process?
The simulation exercise will take part in two stages:
- registration, selection and preparation in class, and
- the participation in the workshop in Brussels, Belgium.

To apply a school must:
- be a secondary school with pupils of ≥16 years of age;
- be located in an EU Member State or in an official EU candidate country;
- be recognised by the education authorities in one or more Member States or in an official EU candidate country;
- have a computer (to read and print PDF files), with internet access and email;
- choose one teacher and three students in their penultimate year of any type of secondary education (aged 16 years) who are able to express themselves in English;
- consider and discuss the topic of the event in class before coming to Brussels;
- host one EESC Member for an information session on the EU and the Committee indicatively between January and February 2018 (travel expenses of the EESC member to be paid by the Committee).
- inform the selected pupils, their classmates and possibly all pupils at the school of the possibility to follow the preparations for the event and the event itself on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Deadline for schools to register: 24 November 2017.
Only one registration form per school will be accepted.

After registration has closed, one school from each of the 28 EU Member States, along with a school from each of the five official EU candidate countries, will be chosen to take part in the simulation exercise. The selected schools will then choose three pupils in their penultimate year of any type of secondary education (aged 16 years) to represent them, as well as a teacher who will accompany them.
These people will have to be able to express themselves in English.

For reasons of gender equality, the pupils selected should preferably include at least one boy and one girl.
Schools must ensure that disabled pupils are also able to take part in the event.

The event will take place in Brussels at the headquarters of the European Economic and Social committee from 15 to 16 March 2018.
The EESC will pay the travel and accommodation expenses of the students and accompanying teacher.

Further details:
Your Europe, Your Say (YEYS), 2018