We are pleased to share with you the results of our CONFERENCE CLIMATE CRISIS – YOUTH – EUROPEAN ELECTIONS 2024, which took place in Krakow, Poland at the Otwarty Plan headquarters on 19 May 2023.
The event aimed to shed light on crucial topics surrounding climate change and sustainability.
At 16:00, the official opening took place with James Scott from the Comparative Research Network and Magdalena Klarenbech from the Open Plan Foundation.
The first part of the event focused on youth and the climate crisis. Ewa Krzaklewska, PhD from Jagiellonian University, presented the context of the youth position in the climate crisis. This was followed by a presentation of the results from a European survey for youth by Magdalena Klarenbach and Kamila Franz from the Comparative Research Network at 16:30.
A Q&A session was held at 17:00, facilitated by Magdalena Klarenbach, to reflect on the political, structural, and social position of youth at local and European levels in the context of the climate crisis which gained a lot of participation.
The second part of the event aimed to engage youth in the European climate debate. Participants were divided into groups and through lively discussions and interactive activities, they delved into pressing issues related to mobility, food production, energy, and climate justice.
Later on, the methods for conducting an ideal debate were tested. Participants divided into four groups and engaged in discussions, summarising the issues related to their assigned topic in their respective countries (energy, mobility, climate justice, food production). The ideal debate method included inclusive participation, engagement, safety, tolerance, representation, easy language, leading to conclusions, and the possibility of collecting anonymous questions.
The facilitators from each group presented reflections and conclusions during the plenary session, followed by a plenary discussion.
The event concluded with an art exhibition and the screening of the movie “Climate Caravans”, followed by the opening of the “Blood Lines” exhibition.
Overall, the event was a great success in achieving its goal of exploring the youth perspective on the climate crisis and engaging them in the European climate debate. We thank you all the EU24-Engage for the Planet consortium and look forward to our future events all over Europe to deepen the discussion aroused on these important topics.
#climatechange #sustainability #youthopinions #EUdebate
