The European Parliament elections, set for June 6 to 9, 2024, are swiftly approaching. This significant event will shape European policies for the next five years. It entails a considerable collective responsibility, especially for first-time voters. It’s crucial not only to figure out how we, as youth workers, can help young people understand the issues at stake and the voting process but also to support them to be actively engaged by promoting the elections and preparing to vote. This involvement strengthens the sense of community within the European Union, particularly through local community participation.
This is the purpose behind the creation of together.eu, a community of people who believe in democracy and who want to give it real meaning as the next European elections approach.
The platform offers access to content and educational resources tailored for a young audience and provides opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals through events and training courses available on the site.
The Platform
This multilingual platform aims to offer tools for young people to organise information and promotion campaigns for the European elections, and can therefore also be a very useful resource for youth workers, as it is a good example of active involvement and participation for young people. As youth workers, therefore, our task can be to guide young people through the platforms, supporting them in organising events and activities at local level.
Furthermore, the platform can also be a very useful tool for creating partnerships and getting in touch with new organisations, becoming a driving force for developing new projects on the topic of youth participation.
Resources to support young people
Let us briefly summarise the structure of the site and the useful resources available in each section:
Registering on the site: the procedure is very simple and intuitive. Young people will be able to decide on their interests with regard to European policies and, as a result, will be guided towards different content. Our role can be to help them reflect on their interests and guide them in their choice.
Events: in this section, young people can look for European election events organised by the European Parliament. These events are held in most EU countries. Besides in-person gatherings, they can also find online events. It is possible to filter the events based on interests, location, and preferred language.
Testimonials: here you can find testimonials from young Europeans who have taken part in together.eu events. We could use these resources both to inspire the young people we work with, but also as a template to collect their testimonials about their personal experience as European citizens.
Resources and downloads: this section can be very useful if you want to use the social media channels of your organisation to campaign for the EU elections, getting the support of young people. You can download information materials about the European elections and tools to promote and explain the importance of the elections in your community, both through online and in-person activities. Available resources include brochures, videos, and social media graphics. Additionally, you can contribute to the portal by uploading content created by you and by young people.
Trainings: In this section, young people have the opportunity to participate in online trainings. These will give them the opportunity both to understand more about the European elections, but also to receive important information for the organisation of advocacy campaigns and the management of local events. The knowledge condensed in the online modules can also become a tool for our local workshops, if appropriately transformed.
Resources for organisations: partnerships
The website provides a Partners section, where you can find organisations, spread across Europe, that are already collaborating with the platform as Communication Partners. You can get in touch with them or become a Communication Partner yourself, helping to promote the election in your community and on your channels. Furthermore, you can also enter in contact with the organisations working in your own area, in order to cooperate in the implementation of local events.
This section, in addition to the purposes of promoting the European elections, can become a very useful tool both for giving visibility to your organisation and for finding partners for future transnational projects, as it gives you the possibility to filter organisations according to the issues they work on.
Read also
Empowering Youth | The Role of Youth Workers in the 2024 European Parliament Elections
