P9Yyli

Report Introduction
By young people, for young people
As a youth event, it was vital that young people
and their organisations were at the centre of
the planning and execution of the EYE. From
the outset, the European Parliament partnered
with the European Youth Forum, the platform
for youth organisations in Europe, in order to
ensure that young people were at the heart of
the event.
The European Youth Forum brought the
successful ‘YO!Fest’ to the EYE. Standing for
‘Youth Opinion’, the YO!Fest is the annual open
political festival of the Youth Forum, combining
political debates, workshops, and activities
with free concerts and cultural and sporting
activities.
An integral element of the EYE, the YO!Village
took place in front of the Parliament, and
showed that a different approach to political
engagement is possible. Youth organisations
from all over the continent, as well as civil
society organisations and corporate partners,
contributed to the YO!Fest by organising
activities and interactive stands, creating a
vibrant atmosphere in the YO!Village. Live
music, theatre, and circus performances took
place alongside spirited topical debates on a
range of issues, from the idea of lowering the
voting age to 16 to multiple discrimination
and the impact of youth work and youth
co-operatives. Informal educational activities
took place in every corner of the YO!Village,
inviting participants and visitors to learn about
European processes and campaigns and
interact with over 50 organisations represented
at the EYE.
Furthermore, numerous youth groups
participating in the EYE had the opportunity to
stage their own workshop or even their artistic
performance during the event. These youth
workshops and artistic performances (dances,
musical and band performances, theatre plays
etc.) as well as several more playful programme
elements during the EYE2014 (such as the
digital gaming activities iDance, or the group
board games Eurocracy and EuroCulture)
provided a less formal and creative possibility
of interaction between young participants
during the EYE.
An open and inclusive event
Reaching out beyond the officially registered
EYE participants was an important aim of the
EYE 2014, in order to allow the inclusion and
participation of a diverse as possible public
during the event.
With the YO!Fest public concerts in the City
of Strasbourg and Wacken, the EYE reached
well beyond the 5,500 participants, enticing
an additional 4,500 people to the European
Parliament and the Youth Forum. The concerts
provided a hook to reach out to local people
in Strasbourg and the less engaged young
people, and motivating a significant number
to participate in other YO!Fest activities.
Sign interpretation at the EYE 2014
8 Ideas for a better Europe – EYE2014 Report