The Future of Europe

Co-designing Future Opportunities

Introduction

On 6th March 2017, ahead of the 60th anniversary of the signature of the Treaties of Rome, a group of young people met in Brussels to discuss the future of Europe. Invited by the Scottish Government, they came from across Scotland and other European countries to discuss the major areas of interest for young people.

This report communicates the thoughts and views of young people from this meeting and the results of a collaborative session to co-design ideas for the future of Europe. While Scotland and the UK’s relationship with Europe is set to change, this report demonstrates the willingness of young people to come together to talk about a shared future for all.

Forewords

It is important that young people are given the opportunity to participate in, and influence, national and international activities and decisions especially when these decisions directly affect them.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that young people are at the heart of decisions which affect them and involved in shaping Scotland’s future with Europe.

I welcome the engagement that Young Scot has undertaken to meaningfully involve young people in the debate about the future of Europe and what should happen following the result of the EU referendum. I was lucky enough to join the young people for the event and enjoyed hearing what they had to say and discussing issues that are important to them.

Over the next few years, Scotland and the United Kingdom’s relationship with Europe will change dramatically. Young people will be affected by these changes more than any other generation and it is vital that young people are given the opportunity to shape their own future.

To this end, Young Scot has been delighted to work with the Scottish Government to invite young people across Europe to Brussels to take the lead and discuss what is important to them. This follows months of work to understand what is important to young people about Europe and their thoughts on negotiations to leave the European Union.

Young people have consistently told us they care about opportunities for themselves as well as the big issues that affect all us. What came out of this event is how much young people appreciate working with their peers from across Europe to co-design policy and services. We hope this event is the seed of something new between the young people of Scotland and the young people of Europe. As you will see in this report, together they can achieve brilliant things.

Background

On the 6th March 2017, 11 young people from Scotland and 26 young people from other European countries, attended to a workshop held by the Scottish Government and Young Scot to discuss and co-design the future of Europe.

Almost sixty years before, On 25 March 1957, representatives of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands signed The Treaties of Rome. These treaties established a European Economic Community to remove barriers to trade, and to foster cooperation in the use of atomic energy.

These treaties were the pillars for the creation of the European Union.

In the next few years, a new relationship between The EU and Scotland and United Kingdom will be developed. Right now, the future of Europe matters to young people more than ever before.

This event was organised in the spirit of the Treaties of Rome: to find common ground and ideas to build upon through international collaboration.

Introduced by Michael Russell, the Scottish Government Minister for UK Negotiations on Scotland’s Place in Europe and a representative of the European Commission, the group began exploring important topics that had been previously highlighted by young people in relation to Europe as a whole.

The young people were encouraged to explore and interrogate each of the topics. They were asked to discuss why each one was important (or not), to point out where things weren’t working as they should be, as well as identifying areas for future collaboration.

Using this as a base, they developed five specific ideas of focus for this report:

• A day where all countries across Europe celebrate the cultures, traditions from each of the other member nations.

• Promoting rail travel through incentivised cross-border travel tickets.

• A school pupil exchange programme.

• Tackling media misconceptions about refugees and asylum seekers.

• Shared European housing strategies to spread diversity.

This report includes both the young peoples’ final ideas, as well as their findings throughout the process. This has been created as a prompt for future ideas, talk and projects, which was something all of the young people were keen to see.

The future of Europe matters to young people more than ever before.

Methodology

The session utilized the Young Scot co-design model over the course of the afternoon. Young people were invited to explore, focus, create and reflect through a range of activities.

The afternoon was split into an initial round of idea generation between small groups. This was followed by prioritisation of these into the most salient points. New groups then formed around specific topics of interest and these groups were encouraged to develop a vision for this idea along with considering specific steps required to turn this vision into a reality.

The groups were given 15 minutes to discuss and write down their ideas on the topic at their table.

This used the following prompts:

• Why does it matter?

• How can countries work together?

• What issues are there around countries working together?

When their time was up, the groups moved on to the next table and topic until everyone had the opportunity to explore each. The quotes, questions, thoughts and ideas were collated at each table.

Each young person was given five coloured dots and voted for the idea(s) they wanted to work on from across the five areas. During the coffee break, facilitators picked out the most popular ideas and turned these into new groups.

New groups formed around the top five ideas which were voted on.

In their groups, the young people thought about steps needed to make their visions happen and considered the most important factors in doing this.

Using concept sheets, the groups developed and built on their idea by thinking about: how it could be implemented; who would be involved; what activities need to happen; where support is needed; and what some of the outcomes will be. The groups then used all the materials they had created to develop and deliver a five-minute pitch for the rest of the room.

The young people moved around the room to explore the five topics. Every young person contributed to all of the topics before moving on the next one.

The participants were given five stickers each to choose the focus of the next stage by “voting” on the ideas they liked the best.

The room split into five groups to explore the ideas selected in the last panel and come up with a concept to tackle an issue.

The groups presented their concept back to the room to hear their thoughts.

Exploring the five themes

In early 2017, Young Scot completed a survey of the issues that matter most to the young people of Scotland in relation to Europe. These were:

• Working in the EU

• Studying abroad in the EU

• Equal treatment of people and protection of freedoms

• International security issues

The group attending from Scotland were also keen to discuss the environment, which was also added to the agenda. Below is an overview of their discussions and the major talking points.

Human rights have been the bedrock of much of the progress made in Europe over the last sixty years. Promoting equality has led to harmony and respect between nations and underpins many great ideas such as the right to an education, the right to belief and LGBT+ rights.

Yet human rights still remain on the agenda and they need to continue to be promoted and protected. Human rights abuses are seen most when people are at their most vulnerable, when fleeing war or persecution. Overall, more compassion is needed in the world and respect for each others’ fundamental rights.

It is important to recognise that the media and governments have a huge role in this, and it is important to be aware that the language they use can both empower as well as stigmatize.

However, it is not just the responsibility of the government to create positive change. Is business, economic prosperity, and trade more important than human rights? Companies should provide information on the commodities and routes to market so people can make informed choices about what they are buying.

Countries need to be more open and share good practice as well as highlighting breaches of human rights. Yet barriers will remain in the long term, around the use of the death penalty and an unequal power between countries stifling a movement towards universal human rights.

The group narrowed their thoughts down to four main areas:

• Promoting the truth about refugees

• Sharing of best practice across nations

• The idea of companies considering the integration of human rights as part of their supply chain

• Enforcing human rights.

The group focussed their time on ways to promote the truth about refugees and what the international community could do to help them.

Promoting equality has led to harmony and respect between nations and underpins many great ideas such as the right to an education, the right to belief and LGBT+ rights.

International security is a global responsibility. When it comes to the safety of citizens, peace of mind, protecting human rights and personal privacy, and deterring aggressors, countries cannot deal with issues like terrorism in isolation.

One of the main issues around this area is the sheer complexity of all the countries, governments and agencies involved. This makes it difficult to have an agreed position, courses of action or find synergies between countries. In turn, it becomes difficult to see what is really being done.

There are possibilities to work together and to share information and resources to improve security. These need to be formalised and offer the possibility of strengthening European borders.

It’s also possible to look inward and see how social inequality and isolation lead to extremism, which may manifest as a rise in racism and xenophobia. At the heart of this, is a lack of integration and polarisation of communities.

Two main ideas were developed as part of this theme.

• How to enhance peacekeeping through targeted housing strategies

• The need to tackle rising extremism

With the current focus in the media and the rise of right wing politicians, the group decided to look more closely at what could be done to negate rising extremism.

Travelling and studying are important to breaking down cultural barriers and promoting a shared identity. They offer young people a chance to broaden their horizons, develop as individuals and help to break down stereotypes.

The ERASMUS scheme is a great framework that and could be used a platform or model to create further opportunities.

There are many issues to overcome when encouraging people to travel and study abroad. The cost of programmes was the main barrier. Young people believe costs need to be shared across countries and initiatives need to the light touch to keep the investment manageable. Any programme needs to be easy to apply for and should be free at the point of access.

Other issues include language barriers, although language barriers can be seen as opportunities as well. Support networks would also need to be in place for including LGBT+ individuals, especially in countries that are less accepting of LGBT+ rights.

At the end of this stage of the event, the groups came up with four key points to explore:

• Working together under a collaborative EU Framework to promote studying

• To encourage people to learn more to foster respect and greater understanding

• Tackling inequalities

• Building an EU identity

The group decided to combine the first and last points to look at how we can work together to build a European identity using existing frameworks.

We are increasingly living in a digital age where physical borders are less significant and many citizens are already living and working in different countries. Migration not only benefits employers who can draw upon more talent, it is an important way to build active citizens, broaden horizons and share cultures and experiences.

There are a number of barriers to the people living and working in other countries beyond border controls. Stigma around immigrants, both economic and forced, puts people off exploring other countries, as is a lack of integration once people are settled.

Additional barriers include discrepancies between wages and individual rights. This could be solved though accepted standardised legislation on things like the minimum wages, healthcare, LGBT+ rights and employment rights.

To encourage living and working abroad, the participants came up with five final options to be developed.

A standard minimum wage

What can be done to share cultures

How can we create more opportunities while growing the European marketplace?

How can we remove stigma to encourage people to live and work in other countries?

What can be done to ensure greater equality and reduce social and economic and differences?

The young people decided that European countries can work together to share each other’s cultures through a day of celebrating other cultures.

The environment matters to everyone in Europe. It is vital to health, social and economic development and, most of all, to future generations. There is an urgent need to change how we perceive the environment: so we see it as capital rather than a cost.

The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21, saw the signing of the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change. With 174 countries having signed the agreement in New York, it is now time to ensure that we fully deliver on those promises.

One of the major hurdles to this, is the lack of a unified voice and action around the topic. Each country has their own agenda and policies to enact which leads to splintered views and prevents the necessary cohesive action. However, Europe is strongest when it’s working together and provides a strong platform for negotiation.

The young people identified three main ideas to explore and develop:

The group decided to focus on the Paris Climate Agreement, in particular, how to encourage low carbon transport.

Five Recommendations

Through the co-design process, the young people split into five groups to develop five ideas to present back the European Commission and the Scottish Government. They were free to take their ideas in any direction they desired, building on their own and their shared experiences.

The ideas below represent the thoughts of the young people in each of the groups.

Culture is an important way of tackling stigma and sharing an understanding of different nationalities’ traditions and ways of life. The group decided to look at how European countries can work together to share each other’s cultures.

To leverage culture the young people proposed a ‘European Culture Day’, a bit like ‘a bolder Eurovision song contest’ but held in every country simultaneously.

Built on a common agreement between all the nations, every county would hold an event on the same day. Every event would be unique but at the heart would be a programme to celebrate all the other countries taking part. This would be a day for welcoming new ideas rather than celebrating one’s own nationality.

This would be a cultural celebration in its widest sense. As well as art, music and traditions, the events would also showcase food, fashion and modern culture. Representatives from other nations would travel abroad to be ambassadors and sources of information for their hosts.

The day would encourage people to explore, travel and learn other languages, as well a foster a greater appreciation of other cultures.

To make the day a reality, sources of funding would be shared fairly amongst all the countries. Promotion and advertising would be required. A useful network to build upon would be colleges and universities, which already have representatives from a wide range of nationalities.

Culture is an important way of tackling stigma and sharing an understanding of different nationalities’ traditions and ways of life.

For European nations to meet their obligations under The Paris Agreement and COP 21, governments must do more.

By encouraging citizens to adopt more sustainable methods of transport (e.g. by flying less and travelling by train instead) Europe would become a healthier and cleaner place area with lower CO2 emissions. By taking a land-based approach to transport, citizens would also be exposed to new cultures.

To do this, close collaboration between the departments for transport and the environment would be needed. New legislation through a new aligned European board and committee would also be required. European wide consultation and education could bring about lasting change by empowering people in countries in Europe to lobby their governments to support the idea further.

To deliver on this ambition, new discounts could become available across borders through joined up ticketing. With smart ticketing networks appearing across Europe this is more achievable than ever before. This could be further expanded with discounts for young people looking to explore other nations. The easiest place to start could be to focus on developing the links between major European cities.

European wide consultation and education could bring about lasting change by empowering people in countries in Europe to lobby their governments to support the idea further.

Educational exchanges have been an important part of sharing knowledge and culture between countries for many years. They are a great way to build a European identity through existing frameworks.

Most of these are aimed at university students. An earlier exchange programme would have a huge impact.

An exchange programme for 15 and 16 year olds in different countries to swap lives for a six months would be a great way to build a shared identity. They would study abroad in each other’s school, stay in each other’s homes and learn each other’s language.

The group thought this would offer additional benefits as it would be open to young people before the stressful pre-university-exam-period hoards their attention. It would prepare them for university or work, build their confidence and expose young people to foreign languages while they are more receptive to learning them.

In order for this to be a success, it was identified that a new digital platforms are needed as well as marketing and promotion through schools. As young people could and should not be forced to take part, a campaign through schools to impress upon the young people the importance and power of exchange programmes would be needed. This requires funding to make sure it is property promoted and young people do not face unfair barriers to access – it should be free to take part.

The buy in of education ministers across Europe as well as key contacts with European Commission to find the money and willing would be necessary to make the scheme a reality.

The movement of people, especially refugees, has dominated the headlines across Europe over the past few years.

Pressure is needed on decision makers to help improve the awareness and understanding of the reasons behind the enforced migration of people. Much of the media coverage around this highly sensitive topic has been unfair and unbalanced. The media could play a role in positively influencing the perception of immigrants. However, this is not happening and international action is required to tackle the negative portrayal of migrants in order to promote inclusiveness over prejudice.

Of course, legislation covering inflammatory language needs to be balanced with free speech, but there are other ways European countries could take action by applying pressure on the media through advertising budgets or funding campaigns to promote the benefits of migration. Governments also need to be held to a higher standard than the media and the language they use should avoid negative stereotypes or portraying refugees in a negative light.

Work also needs to be done encourage the social mobility of refugees and to tackle the reason why people are forced to leave their country of origin.

Through this work we will see a more unified society, which will be able to realise the economic and social benefits of migration. Positive attitudes will promote safer communities and reduce the risk of radicalisation and it will lead to an improved perception of human rights in all nations.

Integration of communities has been part of a healthy of Europe for many years. However, the rise in extremism poses a real threat.

While centralised intelligence, promoting understanding and cooperation between police agencies all have a place, over the past few years the subject of integration has been raised again in different contexts and needs to be looked at.

When communities become isolated there is the potential for segregation and polarisation leading to radicalisation through disillusionment and stereotyping. Community integration is therefore important to combating extremism and improving international security and should be looked at a European level.

Police need to be heavily involved, as police see first-hand the impact of being marginalised.

Policies across all member states need to reflect the benefits of culturally diverse and integrated neighbourhoods through planning and housing frameworks and long term population modelling.

This should not solely be a top down process. Communities themselves need to be involved from the start to shape how infrastructure and social housing policies can be implemented to meet these goals.

As well as policy change, this will require education and mediation on a local level to improve cohesion. People need to understand and be educated about self-marginalisation and the effects it can have.

Conclusions and future action

One day was not nearly enough. All of the young people involved demonstrated a huge appetite for social change and working together with young people from other nations.

The co-design methodology was found to be productive and enjoyable for all involved. The rapid fire approach to idea generation kept the energy levels in the room high and created a sense of urgency so groups did not linger on the unknown factors that can stifle the important aspects of their idea generation.

All of the participants were interested to hear from the European commission about the feasibility of their ideas and how they could be taken forward in the future.

A highlight of the day was working with other nations and this is something all would like to see in the future. While existing networks, such as the European Youth Parliament, offer a chance to engage with the European Parliament, the group valued a less formal co-design approach where ideas could be generated and presented to the Parliament and commission on specific issues and topics.

This approach is used by governments in Europe, but the idea of consultation and co-creation with young people could be integrated in the methods employed by the European Commission.

The young people also felt that not enough was being done to promote the positive impact of Europe. While the United Kingdom is currently focussed on negotiation around the withdrawal of the European Union, the terms of this as still be agreed. Across Europe all citizens would benefit from understanding how the activities of the European Parliament and European Commission are having a positive impact on everyday lives.

By demonstrating the passion and enthusiasm for young people to be involved in decision making about Europe, this event underlines how important it is to work with young people to shape the future of Europe for all.

A highlight of the day was working with other nations and this is something all would like to see in the future.

Acknowledgements

This event would not have been possible without the financial support of the Scottish Government and the help of the Scottish Government’s European team; both those in Brussels and those in Scotland.

A huge thank you to the Minister for UK Negotiations on Scotland’s Place in Europe, Michael Russell, who envisaged this event from the start. And, most of all, a huge thank you to the young people for getting involved and showing such passion about their shared future.

Participants

• Mena Zia Kirmani

• Cameron Luke Gillies

• Brian Chimdi Chidera Iroegbu (MSYP)

• Ellen Bradbury Wilson

• Shannon Elizabeth Goundry

• Owen Connor Laing

• Finlay Iain Cameron Taylor

• Dan Dickson

• Dev Kornish

• James David Briggs Thomson (MSYP)

• Lucie Duffy (MSYP)

• George Smith – AmCham (YPFP) (British / English)

• Lulia Sutru – ThinkYoung (Romanian)

• Jiwon Lee – ThinkYoung (Italian)

• Lucy Pollock – Northern Ireland

• Niall Robb – Northern Ireland Executive Office

• Bernat Miquel – Accio-Generalitat de Catalunya (Spanish)

• Natalie Bertagna – EESC (Scottish/Italian)

• Alex King – Acumen Public Affairs (British)

• Julia Welford – EPSA (EP Trainee association) (German/British)

• Victor Sievert – Baden-Wuttemberg (German)

• Kathinka Ingenohl – Baden-Wuttemberg (German)

• Flora Monozlai – YPFP – (Hungarian)

• Prencia Ouagou – EYCA (French)

• Pelayo Maestre – YPFP (Spanish)

• Joshua Musa – (French-speaking Belgian Youth Council) (France/Martinique)

• Mateusz Rutyna – (French-speaking Belgian Youth Council) (Belgian)

• Sonja Väisanen – ECSDA (Finnish)

• Jack Barratt – New Scotland Europa Intern (Scottish)

• Valenti Prat Grau, – Catalonian Delegation to the EU (Spanish)

• Helmuth Martin Reisner – Estonian Perm Rep (Estonian)

• Annaliisa Jäme – Estonian Perm Rep (Estonian)

• Tommy Walsh – (British / English)

• Fabrice Ndikumana – (Belgian)

• Sebastian Vandermeersch – (Belgian)

• Matthew Clemo – Vice-President Erasmus Student Network AISBL (Belgian)

• Johnny Rolph – (British)

Final Reflections

It’s so important that there are opportunities like this one, and I was very lucky to take part. There definitely need to be more discussions with young people, especially with such big issues where young people otherwise might not get the chance to voice their opinion. Scotland’s future in relation to the EU is the future that young people will have to live with. This event has been very valuable on a personal and wider level. I learned lots at the event and I would definitely attend something similar again.

The Future in Europe event was an incredibly enjoyable and insightful event that I am extremely glad I partook in. It provided me with plenty of food for thought on a number of issues; some of which I already had previous knowledge of and others where I knew very little. Therefore, not only was I able to share my ideas regarding the topics I previously knew about but I also had the opportunity to learn from others, to gain a deeper insight into the workings of the European government and to see the necessity for young people to act now in order to create a Union that’s right for everyone.

Being part of the ‘Future of Europe’ event in Brussels with Young Scot was a brilliant experience and beneficial to all who participated. It helped to show that young people across Europe want to be engaged in discussions about Europe’s future and are concerned about the impacts not only on young people going forward, but on every section of society. Being a Trustee of the Scottish Youth Parliament I have experience of youth engagement, but this report vitally discusses issues out with the UK, and has intrinsically sought the opinions of young people from across Europe in an active manner.

Getting to visit the epicentre of EU decision making was an enthralling experience unlike no other. It was captivating being able to deliberate with other young people from different cultures and backgrounds about affairs that are likely to affect us as we develop and branch out through studying, working and travelling. As an MSYP it was very thought-provoking comparing the differences between the local issues faced by my constituents and the issues on a much larger scale affecting many more people across the continent.

I found my time discussing Scotland’s future in the EU with other young people from across Europe to be the highlight of the trip. Although there didn’t seem to be any carry over in to the shaping Scotland’s future relations with Europe, it gave us a chance to share ideas and debate what we find the EU has to offer that is most pertinent to our day to day lives.

We are discussing the future of Europe. We are discussing topics regarding Human Rights, promoting international security and also topics linked with travel and working access for all Europeans and youth. The things I really like are that we, the youth are participating. We are trying to think about and shape the future world and are concerned about the future. We have spent the morning thinking about future threats and issues and right now we are trying to shape a global vision for ten years from now. We will try to give all the work we are doing here to the politicians and we really hope that they will hear our message and they will take into account the voice of the youth.

I had an incredibly insightful time in Brussels. The format and style of the event enabled us all to evaluate and reflect on what we believe are valuable points to consider in a shared vision for a more peaceful, healthy and fair Europe. Being able to meet and discuss ideas with other young Europeans was something particularly special about the day for me. Having our voices actively heard and invited into key discussions at this level is very empowering indeed – I left the room feeling optimistic, engaged, and determined to be part of the positive future we hope to build.

I think for me the most interesting thing so far has been to discuss about international security which I think is a very interesting issue. So far I have learned two things: first one being combating racism which I think is one of the major challenges we have nowadays in Europe. The second one of course and it’s quietly related to the first one, combating extremism. Not just Islamic State but also right wing extremism in Europe that is related to terrorism. That’s one of the main things I have learned so far but it’s not the only one, there are lots of things we have been learning at this event that have been very interesting.