The European Youth Energy Day, in the context of the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW), has been organised since 2020. Each year, it gives young participants (aged 18-34) the chance to get involved in Europe’s sustainable energy transition.
For the fourth edition of the European Youth Energy Day, a new format was designed to maximise participation, giving young professionals from the fields of clean energy and climate change mitigation more space to share their vision, and taking on what they have to say.
Last year, EUSEW presented the first cohort of 30 Young Energy Ambassadors, selected on the basis of their efforts towards accelerating Europe’s clean energy transition. They successfully brought together 22 nationalities aged between 20 and 35.
They participated in:
-
a world-café style co-creation session alongside representatives from the European Commission dedicated to solving concrete problems relating to the energy transition.
-
a policy session, led by Yes-Europe and open to all EUSEW attendees, which explored the social, economic, and environmental issues related to energy communities and solutions to address them.
In line with last year’s theme of ‘Accelerating the clean energy transition – towards lower bills and greater skills’, the European Youth Energy Day addressed how enabling access to education, skills acquisition, and inclusive career opportunities can help drive forward the energy transition.
Rewatch:
Previous editions
In 2020, the chosen format was a Roundtable Debate with young people and Frans Timmermans, European Commission’s Executive Vice-President of the European Green Deal. For the 2021 edition, a 48-hour Communication Hackathon focused on teams of young people generating ideas to boost renewables and energy efficiency. The European Youth Energy Network (EYEN) was a partner in these activities.
With 2022 declared the European Year of Youth, a prominent section of EUSEW was once again dedicated to young people and clean energy. A Dialogue between Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson and young representatives took place on the first day of the event, followed by a series of presentations on cutting-edge technologies, significant for clean energy advancement and youth.