Giving younger generations the chance to be heard and to help shape EU policies is a key priority for the current Commission (2024-2029). The political guidelines clearly state a commitment to giving young people greater freedom and responsibility within our societies and democracies.
The European Youth Energy Day (EYED), has been organised since 2020 as part of the European Sustainable Energy Week. Each year, it gives young participants (aged 18-35) a chance to get involved in strategic dialogue about Europe’s sustainable energy transition.
For each edition of the European Youth Energy Day, a different format is proposed to maximise participation. This way, young professionals from the fields of clean energy and climate change mitigation get even more space to share their vision, contributing to the discussions on climate and energy targets, engaging with European Commission experts, and participating in collaborative workshops to develop innovative policy solutions. Their presence at the event elevates the role of youth voices in the energy transition dialogue.
Young Energy Ambassadors always play a key role at the European Youth Energy Day, but they are not the only actors: EYED is open to all young professionals and any youth organisation interested in accelerating Europe’s clean energy transition.
In 2025, the European Youth Energy Day will feature a variety of activities for young people, including a session by the 2024 cohort of Young Energy Ambassadors, focusing on the important questions of urban sustainability and greenwashing. In addition, the young participants of EUSEW will be able to join two youth side-events. One will focus on jobs and skills and allow interested young people to get insights into clean energy careers. The other one will be an interactive activity to help participants learn about the EU countries’ energy mix and grid connections across Europe.
60 Young Energy Ambassadors will attend EUSEW this year, contributing to the policy discussions and co-shaping youth activities with the organisers. Ambassadors will also participate in a role play game organised in the European Parliament and a closed-doors workshop afternoon with experts from the European Commission.
Rewatch:
Previous editions
In the 2024 European Youth Energy Day, the youth-focused component of EUSEW hosted:
- A dialogue with Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič during the closing session.
- A dialogue between generations to explore their different challenges and opportunities and find common ground for cooperation.
- A closed-door session to co-create recommendations on the future of clean energy for the new Commissioner for Energy and Housing.
The 2023 European Youth Energy Day addressed how enabling access to education, skills acquisition, and inclusive career opportunities can help drive forward the energy transition. Young people 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.
- ‘Sincerely, EUSEW Young’ campaign, with post-it notes, messages on screens around the venue and tweets from the Young Energy Ambassadors.
With 2022 declared to be 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.
- A series of presentations on cutting-edge technologies, significant for clean energy advancement and youth followed.
For the 2021 European Youth Energy Day included:
- 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.
In 2020, the chosen format of the European Youth Energy Day was:
- a Roundtable Debate with young people and Frans Timmermans, European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal.