The European Youth Energy Day (EYED) is part of the European Sustainable Energy Week each year since 2020 and represents the dedicated space for the Young Energy Ambassadors within EUSEW. Over time, EYED has evolved alongside the growing importance of youth participation in energy policymaking. What started as a series of youth-focused activities at the conference has become a year-long programme (Young Energy Ambassadors - YEAs), embedded in EUSEW, with a specific focus on youth engagement in the strategic dialogue on Europe’s clean energy transition.
Over the years, EYED has included activities such on- and off-stage dialogues with high-level Commission representatives, workshops, visits, hackathons, communication campaigns and more (see below).
Currently, majority of EYED activities are organised for the incoming and outgoing cohorts of Young Energy Ambassadors only. However, all EUSEW participants can, for example, join the policy session organised by YEAs.
The call to apply to be a Young Energy Ambassador is open until 15 February 2026.
Find out more about Young Energy Ambassadors programme
Previous editions
The 2025 European Youth Energy Day, held during European Sustainable Energy Week, included several activities:
- The first-ever collaboration between the incoming and outgoing Young Energy Ambassador cohorts, enabling experienced ambassadors and new participants to learn from each other;
- The first-ever youth-led session at the EUSEW Policy Conference: ‘Net-zero or net-hype? Rethinking European cities’, focusing on greenwashing and real solutions for sustainable cities;
- Policy workshops with experts from the European Commission, including the Directorate-General for Energy, where young people shared their views on topics such as the Citizens Energy Package and energy communities;
- An informal breakfast discussion with Ditte Juul Jørgensen, Director-General of DG ENER, giving ambassadors a better understanding of how EU energy policy is shaped;
- A role-play activity at the European Parliament, where ambassadors acted as Members of the European Parliament to debate an EU Green Deal–related proposal;
- ‘Jobs and Skills clinics’ during EUSEW coffee breaks, offering practical career advice, curriculum vitae feedback, and guidance on skills needed for the clean energy transition; and
- Interactive activities at the DG ENER and CINEA stand, where participants explored Europe’s energy mix through a hands-on map exercise.
These activities helped strengthen the Young Energy Ambassadors community and made sure that young people’s ideas could contribute directly to future EU energy policies, including the upcoming Citizens Energy Package.
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.
