Voices of Young Europeans
By European Year of Youth
What matters to young people today?
Voices of Young EuropeansOct 20, 2023
Shaping Tomorrow's Europe: A Podcast with the President of the European Youth Forum
Have you ever wondered what the European Youth Forum does? What are some of the pillars they focus on? What do they stand for?
These questions and much more were discussed in a podcast I had with Maria Rodriguez, the President of the European Youth Forum.
Don't forget to visit their official website to learn more about their activities and long-term goals.
Let’s talk about drugs with the experts!
In an entrepreneurial, pioneering Europe, always at the forefront in all kinds of fields, drugs are still a problem we should keep an eye on, and we can’t lag behind in solving it.
What is the European Union doing about it? How can we all contribute to a healthier and safer Europe? Well, to answer all these questions, we discussed with the Director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Alexis Goosdeel. The centre, known as EMCDDA, is based in Lisbon and has been in existence since 1993. So, Let’s listen [RCB(1] to what we can learn from the EMCDDA and understand what mechanisms, tools and actions are being carried out to win once and for all the battle against these harmful substances.
For a more in-depth exploration of drugs, we recommend visiting the official website of the Agency. There, you can uncover an array of tools, information, and interactive maps that pertain to a variety of harmful substances.
Mobility opportunities outside of the EU – North Macedonia
The small country, which is forgotten mainly because of its size, has more to offer than one would think. As a country associated with Erasmus+, young people have a chance to see that North Macedonia can steal hearts and leave memories for many years.
In this episode of the podcast series, Agne Jaskautaite and Anna Marek are talking about North Macedonia as a country where young people can participate in EU programmes even though the country does not belong to the European Union.
In the first part Marko Gjorgjevski, the director of the National Agency, shares information about opportunities for young people. In the second part, Agne talks to David Stolkovski who works for one of the NGOs working in a Youth field in the capital – Skopje.
Different countries, similar problem: youth emigration
Let's find out what motivates young people to emigrate, what in their opinion must be changed in Poland/Lithuania and how they see their future.
Let's Queer Some Things Up! - episode 5 - Mona Lizak
Welcome back to Episode 5 of the podcast! At ‘Let’s Queer Some Things Up’, we discuss topics that are important to us, the young Europeans. The focus of our podcast, as outlined in episode one, is to raise awareness on the reality of the LGBTQI+ community in Europe.
In this episode, Kacper Król speaks to Mona Liza - a drag queen, singer, and lyricist from Poland. You can express your inner expression in many ways, one of which is drag art. Among other things, you'll find out what Mona Lizak's mission is in what she does and what life is like for drag queens in Poland and how the situation of the LGBTQI+ community in Europe is changing. You will also learn that not every drag queen watches RuPaul's Drag Race!
What changes would you like to see?
Young journalists Aleesha Wiegandt and Maria Bajorek attended the Superbloom Festival 2022 in Munich in September and interviewed young Europeans about what changes they would like to see to either national or European policy. Here are some of their insightful testimonies! Music by Joystock - https://www.joystock.org
Let's Queer Some Things Up! - episode 4 - TENI
In this (slightly longer) episode Aleesha Wiegandt speaks to Noah Halpin and Hannah Solley about their roles at the Transgender Equality Network Ireland, the realities faced by young trans people in Ireland and their visions for a more inclusive future. For more information on the work of TENI, check out their website!
We sincerely hope this episode gives some insight into the struggles of young trans people and hopefully inspires some movement in the right direction!
Mobility Opportunities outside of the EU episode 1
Hello and welcome to the first episode of the podcast series in which we will be focusing on mobility opportunities in countries outside of the EU. We truly want to spread more information about it, so it’s easier for us to find ways to visit these countries.
This episode will take us to Switzerland. Today we will have 2 guests: Andreas Bosshart and Aldin Vrskic. Together with Andreas, we are going to discuss everything about financing projects and the interesting history of Switzerland – why it‘s not a programme country for Erasmus+ projects anymore.
In the second part of the episode, Aldin is going to explain how projects are being organised and the benefits of them. Most importantly, he is going to talk us through Bosnia and Herzegovina’s cooperation with Switzerland through a project called “Dijaspora za Razvoj” (in Engl.: “Diaspora for Development”) in terms of mobility opportunities.
- by Agnė Jankauskaitė and Anna Marek
Let's queer some things up - Ep. 3
Welcome back to Episode 3 of the podcast! At ‘Let’s Queer Some Things Up’, we discuss topics that are important to us: young Europeans. The focus of our podcast, as outlined in episode one, is to raise awareness on the reality of the LGBTQI+ community in Europe.
The people we invite to our podcast can inspire you in many ways. Perhaps our interviewees can also help you accept yourself and change your life for the better. Unfortunately, there are still many people who for most and sometimes even all of their lives cannot admit to others who they are and what they would like to do in life. Our interviewees also had similar problems and experiences. However, they had the courage to change something in their lives and they certainly do not regret it!
Today's episode is another opportunity to hear an amazing story that might just change your life. We invited our friend Dejan Slamkov to join the podcast. Dejan lives in Skopje the capital of North Macedonia, which is located in the Balkans. Kacper met Dejan while he was on a 9-month European Solidarity Corps project in Skopje. Dejan actively fights for the rights of the LGBTQI+ community in North Macedonia and he is the author of a podcast “Save our children". We hope that Dejan will be your inspiration.
So, Let's Queer Some Things Up!
Let's queer some things up - Ep. 2
For the Episode 2 of the ‘Let’s Queer Some Things Up’ podcast, having the focus to raise awareness on the reality of the LGBTQI+ community in Europe, Aleesha and Kacper had a chat with Filip Kijowski. An artist and founder of a safe space for the queer community to access LGBTQ+ literature and educational resources, whom, since the war broke out, has also been involved in supporting refugees from Ukraine belonging to the LGBTQI+ community.
They had chat to him about his journey to creating the Biblioteka Azyl, his vision for the future of Europe and lots more! So sit back, brew a cup of tea and let Filip’s soft spoken stories calm and inspire you!
You can find Filip at his Instagram account @filip_kijowski learn more about his project at the account @biblioteka_azyl.
Episode#1 - (GERMAN) Die CoFoE. Bürgerbeteiligung als Retter der jungen Generation / The CoFoE. Citizen participation as the saviour of the young generation
In dieser Podcast-Folge spricht Leonie Kirstein mit drei jungen EuropäerInnen, die als PodiumsteilnehmerInnen an der Konferenz über die Zukunft Europas in Maastricht, Niederlande, teilgenommen haben. Alisa, 23 Jahre alt aus Hessen in Deutschland, Linnea, 21 Jahre, aus Berlin und Boris, 18 Jahre, aus Österreich gaben mir interessante Einblicke, wie Bürgerbeteiligung in der Europäischen Union funktionieren könnte.
(ENG) In this podcast episode, Leonie Kirstein talked to three young Europeans who participated as panelists in the Conference on the Future of Europe in Maastricht, The Netherlands. Alisa, 23 years old from Hesse State in Germany, Linnea, 21, from Berlin and Boris, 18 years, from Austria gave me interesting insights on how citizen participation could work in the European Union.
Interview Maria Bajorek x Barbara Moś
Listen to the interview conducted by Maria Bajorek
Let's queer some things up - Ep. 1
The European continent and especially the European Union is considered to be one of the best places to live in the world. However, there are still many problems that are growing in many countries. One of them is the perception of the LGBTQI+ community.
Listen to the podcast and get to know more what Aleesha and Kacper have to say about this!