The Conference on the Future of Europe reached its end on the 9th of May 2022. The report on the final outcome of the Conference listed 49 proposals and more than 300 actionable measures. More (similar) opportunities to participate in EU policy making were asked by the participants. The new generation of Citizens' Panels now being organised by the European Commission are a first step in responding to citizen's requests.

The Science for Policy report presenting the results of the research Making Eat Together was recently published. It presents the results of a three-year qualitative research (2017-2020) on the school meal beyond nutrition, involving several primary and secondary schools located in Italy, Portugal and Germany.

This article is written by the European Year of Youth team. It takes a look back through the achievements and legacy of 2022, the European Year of Youth. 

Over 500 panelists from the Conference on the Future of Europe were present in the European Parliament hemicycle on December 2nd during a follow-up event. Citizens came from all member States to learn what has been done with their proposals from the four Panels. Their concrete recommendations to Europe were officially handed over last on Europe’s Day last May.

Efforts to undermine European democracy have been underway for some time - and now, democracy needs us. In its current fragile state, fighting for its future is more important than ever. You can do just that – by joining the European Capital of Democracy’s Citizens' Jury, playing a hands-on role in strengthening Europe’s democratic future!

As autocracy suffers a setback in the US midterms, there is more good news breaking this time on deliberative democracy. The European Commission and Ireland have just signed up to become the political co-leads of a new Deliberative Democracy and Citizens’ Assembly Cohort of the Summit for Democracy.

The 4th Public Participation and Deliberative Democracy Festival took place over two days from 20th – 21st October, 2022, in different locations: Brussels, Belgium; Ispra, Italy and Online (Zoom). Over the two days, approximately 150 attended in Brussels 50 in Ispra, and over 600 joining via livestream and Zoom.

On the second day of the Public Participation and Deliberative Democracy Festival (21st October 2022), Particitiz (represented by Cécile Molle and Dimitri Lemaire), in collaboration with Visuality EU (represented by Joyce Van Kerckhove) and the participation of Emilien Paulis (post doctoral researcher in political science at the university of luxembourg), organized a session on how the architecture of parliaments could be adapted to participatory democracy.

Caterina, Nicolas, Kacper and Matous... four young Europeans, with four different views towards the European Union, but who have all experienced the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE). All four were invited by Missions Publiques to join a panel of the 4th Participatory and Deliberative Democracy Festival on October 21st, 2022, organised by the Joint Research Centre in Brussels. The Conference was a turning point in their lives as young European citizens. They now expect the institutions to live up to the hopes raised by this unique process.

During the Public Participation and Deliberative Democracy Festival participants in Ispra had a chance to experience how honeybees take decisions and reflect on how this animal model can be applied also in human collective decision-making.