EurHope: The most ambitious citizens’ engagement initiative ahead of the EU elections 2024
Brussels, 09.05.2023
On Tuesday 9 May, JEF and Make.org will launch EurHope, a unique, public and participatory initiative, which will reach one million European young citizens from across the European Union.
In a context of multiple social, environmental, economic, health and democratic crises, and shaken by the war in Ukraine, young Europeans must become the spearhead of Europe’s destiny, more than ever.
EurHope will combine transnational volunteering and local activism with innovative digital engagement tools. In particular, in the first phase of the campaign, a multilingual online platform in all 27 member states will provide the space for exchanging and gathering the voices of Europeans ahead of the elections in 2024. The initiative will then spearhead the mobilisation of citizens and the sharing of ideas for the future with candidates and members of civil society.
“A Europe in which the public debate ahead of elections only takes place on the national level is not a proper Union. A constructive, multilingual and participatory exchange between citizens across borders is needed to build a more united and democratic Europe.” – affirms Antonio Argenziano, President, JEF Europe.
EurHope will be announced on Tuesday, May 9 with a press conference at the European Parliament in Strasbourg at 17:00 (Daphne Caruana Galizia Room, Weiss N-1/201). Journalists will be able to physically attend the press presentation at the EP or via video transmission here: https://bit.ly/42d4gAg
Parliamentarians, journalists and civil society members will be by our side as the EurHope campaign takes its first step on an exciting journey. At the same time, young volunteers from JEF will spread the campaign beyond Strasbourg with over 30 EurHope events taking place in the launch week in several European countries.
“Europe is at a crossroads, the next elections will be drastically challenging and crucial for our future. This is why EurHope will engage young citizens on a massive scale, to put their priorities in the centre of the public debate and counter negative influences by building an Agenda of Hope” – states Alicia Combaz, CEO & Co-Founder, Make.org.
We invite all citizens, all members of civil society, all member states, regions, cities and all committed organisations to join us on eurhope.org and be part of the most ambitious bottom-up initiative towards the European elections.
About JEF Europe
The Young European Federalists (JEF Europe) is a political youth NGO advocating for the creation of a democratic European federation as a guarantee for peace, the rule of law and human rights. JEF Europe promotes true European citizenship, works for the widening and deepening of the European Union and strives for a more just and integrated society on the European continent. Established in 1972, the organisation has more than 10,000 activists organised in over 250 national, regional and local sections in 31 countries. The ideals and aims of JEF Europe are defined in the Manifesto of Ventotene, the Political Platform and resolutions adopted by its statutory bodies.
About Make.org
Make.org is an independent, European civic-tech organisation that engages citizens, associations, public institutions, businesses and the media in the positive transformation of society. For this, Make.org has developed very large-scale collective intelligence methods and tools that combine artificial intelligence with sociology. These operations are all designed and implemented to produce a concrete and positive impact, whether in the context of public action or civic action. Make.org systematically respects an extremely demanding code of ethics under the supervision of an independent Ethics Council. In just a few years, Make.org has involved 9 million citizens, more than 50 public institutions (European, German and French governments, regions and cities), more than 80 large companies and nearly 600 NGOs in its operations.
This initiative is supported by the European Parliament & (in alphabetical order) à Voté, Accor, Arte, Association Civic Tech, Bertelsmann Foundation, Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, Caisse des Dépôts, Centro Studi sul Federalismo, Citizens For Europe, City of Paris, Civico Europa, Clear Channel, Debating Europe, Decider Ensemble, European Association for Local Democracy, European Environmental Bureau,, Franco-German Youth Office, Groupe SOS, Istituto di Affari Internazionali, Metropolitan area of Nice, Mediatransports, Mladi EU, Ouest France, Robert Schuman Foundation, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Social Good Accelerator.