The European Commission has therefore launched a brand-new 3D digital “Voice your Vision” Platform as a central component of the European Year of Youth: an interactive platform in which young Europeans can record their personal and unique message.

The objective of “Voice your Vision” is to empower young Europeans, from all backgrounds and corners of the continent, to voice their own vision of the future – ranging from issues of employment, inclusion, peace and security, to climate change, education, mental health, and more.

In the wake of the global pandemic and faced with the ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine, young people’s voices are becoming ever more relevant. To this end, “Voice your Vision” functions as a cutting edge, interactive voices space that literally gives people the opportunity to unmute and record their very own, personalised message, and share their opinions and ideas about the topics they find most relevant.

The platform has been developed to cater to any message, in all EU official languages (plus Norwegian, Turkish, Serbian, North Macedonian and Icelandic). Once added, each voice generates its own, unique 3D waveform interacting with every other recording on the platform – and enables everyone to listen to any voice, in any language, on any device at any moment.

In EU Youth Commissioner Mariya Gabriel’s words, “’Voice your Vision’ is personified through a young, meaningful, dynamic, and open spirit of co-creation defined through the Year of Youth. One that also functions as a timely enabler for Europe’s Youth to show-up, speak-up and share their concerns and ideas about the future. ’Voice your Vision’ could not have come at a more relevant time for all youngsters, not only as European citizens - but also as members of a society that is now, more than ever, experiencing testing times.”

On the importance of the 2022 European Year of Youth itself, Commissioner Gabriel added: “We ask all young people to get involved and engage now. Their voices are a vital component of Europe’s journey to growth, knowledge, innovation, opportunity and better, more relevant youth-oriented solutions. We will listen attentively and ensure that Youth policies can be developed in more open and collaborative spaces, and that all voices are listened to and addressed this year and beyond.” As a key part of the European Year of Youth campaign Member States are contributing nationally and locally to promote young people’s engagement in many different activities.

The official start of the European Youth Year 2022 has already taken place in Cyprus, on 28 February 2022, within the framework of the "Citizens' Free University", while, within the framework of the Opening Ceremony, a public debate was organized on “The effects of the pandemic on the mental health of young people”.

According to Mr. Panagiotis Sentonas, Commissioner for the Citizen, and National Coordinator of the European Year of Youth in Cyprus, more than 34 central activities are planned in the context of the European Year of Youth in the coming months, as well as a number of other actions. These include workshops, training programs, webinars, conferences and discussions with the active participation of young people, as well as an online survey, organized by the Representation of the European Commission in Cyprus, with the support of the European Parliament Office in Cyprus. Examples are the Idea Workshops on Improving Public Consultation, organized by the Office of the Commissioner for the Citizen, in the framework of the Democracy Forum, on 15 April 2022. In the same context, on 29-30 April, the Digital Democracy Hackathon was held. The actions culminated with the Democracy Forum itself, on 6 May 2022, the opening of which was launched by Commissioner Mariya Gabriel. The Forum and the aforementioned actions (Ideas Workshops and Hackathon) took place for the first time in Cyprus.

The new Voice your Vision platform will transition into these activities and will also perform as a central characteristic of the European Year of Youth’s Legacy, beyond 2022 – with young people’s voices acting as a driver of change and co-developer of future policy.

About the European Year of Youth 2022

The European Year of Youth 2022 was launched by the European Commission as “a year dedicated to empowering those who have dedicated so much to others”, as announced by President von der Leyen in the State of the Union Address in 2021. It is therefore a year fully dedicated to youth, aiming to empower, encourage and enrich them with new opportunities and new ways of participating and taking an active citizenship role in society.

As an overall goal, the European Year of Youth aims to encourage all young people to make their voices heard, and to participate by sharing their vision on the Year’s key topics1, as well as their hopes for the future of Europe. Also, the Year aims to provide visibility and promote European values whilst spreading messages of solidarity across youth audiences, as well as supporting Ukraine through all kind of activities.

At the same time, the European Year of Youth is represented by a spirit of co-creation and multiple participation, to which hundreds of youth organisations and stakeholders are actively contributing. This translates into many national and local activations – more than 1650 activities all over Europe are already uploaded in the European Year of Youth website – bringing young people together to engage in the Year in a positive and relevant way.

More information at www.yearofyouth.cy and What is the European Year of Youth? | European Youth Portal (europa.eu)
Official hashtags: #EYY2022 #EuropeanYearOfYouth
Follow the European Year of Youth on social media: Instagram: @european_youth_eu Facebook: @EuropeanYouthEU Twitter: @EuropeanYouthEU