Infographic : overwhelming interest of young people

The European Youth Event (#EYE2016) is to be held in Strasbourg on 20-21 May 2016 and 3 months before the event there are already 7 500 participants for this second edition. Young people are coming from all the EU Member States with France, Germany and Italy topping the list but also candidate and neighbouring countries. The average age of participants is 21 (participants can be aged 16 to 30). By far the most popular channels for attracting participants were online and social media platforms, together with youth organisations and word of mouth.

Contributors to the EYE programme
More than 150 activities will be organised in Strasbourg and more than 50 youth groups and youth organisations are contributing to organise about half of all activities, making it an event for young people by young people. The official partners contribute to the programme in many ways. Artistic performances such as the "EYE in the city: Music meets graffiti" event, organised in and by the City of Strasbourg on Friday evening will be one highlights of the EYE. The European Youth Forum is organising the YOFest, creatively combining politics, culture, education and fun. Other artistic performances are organised by the Foundation of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen and the European Federation of Professional Circus Schools (FEDEC).

The new partner, the European Space Agency (ESA) is giving the EYE this year a scientific and space dimension, while ARTE and the European Youth Press are again media partners. The European Commission is contributing with their new Erasmus+ programme, several workshops on how to bridge the skills gap and tackle unemployment, the number one problem of many young people. Another partner, Games for Change Europe, is putting participants into different roles via digital games that have a social impact dimension. The Council of Europe is lending its expertise in the fields of human rights, democracy and cultural pluralism.

Volunteers
The event could not take place without volunteers; 600 applications were received, mostly coming from the area of Strasbourg. Our partner, the Institut des Études Politiques de Strasbourg (IEP) has done a great job in recruiting them.

Next steps
Follow our next steps - launch of the updated version of the EYE programme on 4 March 2016 and the opening of registration for activities on 14 March 2016 (only for registered participants).