Many young people still believe strongly in Europe. Every year the European Parliament awards the Charlemagne Youth Prize to honour projects run by young people to foster understanding and promote the European identity. This year’s winners visited the Parliament on 16 and 17 October to present their projects to the culture committee and meet president Martin Schulz.
Who won in 2013?
The first prize went to the Spanish website project “Europe on track”, represented by Luis Alvarado Martínez and Kathrin Renner: “We tried to bring Europe to students, interviewing them about how they see Europe in 2020.”
The Polish “Discover Europe” photo contest project picked up the second prize. “By showing pictures of Europe, we enable people to see it in a new light,” said Katarzyna Siennicka.
The third prize was given to the Estonian exchange project “Story of my life”, which aims to forge closer links between young Europeans and elderly Estonians.
Getting your message across
The winners praised the prize for highlighting projects that promote Europe. Mr Martínez said: “This prize is the occasion to bring a fresh and positive message about Europe.” Anne-May Kaldoja, a represenative of the “Story of My Life” added: “It shows that Europe is not only about big countries.”
A stepping stone to the future
Both “Europe on track” and “Discover Europe” are now working on documentaries.
Are you the next one?
Are you part of a project promoting Europe among young people? A new edition of the Charlemagne youth prize starts on 24 October.
Read more about the Youth Charlemagne Prize by clicking on the links on the right and see how you can apply for next year’s edition.

REF. : 20131014STO22261