From 26 to 30 October 2025, three young people and project manager from Culture Goes Europe (CGE) joined the EU4YOUTH2ACT Study Visit in Brussels: Maryna Bykova, Kseniia Bihunenko, Sokhiba Zayniddinova, and Yupita Jevanska Atuna. Active in community life in Erfurt and Nuremberg, they travelled to Brussels to connect local youth realities with the EU institutions that shape many of the opportunities young people can access.
This study visit is a core EU4YOUTH2ACT activity designed to give young people first-hand experience of EU institutions and, at work package level, to promote the transparency and visibility of EU institutions . For our participants, it also became a practical “translation exercise”: learning directly from decision-makers and then bringing that knowledge back home in a way that makes sense to other young people.
Day 1 — 26.10.2025: Arrival & getting ready for Brussels
26 October was the official arrival day, with no formal programme activities planned . Still, the informal start mattered: arriving, settling in, and meeting peers from other partner countries created the foundation for the days of dialogue and shared learning ahead.
Day 2 — 27.10.2025: European Commission (DG EAC) + Council of Europe Youth Partnership
The first full day started at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) .
Visit 1: European Commission – DG EAC (Unit A3)
The programme included:
- A session on “Building the Union of Skills and how citizenship education fits in” (10:00–12:00)
- A session on EU Youth Opportunities and Programmes (12:00–13:00), including the Portal, Events and DiscoverEU team
Visit 2: Council of Europe Liaison Office + Youth Partnership
In the afternoon, participants met at the Council of Europe Liaison Office to the EU and then joined a study visit to the Youth Partnership (14:15–16:30) .
The day concluded with a shared group dinner —an important moment to debrief informally and compare what each participant found most relevant.This day directly supported the EU4YOUTH2ACT goal of equipping young people with clearer, more reliable information about EU opportunities and civic participation pathways—starting from the source (the institutions and programmes themselves).
Day 3 — 28.10.2025: Regions, civil society, and digitalisation as a bridge
Day 3 focused on how EU policymaking connects to local and regional realities—and how organised civil society helps bridge gaps.
Visit 1: European Committee of the Regions + EESC
Participants visited:
The European Economic & Social Committee (EESC)
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR)
Visit 2: JEF + Panel on digitalisation and intergenerational dialogue
In the afternoon, the group visited JEF and joined a panel discussion titled “How Digitalisation Can Bridge the Generational Gap” , followed by a Q&A and networking reception .
Day 4 — 29.10.2025: Policy dialogue in action + European Parliament role-play
Day 4 combined a high-level policy conference with an interactive European Parliament visit.
Morning: Conference — “Policy Power-Up: E-Volunteering in Action”
The conference presented policy recommendations and legislative guidelines developed through an e-volunteering project and included a keynote video message from Irena Joveva (Member of the European Parliament) , followed by panel discussions .
Afternoon: European Parliament visit + Role Play Game
Participants then visited the European Parliament and took part in a European Parliament Role Play Game .
This was the clearest “impact day” for bridging EU knowledge to youth. Policy discussions made it tangible how change happens (and how youth participation can influence it), while the role play created an embodied learning moment—helping participants return to Erfurt and Nuremberg not only with facts, but with a stronger understanding of process and agency. This aligns with the project intention to give young people direct exposure to EU institutions and their role.
Day 5 — 30.10.2025: Departure & bringing it back home
30 October was the departure day, again with no formal activities planned . But the real “programme” continued beyond Brussels: participants returned with new insights, practical references, and a clearer picture of how to communicate EU opportunities and civic participation to other young people.
Our key learnings:
- A successful study visit isn’t only about meetings—it’s also about building trust and peer connections across countries so participants can exchange how EU information reaches (or doesn’t reach) young people in different contexts.
- EU4YOUTH2ACT is not only about sharing information—it’s about how that information reaches young people. This day strengthened the “bridge-building” part of the project: connecting institutions, civil society actors, and youth perspectives, while exploring digitalisation as a real tool to reach young people where they already are.
- EU4YOUTH2ACT’s study visit is meant to strengthen transparency and visibility of EU institutions. For CGE, that translates into local follow-up: turning what we learned in Brussels into accessible information and motivation for young people in our communities.
The study visiy was organised within the project EU4YOUTH2ACT (2023-1-IT03-KA220-000154855), which is co-funded by the European Union.
