How can European institutions be explained to teenagers in a way that feels concrete, relevant, and engaging? This was the question at the heart of the European Institutions Discovery Day, organised by Collegio Matteo Ricci in Anderlecht (Region of Brussels) within a broader exchange programme between German and Belgian students, with the active contribution of ECEEPA as a partner of the IMPACT project.

With around 35 students aged between 14 and 17, the initiative aimed to reduce the distance between young people and EU institutions, showing how European decision-making impacts everyday life and how citizens (especially young ones) can actively engage with it. 

ECEPAA started off the day with an interactive quiz on the European Union, led by project assistant Sara Cincotti. It introduced a series of basic historical, institutional facts and curiosities, serving as both an icebreaker and an initial assessment of the students’ knowledge while sparking curiosity and engagement. 

The morning continued with a series of presentations attempting to show how EU decisions translate into concrete impacts at local, regional, and societal levels. Speakers and students discussed the topics of technological development, Brexit, the role of local and regional actors in EU policymaking, and examples of youth organizations’ involvement, emphasising that young Europeans are not passive recipients of EU policies, but can instead directly influence and shape them. ECEPAA also highlighted the importance of think tanks, NGOs and civil society in contributing to EU debates and holding institutions accountable, with a particular focus on European asylum and migration policies, while connecting to the existing framework of the IMPACT project. 

The core activity of the day was a role-play exercise entirely designed by ECEPAA to simulate the European Union’s decision-making process, tackling the topics of climate change, youth action and migration. This gave a chance to the young students to step into the roles of the main institutional actors involved in EU policy making (such as the European Commission and Parliament), demonstrating how participatory and interactive methods can make European policymaking more understandable and engaging for young audiences. In the afternoon, students visited the European Parliament, including the Parlamentarium and the Hemicycle. After simulating EU decision-making in the classroom, the visit allowed them to connect the learning experience with the real institutional spaces where European democracy is enacted everyday. 

Activities like the European Institutions Discovery Day play a fundamental societal role, as they reinforce democratic capacity through early civic engagement, reducing the perceived distance between citizens and the European Union, and promoting active citizenship. Thanks to interactive learning methods and role-play, young people develop the skills, confidence but above all curiosity to engage with EU policymaking in their own way, while being sensitized to real societal and environmental issues. 

To conclude, the European Institutions Discovery Day highlighted the importance of using participatory methods and direct exposure to institutions to empower young people to see themselves as active European citizens: it proved that active European citizenship starts early and can actually be exciting. For ECEPAA, this initiative was crucial in promoting its mission of translating research and policy expertise into accessible educational experiences and served as a way to promote the IMPACT project by fostering bottom-up, informed dialogue on key European and global challenges.