Event report

As part of the project “Deciding Europe — Become a European Policymaker for the Day” a total of nine regional seminars are held in regional cities of the Czech Republic. In addition to a simplified simulation of the meetings of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union at each regional seminar, a discussion activity such as World Café takes place. The aim is to allow secondary school students from different regions of the Czech Republic to debate with personalities from regions and experts, academics or politicians with a European background. This will give them the opportunity to express their views on the subject, find out the opinions of their peers, learn something new and move their thoughts further. During each seminar, we try to focus on three topics: climate change and the environment, European democracy and the third topic are chosen by the participants themselves during the registration process (the offer is made up of the remaining KOBE themes). The role of invited personalities is to hold a discussion in the group, to advise participants, to open key questions and then to present the conclusions of this discussion together with the participants. Regional seminars in Ústí nad Labem with 7. 10. A total of 21 secondary school students aged 16-19 years participated in 2021. They were students from two grammar schools in Ústí nad Labem, a grammar school in Lovosice, Most, Bohosudov and also attended students of the Ústí Business Academy. The following three topics were discussed and the main ideas presented by the participants were: 1) Climate change and the environment The students primarily addressed the issue of waste sorting. They agreed that households in the Czech Republic do not manage so much and it is important to educate people more. They also discussed the question of whether the animal diet is ecological. They learned that the solution is not everyone’s transition to a plant diet, as society sometimes thinks. They also touched on the fast-fashion phenomenon. In general, they have the view that not to be afraid to express your opinion and transfer it above (e.g. to self-government or state administration) while at the same time educating people in their surroundings is the most important thing they can do. The topic was discussed with the participants by Václav Beran, head of the natural science department of the Museum of Ústí nad Labem. 2) European Democracy Students focused on the topic of the European Parliament elections and discussed possibilities to increase the participation of Czech voters in these elections. More publicity is offered as possible solutions, targeting certain groups in a targeted way. A concrete option is the popularisation of politics and elections through influencers. Students would like to see these people focus on the topics. There was also consensus that the issue of elections and active citizenship should go to schools and curricula. Students spend a lot of time at school, and they'd like the topic to open up right there. According to students’ experience, teaching does not refer to the functioning of the EU as such, let alone elections to the European Parliament, for example. Subsequently, students mentioned positive media coverage as they often hear negatively about the EU and positive news in the media do not have space, which affects, among other things, the EP elections. Adéla Rypková, the head of the Eurocentra Ústí nad Labem, discussed the topic with the participants. 3) Education and Culture and Youth Students dealt with possible improvements of J. E. Purkyně University (UJEP), which is located in Ústí nad Labem. As part of the university’s humanities, students would like to see more literary competitions or debates with experts on specific topics. In science, students would like to popularise and promote different disciplines that are not of such interest. They also focused on public perception of universities and the improvement of the university’s name. Students see the solution in restructuring the university’s leadership and showing the benefits of studying at the UJEP (e.g. Erasmus programme). It would also be useful to raise the profile of the summer schools, which are intended for secondary school students, but secondary schools do not have information about them. It would also be good to connect graduates with local high schools so that more people are interested in UJEP. The topic was discussed with the participants by Michaela Hnidová, Marketing & Event Specialist from J. E. Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem. All students were very actively involved in the activity and it was evident that they were interested in the topics. Also, guests were very pleasantly surprised by the variety of ideas, opinions and ideas. At the same time, students were interested in how to implement the proposed ideas, with which the guests advised them.