Event report

The European Centre for Advanced Studies (ECAS), a joint, independent and interdisciplinary research institution of Leuphana University Lüneburg (Leuphana) and the University of Glasgow (UofG), held a student workshop on 14 January 2022 in the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe. ECAS was funded and supported by the Lower Saxonian Ministry for Federal and European Affairs and Regional Development (MB Niedersachsen). The workshop was assigned to the overarching theme of "Climate Change and Environment" and dealt with: "A Green Deal for the Future of Europe". The future of Europe will be decisively determined by the question of whether the EU can adopt and implement an effective climate protection policy. The workshop gave students the opportunity to develop their own ideas on how this can be done. After a welcoming speech by Stefan Nolte (Deputy Head of Department, Lower Saxony Ministry for Federal and European Affairs and Regional Development), the students and other interested participants were given a brief introduction to the topic in three keynote speeches, on the basis of which they could develop their own ideas. First, the background to the Conference on the Future of Europe was explained by Maria Fletcher (Senior Lecturer in European Law, University of Glasgow) in her keynote on the EU Citizen's Initiative: "The Background to the Conference on the Future of Europe: The EU Citizen's Initiative". In particular, the importance of the involvement of EU citizens in the relaunch of the European Integration process has been underlined and the valuable contribution initiatives such as the Conference for the Future of Europe make. Jörg Philipp Terhechte (Professor of Public Law, European and International Law as well as Antitrust and Regulatory Law, Leuphana University of Lüneburg) then examined the Green Deal from the perspective of European economic law. He argued, that the Green Deal may lead to fundamental changes within the EU, not only in the field of economic policy, but for the EU as a whole. Thus, it might represent an opportunity to review the previous constitutional ambitions of the EU. Finally, Jelena Bäumler (Professor of Public Law and International Law with a focus on sustainability, Leuphana University of Lüneburg) explained the broad contents of the Green Deal, especially with regard to sustainability. In particular, she pointed out that there are many tasks ahead of us in light of inter-generational equity and the achievement of a more sustainable future for Europe, which might also require a fundamental transformation of the EU itself. Due to the ongoing restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the workshop took place in an online format via Zoom. It was conducted in English. The workshop was divided into three parts: a. Welcome and Keynote Speeches, b. Working Session I and c. Working Session II. The structure for the working sessions were adapted from the basic template for participatory workshops sketched in the step-by-step guide for event organisers. At the beginning of the workshop, three professors from Leuphana and the UofG gave short keynote speeches (of about 15 minutes each) on the topic of "A Green Deal for the Future of Europe" to shed light on the background and purpose of the conference, to outline the topic of "Climate Change and the Environment" and to sketch the legal, political and structural foundations of the European Union and the Green Deal. It is important to note that although Professor Bäumler in particular described basic features of the Green Deal, the experts did not weigh in on specific aspects or policy initiatives. This was followed by Working Session I. After a brief round of introductions, participants first generated ideas in response to one of the following short introductory writing prompts. The first option was to identify two or more current environmental challenges facing the EU and to discuss possible solutions. In response to the second prompt, participants were asked to imagine a successful Green Deal and Europe 10, 20 or 30 years in the future. In a next step, participants shared their results with two or three others in breakout sessions and collected all insights and shared interests or concerns on an Etherpad. At the end of this part of the sessions, participants returned to the main session to identify key issues and action with the entire group. Another Etherpad was used to collect and organize the generated ideas. In a next step, the key interests were identified by the students. Although the results covered a wide range of issues and actions, participants agreed to focus on two areas: agriculture and transportation. Points related to these areas were clustered and used as a starting point for the next step (scheduled after the break). At the beginning of Working Session II, participants reviewed results generated so far and discussed the intended outcome, that is, a concise statement describing their recommendations and a short paragraph outlining their reasoning for this recommendation. Participants then joined one of the two breakout sessions focused on the key areas (agriculture and transportation) to turn ideas collected so far into a draft statement and, in some cases, to develop individual points. Returning to the main session, each group gave a short presentation to the other one on their results and received feedback in return. Because the merged text was a basic draft at the end of this sessions, a group of six participants agreed to meet with the moderator in a one-hour follow up session six days later to edit the draft. The final version of the text created on January 14 and edited on January 20 included two key recommendations on agriculture and transportation, the two issues that had received most attention by participants. This text and other documentation on the event (including this report) were reviewed by the entire group (as well as event organisers and moderator) before it was uploaded to the Conference website. The final policy recommendations made were: “We strongly encourage the EU to support farmers and others who seek to develop new agricultural practices such as vertical farming and/or urban farming, especially in high-density areas such as cities.” Vertical farming, for example, may complement production on fields by expanding the available space for growing crops. With urban farming, unused or little used spaces in cities, for example roof-tops or parks, can become sites where regional and seasonal vegetables or other plants are grown, thereby limiting the transport of off-season vegetables or exotic fruits. We also expect the biodiversity of cities to increase, especially when it comes to insects and other small animals. Other steps could include, for example, building roofs on cattle fields (providing areas for gardening or the installation of solar panels). Practices such as vertical farming would also decrease the use of pesticides and reduce the need to rely on genetically modified crops. “We also recommend that the EU provide funding to extend railroad networks at the regional, national, and the EU level.” A greater emphasis on this mode of transportation (as opposed to planes or cars) would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially if the electricity provided for trains would be generated using solar, wind and other alternative energy sources. The majority of participants were students from the Master International Economic Law (LL.M.), a double-degree programme of Leuphana and UofG. In total, there were 18 students attending the event. Next to this, there were five ECAS team members present, four speakers (at the beginning of the workshop) and one moderator. The students participating in the workshop were aged between 22-27 years. 70% of the students were female and 30 % were male. The main themes of the debates on the future of Europe in the context of the Green New Deal were around the field of transportation and agriculture, but there were also the issue of a decrease in wildlife, climate change in general, the generation of more sustainable energy, more sustainability in the fashion sector and high greenhouse gas emissions in general. The challenges that the European Union and its citizens face on their path towards a more sustainable future are achieving climate justice and reducing high greenhouse gas emissions. The participants of the workshop recognised the general problems associated with ongoing climate change and global warming, such as the decreasing tendency in wildlife. Among the factors worsening the overall state of the climate, students mentioned the lack of sustainability in the fashion sector as well as in the food industry. Generating more sustainable energy sources was raised in the discourse to avoid the ecologically destructive footprints that future generations will have to face. In terms of actions and potential policies to help regulate the issues and challenges mentioned, students pointed to the need for general education about the consequences of everyday actions, such as wasting food on a huge scale, or travelling mainly by means of transport that are harmful to the environment. Particularly important for the development of environmental awareness in future generations could be education provided by schools on the positive effects of growing home gardens without pesticides or purchasing food directly from local producers. Students also called for changes in the prices of certain food products (e.g. meat and eggs) or services (e.g. utility taxes or more affordable train tickets), which they see as facilitating possible ad hoc changes. Ultimately, and as noted above, participants agreed that they would focus on agriculture and transportation and consider possible actions that could and should be taken by the EU in the future. Regarding the former, participants were very much interested in the potential of new agricultural technologies and practices such as urban or vertical farming as means to reduce the harmful impact of traditional farming practices, for example the use of pesticides or fossil fuels (needed for the production and transportation of produce over long distances). They also discussed the potential social benefits of this approach, for example greater access to local or regional organic food and lower food prices. Environmental and social issues were also of concern to the other group working on transportation. Participants called for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions due to an expanded railroad network using electricity generated from solar, wind and other alternative energy sources. This mode of transportation could, participants argued, also be a means to integrate and develop underdeveloped areas and to thereby reduce regional and national disparities (and political tensions). The general atmosphere was very productive. Already during the keynotes, participants indicated that they were very much concerned with many of the areas or policies currently discussed by the EU. This impression was confirmed in the working sessions as students were eager to participate as well as share, discuss and develop their own ideas and to engage with those of others. At the end of the event, participants decided to further refine their ideas and to meet for a follow-up meeting to finalise the text (see above) and also upload it to the website of the Conference on the Future of Europe.