Youth from across the European Union - from Portugal and Italy to Sweden and Estonia - are developing their own visions for a common future - and in the process bringing a new energy to Europe. Young Ideas for Europe, an initiative of the Robert Bosch Foundation, is the largest participatory youth project in Europe. More than 1,000 European young people are working to create an "Action Plan: New Energy for Europe" by 2010, which will be personally delivered to the Swedish and Spanish European Council Presidencies. "Young Ideas for Europe anchors a new political culture in Europe" said Dieter Berg, Chairman of the Robert Bosch Foundation Executive Board. "The initiative creates a new space for political discussions - for youth between themselves as well as for established politics."

At the heart of Young Ideas for Europe is a unique innovation workshop: over the course of four days, youth participants are brought up to speed on the latest developments in the area of energy technology and energy, and are challenged to create forward-looking solutions for sustainable energy supplies for Europe. In the process, they establish mock political parties, formulate party manifestos and debate their ideas with actual European politicians and members of parliament. Concurrent to the innovation workshops in Germany are workshops in European partner countries.

Young Ideas for Europe places a special emphasis on the online community: "YouTube, StudiVZ and Twitter - it is particularly young people that increasingly organize outside of the established political systems. They discuss on online forums and connect with each other through internet platforms," said Berg. "With Young Ideas for Europe, young people share their experiences via online forums and hold a Europe-wide dialogue about the future of the EU. In this way, the initiative becomes a meeting space for European youth."

During the 2008 pilot phase, 600 youth from six European countries discussed over 25 project weeks the future of Europe. The response was tremendous: "It is impressive to see the development of young people in the course of a week," said Dr. Klaus Hänsch, Member of the European Parliament and former President of the European Parliament, "Youth, who had just been thinking about the football results of the European Championships, suddenly took a stand at the podium as engaged European politicians and advocated their manifestos with blazing speeches. Through this engagement, it's clear: the future of Europe is in good hands!"