Europe 2025 students present in Brussels

Sahil, Lindsay and Christian share their impressions from EuroPCom:

"Why were a bunch of students invited to speak at an event for public communication experts? This is what was puzzling me, right up to the start of EuroPCom. In the opening session, a speaker said, based on the song written by Frank Sinatra, “What is Europe to me?”

Voila! Europe 2025 was exactly about that, and I got my answer – we were in the right place!

Personally, presenting at EuroPCom was an enriching experience. Not only that, it also bolstered my belief that public organisations, in this case the Committee of Regions of the European Union, welcome bold, creative initiatives powered by the vision of the youth. It was heartening to discover the synergy between the statements made by one of the senior officials of DG Communication, and the findings of the Europe 2025 project.

The assembled bureaucrats and public communication professionals showed immense interest in Europe 2025, and I hope that there is a possibility of organising a follow-up project focused on the upcoming European Parliament elections taking place in 2014. I also hope that other projects build on our work so far." - Sahil Deo

"It was a great experience to be presenting our project in front of a distinguished audience of public communication and campaigning experts. I was particularly taken with the huge interest in our project which, neither involving a huge PR budget nor employing an extensive campaigning team, was to be seen as somewhat of a peculiarity among the initiatives presented. Yet, I had the feeling that it was exactly this ad-hoc character of our project and the involvement of many young Europeans that sparked interest in it. In getting in touch with many campaigning experts and officials, the conference allowed us to emphasise one of the main findings of our project, namely that young Europeans demand to be included in EU political processes and that they want to voice their interests, desires and fears in furthering a common European cause." - Christian Freudlsperger

"I found the conference to be a great experience. Our workshop in particular really opened my eyes to the range of ‘campaigns for Europe’ and the exceptionally qualified people that ensure their success. The conversation was stimulating and really focused on some of the key issues for WG2. I got the chance to discuss Europe’s ‘lack of responsiveness’ with a whole range of communications experts whose careers are focused on ensuring communication between Europe and its citizens, at all levels of governance.

'We Europeanise failure and nationalise success.' That is the one quote that really stands out for me from the conference. If the EU is to create a truly inclusive identity, success can no longer be defined along national lines. If this is to happen, the EU must not only celebrate success, it must acknowledge and respond to failure." - Lindsay Aqui