European Youth Event (EYE) 2025

Every two years, the European Youth Event (EYE) brings together thousands of young people from across Europe and beyond at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. This year it was co-hosted by the European Youth Forum, who set up a large EYE Village next to the parliament building.  The event welcomed around 8,000 young people including individuals with an interest in …

The Future of Rural Areas and Farming: Youth Voices at the Policy Table

On 7th and 8th of May, Martin Siemen, Vice Chair for External Affairs at Rural Youth Europe, had the opportunity to participate in two important events that are shaping the future of agriculture and rural development in the EU. The first was the 2nd Youth Policy Dialogue hosted by Commissioner Christophe Hansen and the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development …

New Project: CORE

We are delighted to announce that we are partners on a brand new project – CORE – the Coalition for Social Studies in Rural and Agricultural Youth in Europe. This project was created with the aim of constituting a partnership between rural and agricultural youth organisations, research institutes, and the private sector to address the critical issue of youth employment …

Eva Kotnik: European Youth Conference 2025

Brief overview of the European Youth Conference 2025 in Braga The European Youth Conference in Braga, organised in collaboration with the Council of Europe, the Braga Youth Center, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the City of Braga, the Portuguese Institute for Sport and Youth, and the European Youth Forum, aimed to strengthen youth participation at the local and …

We are hiring a Policy Officer!

Policy Officer  Rural Youth Europe is recruiting a Policy Officer. The Policy Officer will be responsible for shaping and driving Rural Youth Europe’s advocacy efforts, ensuring that rural youth issues are effectively represented in European policymaking. This includes policy research, drafting position papers, engaging with policymakers, and contributing to advocacy campaigns on diverse key rural youth issues, including sustainability and …

Join our Pool of External Representatives!

Are you a young person from a rural area who enjoys raising awareness on rural issues, interested in advocating for the rights of rural youth and willing to use your voice to represent youth? Rural Youth Europe is looking for YOU to become a member of our Pool of External Representatives (PER)! Background: As our organisation keeps growing and rural …

The 5 Nations Conference by Fiona O Leary

Ealier this month, our Group 1 representative for the UK and Ireland, Fiona O Leary, attended the 2024 Five Nations Conference in Bangor C. Down in Northern Ireland. In her own words, here is a round-up of this incredibly informative and inspiring event. On Wednesday the 17th of October 2024, I hopped in my car after work and drove the …

Exploring future pathways for a sustainable food system transformation

At the start of October, member of our pool of external representatives (PER), Charlotte Jackson from NFYFC, attended the University of Bologna in Italy. She was attending an event entitled ‘Exploring future pathways for a sustainable food system transformation’, which was co-organised by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission and the University of Bologna, Department of Agricultural and …

Rural Voices: Energy Transition 101

By Caroline O Connor, member of Macra Na Feirme, the Irish Young Farmers and Rural Youth Organisation.  A friend of mine from Macra na Feirme rang me on the 20th August and asked me if I wanted to go to Manchester for 5 days to a Rural Youth Europe event on renewable energy. I was at a loose end at …

Introducing the Rural Youth Association, Poland!

At this year’s General Assembly we were proud to welcome another member to the Rural Youth Europe family. Introducing… the Rural Youth Association of Poland! The Rural Youth Association (Związek Młodzieży Wiejskiej – ZMW) is an organisation dedicated to empowering and supporting young people living in rural areas. They are an organisation gathering young people from rural and small-town communities. Since 1996, …