Challenge
The European Union has established a cross-national initiative called The European Youth Dialogue to involve young people all around Europe in the Commission's political work. In Denmark, DUF (Dansk Ungdoms Fællesråd) facilitates this initiative which involves collecting insights from young people regarding EU-related issues. DUF (Dansk Ungdoms Fællesråd) wished to investigate how young people perceive the EU in order to create targeted actions to increase awareness and engagement about the Youth Dialogue. The study showed that young people perceive the EU as a complex institution located distant. The target group finds it difficult to make sense of the political processes, participate in democracy, and to get their voices heard as young European citizens. And even though the very purpose of the Youth Dialogue is to make young Europeans’ voices heard, very few young people in Denmark know of the Youth Dialogue and their work.
Approach
DUF asked Epinion to activate both the results of the study and the insights about the Youth Dialogue in an engaging way that could appeal to young people in Denmark and raise awareness about the different democratic ways to participate in the European processes. DUF wanted to use the product for at least five years to enlighten the target group about the EU, the Youth dialogue and recruit new EU delegates.
Resolution
Our solution was to create three short videos with each a key purpose: to give insights in the barriers for young people to participate in EU matters in a personal setup that makes the listener feel included, to explain how the European Youth Dialogue works in a light and engaging way, and finally to call young people to participate in the Youth Dialogue and potentially recruit new delegates. Each of the videos are customized to DUF's different distribution channels such as education, social media, and web pages. With personal storytelling and graphic elements, the insights are brought to life to help bring the European Union closer to young people in Denmark.
