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Jesmond Buttigieg from Europe Direct Gozo, together with Joe Sciberras from Europe Direct Valletta and Isabelle Anne Caruana Dingli representing the school teachers are taking part in joint testing panels in Brussels. More than 100 participants from all 27 EU countries are taking part.

One of the main scope of these joint meetings is to make EU publication contents easy to reach and fun to teach. During the first day different meetings took place discussing different subjects such as, communication in post-pandemic Europe, best practice exchange, reaching and subsequently teaching about EU and what it stands for to specific audiences and accesibility of EU publications.

Brainstorming sessions took place and tackled different subjects such as EU statistics, the EU in slide revamp and the EU suitcase. Info sessions about the Conference on the Future of Europe followed.

In the last session all those present were informed about updates to existing EU publications and the launch in the near future of new publications. The day was concluded by Anita Pannebakker, DG Communication who thanked all the participants for the immense input given throughout the day. Other sessions will take place on 14 October followed by the final conclusions and other announcements by Anita Pannebakker.

On Wednesday 14 September the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, delivered her third State of the Union address.

She began her speech by reminiscing the beginning of the war last February. The brutality of war was counteracted by the European countries, by showing a strong wave of solidarity.  The Union has risen to the occasion immediately, determined to do the right thing. Ms Von der Leyen assured that Europe’s solidarity with Ukraine will not be shaken. The next step is the reduction of the dependency of the European countries on Russia’s fossil fuels, infect diversification is already underway. EU member states are already helping vulnerable households, but the next step is the capping of revenues of companies producing electricity.

Ms Von der Leyen also said that Europe and the whole world were hit by the unprecedented pandemic but unity amongst the union secured over 4 billion doses, not only for the European countries but the whole world.

She also talked about the future of our children which must be secured by sustainable investments.  Digitalisation is the future.

Ms Von der Leyen also paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.

She also assured that the Commission will present measures to update the legislative framework to fight corruption.

Finally, Ms Von der Leyen urged all the members to applaud two polish women, who reached out when refugees from Ukraine reached Poland and together with more than 3000 volunteers welcomed them 24/7. She concluded by saying that that is the European spirit.

Please find Ms Von der Leyen’s integral speech by clicking here.

On the 14 September the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will deliver her third State of the Union address, to the Parliament.

The address will take in consideration the achievements of the previous year and presents the challenges and priorities for the coming year.

The President will set out all the goals of the Commission and how it will address the immediate challenges the European Union is facing, and how these will shape the future of the EU and its policies.

The winners of the 2021 Europe Direct Gozo Eco-Schools/YRE/LEAF Project, the Gozo College Middle School, utilised the winning price, sponsored by BOV to decorate their school corridors with murals containing sustainability related messages. The concept behind these symbolic paintings  on three large panels was to create visual elements that impart messages related to integration of people from different countries, the acceptance of different cultural practices and adoption of social values such as respect for diversity, tolerance and inclusion.

Panel 1 illustrates a typical Maltese landscape. Two persons reach out their hand and touch each other’s fingers to form the shape of a heart. It is a fact that the population in Malta and Gozo has increased considerably throughout recent years as many foreigners emigrated to Malta due to problems in their own country of origin or for work reasons. This phenomenon has changed our community in different ways. These people are contributing  as well in  making Malta a better place so we should all live in peace and harmony  with each other and respect each others’ differences. An extract from  a John Lennon’s song that promotes these social values is included on the side of the panel.

Panel 2, the central part of the two intersecting circles illustrates a plant with deep roots. The circles represent different cultures and the roots stand for the knowledge and practices developed by different cultures. By understanding and respecting different cultures we become  better persons and contribute further to our educational growth. 

Panel 3 illustrates the core of the world as a large heart that is able to reproduce smaller hearts like a plant. The artwork underlines the importance of peace, love, tolerance, inclusion  and respect for diversity.

The 2021 edition of the ‘Youth 4 Entrepreneurship Gozo’ featured on this month’s edition of Il-Ħajja f’Għawdex. We would like to thank once again our partners on the event: Ministry for the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses; Aġenzija Żgħażagħ; BOV; Gozo Regional Development Authority and Europe Direct Gozo!

A special mention goes to the youths involved who made this event extra special, and who all contributed with their own ideas on sustainability and digitalisation.

We look forward to again launch this year’s edition!

You can see the full article here.

The #MySocialRights video competition, launched by the European Commission, is giving young people the opportunity to shine a light on social issues they care
about, while being in with a chance to win some great prizes. Are you passionate about social rights and bubbling over with creative inspiration? Then read on!

The competition offers young Europeans the chance to depict their ideas and hopes for the future of social Europe and show what it means to them. All you need is a little imagination, a keen eye and a passion for social issues, and you are good to go.

How to participate?
To enter the Competition all you need to do is record a video diary of one second per day spanning seven days. The video should depict social rights, or the lack of social rights, around you. To reach the widest possible audience, we encourage you to make greater use of pictures and images,
and to rely less on speech. Show, don’t tell is the golden rule!

Then you should upload your video to your Facebook public account along with a catchy caption before 5 December 2021. Remember to follow and tag @Socialeurope and use the hashtag #MySocialRights.

Great Prizes

There are some great prizes on offer, including a Go-Pro camera, an Interrail pass, Polaroid cameras or a donation to the charity of your choice. So, get creative,
get your smartphone, get filming and get involved with #MySocialRights. To read the competition rules, click here.

EuropeanConstitution.eu set up the Jean Monnet Prize for European Integration to honour Jean Monnet’s life and dedication to European integration by rewarding projects that support this ideal in a concrete and apolitical manner for European citizens. The winning project receives a €1,500 grant.

Where other prizes may reward public figures of high standing, the Jean Monnet Prize focuses on citizens’ personal engagement for Europe and activities that impact the day-to-day life of Europeans. The Jean Monnet Prize is an open competition. It can reward any project contributing the strengthening of European integration and of the European spirit. This object is purposefully kept broad, in order to increase the diversity of competitors.

Projects need to be either implemented or under implementation; the Jean Monnet Prize does not reward projects that have yet to be implemented or that seek funding in order to start their implementation. This is to meant to improve the assessment of the project’s concrete impact for citizens.

For more information visit: https://europeanconstitution.eu/2021-jean-monnet-prize.

All applications must be made online at: https://europeanconstitution.eu/jmp2021-application. No paper or email applications will be considered. Deadline for applications is 9th October 2021. The application process is entirely free and no expenses are asked of participants at any point.

#JeanMonnetPrize #JPM2021

European Food Security Agency (EFSA) launched end of July the #EUChooseSafeFood communication campaign that will run until end October 2021. In 2021, the campaign will focus in nine countries: Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, and Spain. In the coming years, countries will rotate.

The campaign is raising awareness about the science behind our food and tell the story of the scientists who work to make sure it’s safe. Its overall goal is to encourage citizens to think critically about their everyday food choices. The campaign targets a non-specialised citizen audience, aged 25-45, with an extra focus on women and young parents. This audience is interested in well-being, health, cooking, an active lifestyle and/or food safety topics, but may sometimes feel overwhelmed by the complexity of information available.

You can access the main campaign page for each country (translated) of the EU official microsite #EUChooseSafeFood

For the 9 focus countries of this year the microsite is localised with specific content/topics.

For more information click here.