Young Europeans to save bees
In 2025 and 2026, 100 young people from across the EU will come together to discuss the decline of wild pollinator insects and develop recommendations for action on this issue for the EU institutions.
In recent years, many young people have campaigned, protested and voted for solutions to environmental problems. In opinion polls among young people, too, climate and biodiversity are always at the top of the list of priorities.
Young people are the most affected
This is not surprising. While the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution is of existential importance to humanity as a whole, young people and future generations will be hit hardest by the effects. They will have to live with the consequences of current action and inaction. This is perhaps also the reason why environmental issues (including climate protection in particular) are so common as topics in citizens' assemblies. More and more of these processes are specifically dedicated to young people.
Among the many pressing issues, the decline of flower-pollinating insects (bumblebees, moths, hoverflies, butterflies and others in addition to honeybees) is at the centre of the crisis. Solving the problem is of fundamental importance, although very few people still know enough about it.
Reasons for species decline
The well-documented decline of species in recent decades is caused by climate change, pollution, agriculture, invasive species and disease, among other factors. Due to the fundamental role of pollinators in plant reproduction, their continued decline will impact the entire living world as well as human society and affect the functioning of ecosystems and agriculture. So how should the complex practical, political and ethical issues at the heart of this crisis be addressed?
The EU Pollinators Initiative, which for the first time establishes an EU-wide framework to tackle the decline of wild pollinating insects, gives citizens an important role in this task. One of the three priorities focuses on ‘mobilising society’. This includes participatory processes to address ‘controversial issues and measures’ and ‘tensions between different stakeholders, including citizens’.
New ways of citizen participation
The European Commission wants to put this goal into practice and at the same time recognise the special energy and challenges of young people. That is why it started planning a Young Citizens' Assembly on the topic of pollinators at the beginning of 2025. The aim of this mini-public is to show new ways in which citizen participation can be integrated into the work of the EU institutions.
The Citizens' Assembly will bring together young people between the ages of 18 and 29 from across the EU. They will meet in Brussels and online in September and December 2025 and March 2026. The mini-public will provide space and time for young people to learn together, share knowledge, visions and experiences, and discuss the main issues related to pollinator insect decline.
Recommendations for action for EU institutions
Throughout the process, the participants are involved in identifying topics. They formulate the terms of the debate on controversial biodiversity issues and formulate recommendations for action for the European Parliament, the European Council and the EU Commission.
In addition to this thematic dimension, the Citizens' Assembly also has a methodological task, as it is a pilot project for a possible permanent participation procedure. The citizens' assembly is part of the European Parliament's pilot project “Youth for pollinators - fostering youth engagement and participatory governance in pollinator conservation”. The project aims to empower youth to get involved in one of the key issues of the biodiversity crisis.
Aiming for long-term youth participation
As a pilot project, the Citizens‘ Assembly will test the feasibility and value of a youth-led mini-public as part of EU biodiversity governance. The aim is to create a permanent process for youth participation. Therefore, the mini-public will include many co-creation elements. As part of this, the participants will also develop recommendations on what permanent citizen participation should look like.
The Young Citizens' Assembly builds on several years of cooperation between the EU Competence Centre for Participatory and Deliberative Democracy and the EU Commission's Directorate-General for the Environment: A series of participatory processes on pollinator decline were carried out as part of the latter. The project was also discussed with experts in the field of youth participation.
Involvement of civil society and interest groups
As part of its learning work, the Citizens' Assembly will also look at art-based methods and tools. By setting up an advisory committee, the aim is to involve civil society and interest groups more closely. In addition, the work of the mini-public will explore new ways of integrating the Citizens' Engagement Platform. The aim is to make the work of the citizens' assembly known to all residents of the EU.