OK, I owe you all a post on my blog considering my last one was over a week ago.

So, since I last spoke to you all I have been to Brussels. I went there with my Article 12 job - I went with 5 young people under 18 from across England. We went to represent England in a conference for children from across Europe on the future of Europe and the European Union.

11 countries from across Europe were represented at the conference: England, Ireland (Eire), Scotland, Wales, France, Spain, Greece, Sweden, Bulgaria, Romania and Belgium. In total there was about 45 under 18s in the conference. It was a truly amazing experience. All of the young people from each of the countries had done research about what it was like being a young person in their own countries, the results of which were submitted in national reports to the conference.

After learning about experiences of young people from all the other countries, the rest of the first day focused on working from these reports and finding the common themes for all of Europe's children. This we did in discussion groups, with full translation of course. The power of these discussion groups was amazing - children from different European countries were working together to produce a plan for the future of Europe from the child's perspective. Groundbreaking.

The next day was the main conference (the discussions that happened the day before formed the preparatory conference for this). The day started by young people from across Europe presenting their key priorities for change to the whole of the conference, attended by various European Parliamentarians. The day continued with discussions about the key issues raised. We finished with all the young people visiting the European Parliament to present these key issues to high-level delegates to the European Convention on the Future of Europe.

I came out of the two days of conference feeling satisfied. Whether the EU Convention members listened to the children or not (probably the latter to be honest), the conference was so good for getting the young people of Europe to communicate and network. If we strive to ensure all our societies work like this, I truly believe we can create a better, more understanding and truly inclusive world. Communication and understanding are the keys to creating a better world. Pie in the sky huh? Well, after watching the young people from around Europe really do this, maybe it is achievable. Yeah yeah, I know - I'm the eternal optimist, but optimism is much better than pessimism :).

Of course, the personal contacts made throughout the two days and three nights of the conference (yes, there were some very long night discussions too!) were amazing. I met a young man from Spain who - at the age of 12 - was more knowledgeable than any person I think I have met for a very long time. The Belgian girls were a pleasure and I especially enjoyed the philosophical viewpoint of the Greeks. The Belgian chocolates were good, though the difficulties with getting a place to eat on the second day were not. I also learnt that I need to learn at least one more language and ditch my 'everyone speaks English' way of thinking.

So now to boring, mundane life in England. Until the next time...

steven

'Stop the Invasion!'