On 20 September, the Renew Europe Group in the European Committee of Regions (Renew Europe CoR) hosted the Summit of Young Elected Local and Regional Leaders (YELL Summit) for the third time.

17 young participants from 13 different countries debated in Brussels on how to get people engaged in local politics and the importance of building a European democracy.

During the Summit, the young elected leaders shared their own experiences and views on how they engage citizens in their own constituencies. After all, local laws and election rules might vary per country, but challenges such as engaging citizens and fighting apathy and populism apply almost everywhere: that is where this group of young liberal leaders comes in! With concrete examples, they showcased how they can bring local governments to the citizens, which can serve as an example and model for bringing Europe closer to its citizens as well.

For more videos from the Summit, check out the page of Renew Europe CoR!

The Summit of Young Elected local and regional leaders is an opportunity for young liberal democratic local and regional politicians to meet, share ideas and best practices among themselves, and to meet afterwards with experienced local and regional politicians in a joint meeting with members of the Renew Europe Group in the European Committee of the Regions.

Our participating young leaders this year included Vincent Chauvet (France), Maja Freiermuth (Switzerland), Szymon Godyla (Poland), Tom Gordon & James Steel (UK), Adrian Jankovic (Slovakia), Kilian Karger (Germany), Marc Naether (Belgium), Tilde Nielsen (Denmark), Noemí Otero Navares (Spain), Tomas Raskevicius & Deimante Rimkute (Lithuania), Mohammed Saiah, Koen Bokhorst & Gaby van den Waardenburg (Netherlands), Emma Murphy (Ireland) and Laurenz Van Ginneken (Belgium).