Young diplomats’ European MiniParliaments 2019/2020

Since the beginning of the 2019 school year, our team organized and implemented 14 one-day projects that took place in schools throughout the country. The program was truly full.

 The project began with the introduction of the Young Diplomats Association and our other projects, then we moved to an activity called the opinion scale. Students were given questions with the intention to think about them and choose between the answers yes or no. Yes was on one side of the room and no on the other. Then the students justified their claims. Questions that were raised were, for example, the adoption of the euro or the possibility of influencing the EU. Afterwards, an activity pantomime followed. The participants had the task of creative thinking and imagining how Europe would look like without the European Union, all without the help of voice. After a short break, it was time for a lecture on the EU as an institution. During which students learned or were at least reminded of factual information about the EU and the principles of its various branches, including some fun facts.

The lecture was followed by a quick summary of the Rules of Procedure and a 2-hour simulation of a European Parliament session began. Before the event, students always chose which agenda they will discuss using online questionnaires. Subsequently, they were sent a summary of important information regarding their chosen agenda, so that everyone was in the picture and the meeting was as realistic as possible. After the meeting, a discussion with a decision-maker took place. In most cases, they were MEPs, former or active. Our guests were, for example, Olga Sehnalová, Jiří Pospíšil, Luděk Niedermayer or Pavel Telička. However, Jaroslav Bžoch, a member of the PSPČR, also accepted the invitation. During the discussion, students could ask anything they were interested in.

The day then ended with an evaluation of the best delegates, who received valuable prizes for their activities, and an evaluation of the entire project. The aim of the project was to bring events taking place in the European Union closer to high school students, to stimulate their interest in European politics, but especially in everyday events around us. After the successful completion of a number of MiniParliaments in 2019 and 2020, we are already preparing for the next wave, which will begin in 2021. Are you interested in the MiniParliament program and would you like us to come to your school? Feel free to contact us.