Young European Socialists Summer Camp: Varna

The camp itself, with its tradition of hosting young participants from socialist and social democratic youth organizations from all over Europe, has offered a plethora of political sessions, various trainings and opportunities to socialize with peers, and discuss topics such as solidarity, feminism, climate justice, equality, and more.

The program was creatively crafted to fit the interests of youth while still addressing important topics such as generating youth engagement in politics, mobilization but also parliamentary simulation with fictional settings of Harry Potter universe – highlighting the idea that political engagement is accessible to youth, that we may already possess the necessary skill-set and that we can find common ground on important concerns that the youth of Southeast Europe are facing.

As a basis of understanding as to what these common problems, ideas and values may be, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung assisted in organizing a presentation of the Youth Study 2018/2019 findings. The presentation was held by Boris Popivanov and focused on the regional report written on a survey sample of over 10 000 youngsters from 10 different countries of the Southeast European region, including Bulgaria as this year’s host of YES Summer Camp. The presentation offered a deeper insight into the attitudes of young people and possible patterns of behavior that can be discerned in contemporary society.

The presentation facilitated a focus on evidence-based discussions and ideas for recommendations that could be further discussed in the context of youth in Southeast Europe. For more information, the regional study is available online, as well as national reports for all 10 countries encompassed in this research.