Voices in Motion: A relay race with citizens' perspectives on Europe's sustainable future

forthcoming

"What if Europe’s most powerful sustainability ideas start not in Brussels, but in libraries, festivals, and gardens across Central and Eastern Europe? This project turns that “what if” into action, creating a model for citizen-led, intergenerational engagement to shape EU sustainability policies. Five CSOs and municipalities from Germany, Romania, Poland, and Hungary will organise a relay race of 21 Future Incubator events with 1,300 participants and outreach to 410,200 citizens via public campaigns. By focusing on Central and Eastern Europe, the project connects countries with different EU journeys, ensuring citizens from older and newer Member States can exchange experiences and shape the EU’s future. The goal: Strengthen democratic values, policy ownership and transnational exchange by empowering citizens – esp. women and underrepresented voices – to co-create the EU’s sustainability agenda. The need: In times of geopolitical and ecological challenges, citizens feel disconnected from EU processes. They care about clean air and climate resilience but are sceptical about concrete measures and unsure how to influence EU policies. We bridge this gap through low-threshold engagement in everyday spaces. Our expertise lies in translating EU policies into citizen-friendly formats and sustainably mobilising citizens. The method: A relay race of Future Incubators – scalable events in libraries, festivals, public gardens – where citizens aged 20–99 join structured dialogues. Visions are collected in guest books, video reels, and distilled into policy papers for transnational multi-stakeholder and EU dialogues. The convening: A citizen trip to Brussels where participants hand over the ""baton"" of ideas, connecting grassroots wisdom with EU decision makers, amplified via (social) media. The impact: A replicable model for civic engagement, achieving reach, authentic representation, and transnational cooperation - laying foundations for people-powered EU sustainability policies."