READY – Raising EU Awareness through accessible documents for youth

Making European texts and treaties accessible and understandable for young people.

Project period: november 2021-november 2023
Target group: KA2 Youth
Coordinator: Yes Forum (Germany)
Partners of the project: Pistes Solidaires (France), Forum Za Slobodu Odgoja (Croatia), Institouto Ekpaideftikou Kai Epaggelmatikou Prosanatolismou (Greece), Zefiro Società Cooperativa Sociale (Italy), Framework (Germany)

Website: see the website

The context:

The European Union is the result of seventy years of development and treaties that began in 1951 with the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

It was through a series of legal texts that the European Union as we know it today was built.

But understanding the European treaties is no easy task. The language of the EU and its policies is sometimes far too complex, littered with long-winded sentences that lose their meaning, and the reader, in the process. Overcomplicating the treaties can leave the audience bored and disinterested.

Although the treaties are translated into all the languages of the 27 EU Member States, this does not guarantee that everyone understands the text. They are all written in “legalese”.

Let us now put ourselves in the shoes of a young person who would like to take an interest in politics…  Young people are not educated in the knowledge of the law, and are even less able to decode European texts, which can sometimes be very complex to understand, but which, nevertheless, have a major impact on the daily lives of Europeans.

So how can we ensure that the importance of the European Union is recognized by young people if its texts are far from their reality?

This is the aim of the READY project: to fight against this disconnection and to raise young people’s awareness of the EU.

The objectives:

The READY project aims first and foremost to simplify European documents and texts in order to make the European jurisdiction accessible and understandable to all.

By strengthening young people’s literary skills, we will bring them closer to their political consciousness and bring the EU back to the heart of young European citizens’ daily lives.

By working directly with young people, we will equip them with autonomous skills to seek and understand information, making them actors in their understanding.

Through innovative and creative approaches, we will promote youth work to engage young people in taking ownership of the text of the EU Treaties.

The results:

The project will develop the following tools:

• EU READY TO READ: an easy-to-read publication that collects the most relevant and impactful articles from the EU Treaties on a young person’s life.
• I READ, I UNDERSTAND: a training course for young Europeans to discover the European Union and its various treaties while developing their graphic skills.
• EU READY TO SEE: an audiovisual graphic tool, developed directly by young people who have selected the articles they want to make visual.
• I UNDERSTAND, I USE: a second training focused on the creation of infographics based on the European treaties selected by the young people.
• EU READY TO DISCUSS: an easy-to-read document, reflecting the opinions and advice of professionals and young people to be inclusive and accessible in all measures aimed at political education.