About us

Why?

Today, there is a lack of youth engagement in policymaking. On one hand, we (yes, young people talking here) feel decision-makers do not account for our needs and priorities and the decision-making process lacks transparency. On the other hand, decision-makers need more concrete and useful proposals, which can be discussed and considered.

Our lack of understanding of the policymaking process keeps us from participating in a more effective way. We decided to build OpenPolicy Europe to fix this.

What isOpenPolicy Europe?

OpenPolicy Europe is the first digital hub for understanding and engaging with policy at European and Member State levels. It is a tool that allows you to get a better understanding of how the policymaking process works, who’s involved, what policies are in place where, and how you can get involved in policy making.

We want to overcome the perception of policy being distant and overwhelming, and encourage active citizenship through engagement with authorities and policymakers at national and European levels.

Our Story

In March 2021, a team representing the European Youth Energy Network (EYEN) won the SOLVE THE GAP - 48h EU Youth Digital Hackathon with the idea for OpenPolicy Europe.

EYEN is the European network of energy-focused youth organisations from across Europe, whose mission is to place youth at the heart of the European energy transition. How? EYEN empowers these organisations by connecting them to each other and to actors in the energy sector and by sharing knowledge about the energy transition on European and national levels.

The SOLVE THE GAP - 48h EU Youth Digital Hackathon was organised by the Portuguese Conselho Nacional de Juventude, in the framework of the European Youth Conference in Portugal (12th-15th March) and the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union, under the auspices of the European Commission.

During those 48h, we created the basic concept of OpenPolicy Europe, watch our winning pitch here. We then started developing and turning it into reality, with the support of the European Youth Portal. The tool was launched at the European Youth Conference under the Slovenian presidency in September 2021, you can watch our presentation here.

Meet the peoplebehind it

These are the volunteers who contributed for the creation of OpenPolicy Europe

Bibin Ponnachan

UX Designer

Giulia Fabrizi

Communication Lead

Rita Laia

Graphic Designer

Lucia Fernandez

Germany Policy Expert

María Luisa Scarano

Community developer

Valentijn Rath

HR manager

Mathias Lallemand

Community developer

Baptiste Josse

Full-stack developer

Federico Barbieri

Financial Lead, Policy Advisor

Sara Vieira

Web development Team Lead

Bartłomiej Kupiec

Germany Policy Team Coordinator

Sofia Barbeiro

Portugal Policy Expert

Paula Baltar Lorenzo

Slovenia Policy Expert

Andrea Mili

Energy Policy Team Lead

Leandro Costa Sousa

EU Policy Expert

James Hibbeard

Full-stack developer

Jacopo Sala

Project Lead

Nicolas Pittas

EU Policy Expert

Erika Puntillo

Italy Policy Expert

Linda Brunelli

Youth Policy Team Lead

Siddharth Shetty

EU Policy Team Coordinator

Saila Nieminen

Front-end developer

Irene Garofalo

Partnerships Lead

Najam Memon

Germany Policy Expert

Silvia Candotti

EU Policy Expert

Maria Cristina Pinto

Italy Policy Team Coordinator

Federica Matone

Italy Policy Expert

Aisha Al Balushi

Germany Policy Expert

David Carmo

Full-stack developer

Gabriele Falciani

Italy Policy Expert

Pedro Miranda

Full-stack developer

Siddharth Pandit

EU Policy Expert

Nadia Arteeva

Community development Lead

Luciana Miu

Policy Advisor