The idea of the EYCA Youth Panel was proposed by a group of cardholders attending the EYCA Conference in Belgrade in 2017. The aim of the Youth Panel is to be the voice of European Youth Cardholders when EYCA projects and programmes are designed, in order to maximise their positive impact on young people’s lives. In addition, the Panel will work to offer the EYCA Board insights into the challenges young people face and will also receive support from EYCA to champion the causes they are passionate about.

After a successful implementation of the first edition of the EYCA Youth Panel, the EYCA Board agreed that it is something that brings a great added value to the organisation. Therefore an extensive selection process was carried out, and the second edition of the EYCA Youth Panel is now ready to begin its work. The Panel consists of 11 young people from 9 countries in the EYCA network. We are happy to present to you the members of the Youth Panel:

Andrea Mićanović | Montenegro

Andrea Mićanović is a law student, active in the field of youth policy from her early age, firstly being the PR Manager of the High School Students Union of Montenegro and then the President of the Governing Board of the same organisation.

Andrea was the Program Coordinator of the Youth Centre in Podgorica for two years and she has held numerous workshops and trainings for youth from both Montenegro and across the Western Balkans region.

Andrea is currently a Governing Board Member of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO). She was a part of the team which established the European Youth Card in Montenegro.

Balázs Kelemen | Hungary

Balázs is a 25-year-old Communication and Media Science student in Budapest, Hungary. He is passionate about youth advocacy and sustainable development and serves as the Youth Delegate of Hungary to the United Nations for the mandate 2021-2022.

Balázs has been involved in several student-led youth associations and charities during his school years.

his interest in joining the EYCA Youth Panel is to strengthen the cooperation between the Hungarian and European youth and to gain broader experience across Europe.

Danelle Sciberras | Malta

Danelle is a 20-year-old who is currently a volunteer in Romania. She is from an island called Malta. Danelle is passionate about working with young people, advocating for their rights, creating a safe space for them and offering opportunities to learn and to have fun.

Danelle has been involved in different volunteering projects, local and international, has been part of several youth exchanges, and creating activities for young people in the community about discovering different cultures through non-formal education.

This experience will help her be more open-minded to new opportunities. One of her goals in the EYCA Youth Panel is to gain more youth work experience and represent young people to support and create opportunities to empower Europe's Youth.

Doroteja Horvat | Croatia

Doroteja is a 22-year-old law student in Zagreb, Croatia. She is passionate in volunteering in the local community and advocates for human rights and youth participation.

Doroteja has been part of "#GiveAVote“ campaign as well as the "#ThisTimeI'mVoting“ campaign in order to show young people that their voice matters. She believes that any idea can have a big impact, specially in at the local level. At the moment she is part of Global Peace Chain (GPC), where she works with other young people from all around the world and tries to present different points of view to youth in her homeland.

Her interest in joining the EYCA Youth Panel is to bring Croatian youth closer to the European community, to meet other young people, make interesting projects and bring ideas together by discussing, learning and taking actions.

Ergys Brocaj | Belgium

Ergys is a 22-year-old Law student in Ghent, Belgium. He considers himself a European citizen and is passionate about democracy, law, climate change and youth empowerment.

Ergys founded his own democratic (youth) movement named My Utopia. With this movement Ergys is on a mission to recover the beliefs of his generation in democracy and politics.

His interest in joining the EYCA Youth Panel is to meet other young Europeans that commit themselves to a better Europe, and the opportunity to co-create solutions for a better Europe in a multicultural environment.

Giorgos-Aggelos Papaioannou | Greece

Giorgos is a 22-year-old student from Thessaloniki, Greece, studying Politics at the University of Crete. He is currently the Education Officer of Erasmus Student Network Greece, volunteering for the Erasmus Generation.

He has been involved in youth civil society at local and national. He has been active in different youth-led movements for the environment and human rights. Lately, he is a member of the national committee for the EU Youth Dialogue. His areas of interest are youth policies, international education and mobility.

The pandemic of COVID-19 has a systematic, deep and disproportionate impact on youth. He hopes that his participation in EYCA’s Youth Panel can have a meaningful impact on the lives of young Europeans.

José Juan Núñez Timermans | Spain

José Juan is a 23-year-old student from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. He is currently studying Law & International Relations at the Loyola University in Seville. He is passionate about youth empowerment, regional integration processes and democratic values.

He considers himself a Iberian, Mediterranean and European citizen. He believes that identities are meant to add up and not to divide us. José Juan joined an exchange programme in Rio de Janeiro for six months. For that reason, he is concerned about inequality and racism. That's why he believes in the importance of education and equal opportunities for all. Currently, he is involved in a study programme at Bologna University in Italy.

José Juan has been involved in different organisations at the local level, additionally, he has participated in several Erasmus+ Youth Exchanges and a Study Session on Youth Advocacy and Peacebuilding organised by the Council of Europe. Through these experiences he has become an advocate on Youth Participation. Travelling, history and meeting new people are some of his passions.

Maylinda Bajrami | Albania

Maylinda is a 21-year old radiology technician student in Tirana, Albania.
She considers herself a proud European citizen, and is passionate about filmmaking, volunteering and empowering the youth.

Maylinda has been involved in activism, participated in conferences, competitions and festivals with topics like interfaith harmony, woman's rights, anti-corruption etc. She also has participated in peaceful movements for environmental problems.

Her interest in joining the EYCA Youth Panel is solely to be part of this amazing community, by humbly learning and sharing ideas from other young europeans and then happily implementing them in the benefit of the entire youth.

Pol Guardia | Spain

Pol is a 21-year-old physics student in Barcelona, Spain. He considers himself a European citizen and strongly believes in the power of young people to open new horizons and make a lasting impact in their communities.

Pol has been involved in the fight against climate crisis as a volunteer for some NGOs and is also interested in promoting exchange of ideas and critical thinking through active citizenship.

His interest in getting on board is to discover new people and cultures from across Europe, support youth needs, and reimagine what it means to be European in these challenging times.

Rafaela Nunes | Portugal

Rafaela is a 18-year-old Portuguese student in the area of Political Science and International Relations. She is passionate about nature, reading and learning about different cultures.

Rafaela has been involved in projects at local and national level related to human rights, gender disparities, climate change and youth participation, as she believes that no one is too young to make a difference.

Rafaela is excited to work alongside European youth in a promotion of healthy civic dialogue and in a joint attempt at creating a more tolerant, empathetic and loving community, one that welcomes diversity and thrives on it.

Rui Teixeira | Portugal

Rui is a 21-year-old computer science student from Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.
Rui is passionate about politics, music and reading and loves to travel to new places and have new experiences.

Rui has been working on the fields of education, youth participation and active citizenship for the last couple of years, working at a local, national and international level to empower young people and strengthen democratic processes.

His interest in joining the EYCA Youth Panel is to work with other young people from different places of Europe in order to promote the Youth Card as a tool to engage young people in participation and an instrument to build better public policies. He believes that only together can we empower Europe’s youth.

Stay tuned for more updates on the EYCA Youth Panel!