FYEG European Elections Campaign 2019 CAMPAIGN EVALUATION Table of Contents

Be Brave! Green Europe! 3 TIMELINE 4 the campaign team 5 About the evaluation 5 Campaign Overview 5 Internal Coordination 7 Working with FYEG MOs 8 Young candidates 11 ACTIONS 12 Events 14 Volunteers 15 Work with Partners 16 Communications 18 #Voteforclimate 22 Finances 22 Conclusion 23 Be Brave! Green Europe!

When we started to plan the campaign in early 2018 we were aware of the unfortunate amount of space being given to the politics of hate and fearmongering across Europe. Racism and xenophobia in particular were dominating the political agenda. Things took an unexpected turn in autumn 2018 though, when new agenda-setters appeared on everyone’s radar across Europe: the climate strikers! Young people organising school strikes for climate have decisively shaped the political agenda is 2019 and of course also helped support a Green Wave at the European elections.

The people were rising, and as young people took to the streets for climate action, so did women* take to the streets on March 8 to demand an end to harassment and discrimination. Then, during the debates about EU Copyright Directive, young people came together to fight for an internet free of censorship! Young people continued to make their voices heard on many other issues, together in solidarity with refugees and migrants and fiercely against nationalism and hatred!

Civil society movements have been instrumental in setting the 2019 political agenda, letting politicians and future politicians know that they are paying attention. We were as always inspired 3 by the energy and drive of hundreds of thousands of young people rising for a Europe that does things differently. More sustainably, more inclusively. As FYEG, through our campaign we wanted to show how it is possible for the people’s demands to be answered also within institutionalised politics, by voting for Green MEPs. With our campaign we aimed to capture the momentum of movements and put our vision for a different Europe into a wider perspective.

This campaign report summarizes the activities and highlights of FYEG’s European elections campaign of 2019 and provides tips, tricks, learning points and ideas for future campaign teams. Being part of FYEG’s campaign is an exciting journey and we hope future generations will find inspiration for their activities in this report.

The Campaign Team (Iris, Nils, Chloé , Mina , Zuzana, Sam, Teo, Jan, Kelsey) TIMELINE

2017 November December First online CT MO Consultation meeting! at SPM. 2018 Spring Development & May MO Online MOs adopt the Questionnaire planning stage Campaign Plan at the GA. July Campaign narratives October imagined by CT MO Consultation at Summer Camp at WG meeting October Implementation 1st Young November Candidates Crowdfunder Training launched Winter MO Online Questionnaire 2019 February February 4 2nd Young Campaign Slogan, Candidates Visual Identity Training presented to MOs at the SPM Spring Campaign toolkit green Europe! shared with MOs. Merchandise. March Campaign Launch April in Madrid! International Exchanges EGP Green Wave April - May in Brussels. Green Team actions

May Evaluation June - July Get Out the Vote! Online evaluation with MOs, YCs, CT evaluation. August Presentation of evaluation at GA

fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation the campaign team About the evaluation In 2017 FYEG published a call for This campaign evaluation is aimed to inform campaign team (CT) members to FYEG MOs on the results of the campaign. start to work on our campaign for The campaign was evaluated through the European Parliament elections in online questionnaires with MOs and Young 2019. Representatives from Member Candidates, results of Key Performance Organisations joined representatives Indicators, online statistics, and a structured of our EC and office to coordinate the evaluation meeting of the CT in July 2019. campaign. This evaluation serves as a useful tool for The CT’s aim was to work on different FYEG in preparing for campaigns in the elements of the campaign, including future, with recommendations on how to political messaging, branding and actions. work in different campaign areas. CT members brought a wide mix of skills and experience in campaigning, advocacy, non-violent direct actions, Campaign Overview working with youth organisation and more. narratives Early on we made the decision to focus The CT was an evolving group, and some energy on developing a clear narrative, members who joined at the start left in messages and stories for the campaign. This 2018 and were replaced by others. In 2019 narrative-focused approach ensured that we the CT was supported by more members highlighted green messages through clear of staff and EC. We thank everyone who stories. These stories were also useful for was involved throughout this process for MOs and Young Candidates when preparing 5 their contributions to this campaign. their own campaigns or for debates.

From MOs: Iris, Mina, Chloé, Nils, Oriol, The three stories were: Maryan, Dilan. Sustainable Europe: where fighting the From EC: Zuzana, Sam, Kim, Tariq. climate crisis is our utmost priority. From office:Teo, Jan, Kelsey. Welcoming & Inclusive Europe: where everyone is welcome, equal and celebrated as they are. Social Europe: where everyone benefits from high quality of life, free time for personal growth and community.

impact assessment The aims of FYEG’s Campaign for the European Parliament, as adopted at the 2018 GA were: • Being a present European Young Green Movement, both online and on the ground; • Strengthening all our Member Organisations; • Supporting Young Candidates to stand in elections and get elected. fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation In addition, we chose specific goals for the The usage of Key Performance indicators following areas: shows us certain aims and the outcomes • Visibility and diversity; related to those expectations. However, • Agenda setting; as they don’t per se show the true impact • Capacity Building; of the campaign, impact measurement is • Credibility; a topic that should be thought through • Community; more in the future. • Electoral results. what worked? Measuring whether we achieved these goals can be complicated and this is why • Emphasis on campaign narrative at we formulated Key Performance Indicators the start was good as it functioned as a (KPIs), to help measure, to an extent, the good base throughout the campaign; success of some campaign elements. • The campaign narrative and main messages were widely used among Key performance indicators MOs and Young Candidates; • The KPIs gave a structured and clear When it comes to the KPIs related to overview of what our aims and goals the Young Candidates, the results are were when planning the campaign; promising. We wanted 70% of FYEG EU • Through engaging directly with MO MOs to have a Young Green candidate activists and representatives through and to have at least 40% of FYEG EU MOs the Green Team, Mails, Social Media, to have their candidate(s) in the top 10 Actions and Events, FYEG was able of their party lists. While neither of these to provide a learning experience and were successful, the KPI to have three new inspiration to its members. young greens elected was met. 6 Amongst youth voters, received the most support in three what didn’t work? countries. Our KPI in this section was for • We lacked a tool for clear impact this to happen in at least one country. assessment and how to measure the Other KPIs that were met are: that we impact of the campaign on the KPIs. organized two offline Young Candidates trainings that had high attendance and that at least 20 Young Candidates joined recommendations the platform, of whom at least 1⁄3 were • Find ways that enable an impact non-male. Within the Young Candidates assessment of more diverse aspects of platform, twenty candidates that identified the campaign; as male, eleven candidates as female, and • Decide early on which elements of the one candidate as trans. However, there campaign to prioritise in the impact were very few Young Candidates of color assessment; involved in the Platform, or on the lists in • Prioritise time according to the general. elements in the campaign. Depending on whether they are core elements or The KPIs that we formulated about the more experimental. involvement of the Member Organisations, • Create a strong campaign narrative/ were less successful. Among others, we stories or messages structures. wanted 40% of FYEG non-EU MOs to join the campaign and 70% of FYEG EU MOs to participate in actions or to make use of the toolkit. fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation Internal Coordination what worked? As CT we organised our work in different • Individual ownership of specific ways according to the stage of the elements of the campaign; campaign. As we approached the • Contact between the office, EC and CT implementation stage we switched from in general. Telegram as our main communication channel to Slack. This allowed us to what didn’t work? structure our conversations according • Task division based on multiple parts of to working areas and include only the the campaign; relevant team members responsible for the • Creative thinking processes with the area. aim of achieving a clear outcome, e.g. slogan, during online meetings. In total, CT had more than 40 online meetings, mostly one every other week. It recommendations took some time to find a structure for these • Employ a campaign manager from early meetings that everyone was comfortable on, i.e. the summer before elections; with, and we often had meetings • Organise a transition meeting between that dragged on or went unfinished. members of the old and new CT; Additionally, team members also met • Organise workshops for CT members at bilaterally. the beginning of their mandate; • Be more aware of the capacity of the Other than joining FYEG’s Strategic CT for work, and ensure that goals are Planning Meetings and Working Group achievable and won’t put too much Meetings the CT had two live meetings pressure on individuals; dedicated soley to working on the • Allow for clear and flexible decision 7 campaign together. In July 2018 in Selce making structures for when quick and in January 2019 in Brussels. decisions need to be made; • Not everyone has to be present at all Working with FYEG’s EC and office during meetings, sometimes more targeted the campaign was necessary. Besides the meetings with 1 EC member, 1 CT two representatives on the CT, the EC were member, 1 member of staff might be actively involved in the final sprint (i.e. more useful; roughly the last month of campaigning). • Use the in-person meetings to discuss EC members were able to take on tasks like creative processes in the campaign, managing the social media channels and consider organising hackathons for developing content. The office took charge brainstorming on slogans, the visual of the visual identity and the website, they identity, website, apps and actions; made videos, helped out with actions and • Find creative ways to link with activists supported the creation and distribution inside the MOs, inspiration can be taken of merchandise. Contact with the office from the Green Team and individual was very good throughout the campaign, activists that worked as multipliers and and at least one staff member joined every forwarded news at the local level, which meeting. allowed people to be engaged with FYEG campaign directly; Having in-person meetings is extremely • Recruit volunteers according to tasks; helpful for keeping energy levels in • Allow for CT to evolve and restructure the group. While a clear division of according to the campaign stage and responsibilities helped CT members what skills are most needed, when they to keep up with their work and stay are needed, e.g. more action oriented motivated towards the final sprint. towards final-sprint etc..

fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation Working with FYEG MOs Campaign Implementation As a pan-European federation it was crucial During the campaign implementation it for FYEG to involved MOs in all stages of was important to keep in regular contact the campaign. with the MOs. For this we made use of mailing-list, Slack and check-in calls.

Campaign Planning The initial idea was to use Slack as a From the start MOs were involved most platform for information exchange. Instead directly by having their representatives on it ended up being used as a one-direction the CT, but also through online and in- platform for FYEG to send materials and person opportunities to consult and give updates. At least one MO was unaware feedback on various campaign elements. that Slack was being used for internal Like at the Strategic Planning Meetings communicaiton until the late stages of the and Working Group meetings held campaign. At least two common online throughout the year. At the 2018 GA MOs calls were held. None of the MOs expressed got to discuss and adopt the campaign interest in further calls and we therefore implementation plan. refrained from holding any more. During the final stage of the campaign, direct Most MOs praised the campaign narrative calls with MO representatives proved and said they would use it as a base for to be most useful. Several toolkits were developing their own campaign. This was distributed to the MOs online, including particularly helpful for MOs who joined the the Campaign Implementation Plan, campaign relatively late due to political the Campaign Toolkit, templates and circumstances (YGEW, Scottish YGs) or styleguides. who faced difficulties in finding sufficient resources to focus on the European Online, FYEG shared content from MOs 8 Campaign due to overlapping elections on Twitter and Instagram. Where the (Irish YGs). Campaign materials were made focus was on presenting them as part of available for MOs to use via Google Drive. a European story, images from different It remains unclear to what extent the places showing how the Greens fight for materials provided were used by the MOs. the same causes across Europe.

SPM, February 2019 fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation Offline, some MOs made use of the visual MOs evaluation of campaign identity for their external communications. A questionnaire inquiring about the A package of FYEG merchandise was MO satisfaction with the campaign was delivered to the MOs by post or in person. sent to the MOs after the campaign. In Additional merchandise could be bought total 19 MOs participated in filling in the online. There was one MO who did not questionnaire. receive the package on time. From the feedback received, majority of Several MOs sent their representatives the MOs have rated the campaign very to our campaign event in Madrid (March positively. There were nonetheless 3 MOs 2019), the Democracy Alive Festival in who gave a neutral and 3 MOs who gave a Texel (April 2019) and the Green Wave negative score on the campaign (positive – Campaign event of the European Greens. neutral – negative ratio: 13-3-3). FYEG also were present at several MO events, including: Jong New Years In particular, the MOs appreciated FYEG’s Reception; Grüne Jugend Bundesskongress online activities during the campaign (14- in Leipzig; Europe of the Youth event by 3-2). The offline activities were viewed ViNO; and May 1st Ostra Zielen event. rather on the positive to neutral side of the spectrum (12-6-1). We faced many difficulties including non- EU MOs or those in the EU not actively MOs were also satisfied with the overall campaigning for the EP. Grüne Jugend information flow during the campaign (13- Dresden and Mladí zelení (who were not 4-3). On the contrary, the MO views were campaigning actively in their country) divided as to whether FYEG’s campaign organised international exchanges twice, helped to strengthen their local campaign which allowed Mladí zelení be part of a 9 (7-7-5). Additionally, most of MOs were successful European campaign. neutral when assessing whether FYEG campaign helped them build additional Targeting EU voters in non-EU countries capacities (3-12-4). through international exchanges could have been done, but finally there were no Interestingly, most MOs scored their own capacities for this. campaign lower than FYEG’s campaign (8-8-3) and majority was also neutral to Despite the challenges, it is important unsatisfied with their own involvement in to stress that non-EU MOs actively took FYEG campaign (5-6-8). part in the youth strikes for climate (i.e. Georgian Young Greens). Together with our sister organization CDN we actively looked for ways to further the climate strike movement in these countries. Without a doubt, non-EU MOs have helped us to strengthen the Vote for Climate narrative and have also contributed in this way to the success of FYEG’s campaign.

fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation what worked? • Most FYEG EU MOs showed interest in • Motivating MOs for coordinated the common campaign; transnational actions; • Most MOs provided positive feedback • Motivating non-EU MOs to take part. on the Campaign Implementation plan and requested a Campaign Toolkit; recommendations • Most MOs gave positive feedback on • Continue to involve MOs in planning the slogan, visual identity & narrative; from the earliest stages; • Most MOs were satisfied the campaign • Find a platform for effective event in Madrid; communication with MOs during the • At least 1 MO made use of FYEG visual campaign to allow for real discussion identity in their own communications; and exchange; • Several MOs took part in banner drops; • Engage more closely with MOs on • Several MOs invited representatives to campaign implementation where their events; possible. Coordinating potential work • Most MOs were well informed about the with staff members of MOs working on campaign and where to find relevant the campaign along the FYEG office; information. • Monitor closely MO activity on social media and highlight these during the what didn’t work? campaign; • Think about efficient ways for • Unclear how useful Slack is as a tool for merchandising distribution and start communication during the campaign; distribution early in the campaign, so • Material was provided too late for that lost packages can be re-sent; MOs to make use of, or not fir for local • Actively reach out to MOs with an offer context; 10 for organizing a visit in order to present • There wasn’t a high presence of MOs at the campaign and bring the European the FYEG campaign event; spirit; • In some countries liasing with persons • Think about ways to creatively involve responsible for the campaign was non-EU MOs. difficult;

Campaign Rally in Madrid, March 2019

fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation Young candidates

The Green Group in the EP now has 11 The platform was really useful for MEPs who are under 35. Seven of these us young candidates... Knowing were part of FYEG’s Young Candidates that there are so many other Platform which cultivated a supportive “ young people fighting for the community for candidates to share tips, same cause is really great. Also, offer camraderie and support, and practical the European spirit is all around help. given that the platform enables us to see how the challenges vary from one country to another, but solutions can be found across borders. ”

Erik Marquardt, Terry Reintke, Magid Magid, Kim van Sparrentak, Michael Bloss, Marie Toussaint, Rasmus Andresen - 7 of the young MEPs in the Green Group in the EP.

In Summer 2018 we launched the Young Candidates Platform through our MOs who 11 were asked to nominate Young Candidates to join the platform.

At the first training in October candidates shared experiences of how to plan for a campaign, worked on self-confidence in delivering a intro message to camera, and discussed strategies for setting “Power to the people!” - Young Candidates singing boundaries and their own self-care during at the end of the campaign rally in Madrid. the campaign. A second training was organised in February 2019, where more candidates attended as most lists had been confirmed by then. In this training Given that the young greens there was a focus on how to prepare for in our country have been very interviews, debating and being familiar “ active in the last years, the party with campaign messages. agreed that half of the green list would be young candidates, and Throughout the campaign candidates the results showed that this was had the opportunity to attend debates a good decision. We therefore on behalf of FYEG, speak at the event in think that also in the future Madrid, and reach out to the CT for more young greens will have a say in direct support. the decisions taken in and by the mother party. ” fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation what worked? ACTIONS • The Young Candidate Platform, a Together with MOs we developed an community for peer to peer sharing and action toolkit. We had three action support; days, each one dedicated to one of the • Advocating for young candidates and campaign stories. We also supported supporting their campaigns to be on other MO actions, participation in party lists; demonstrations and actions of partners, • In person trainings and opportunities to and several coordinated banner drops. practice public speaking; • High profile media opportunities: Kim Common Action Days van Sparrentak speaking on several 15th of April: Extinction Rebellion (XR) stages including at the EGP event, Parade for a sustainable Europe. During Tanja Duprez at the education debate XR’s International Rebellion Week, Green at YoFest!, Mina Tolu at a debate activists performed a parade of the organised by the European Youth beauties of our world that are endangered Forum; to go extinct: Elephants, Leopards, apes, • Young Candidates given a platform to humans etc. FYEG provided digital speak and share ideas at the campaign templates for artistic DIY animal masks event in Madrid; and instructions. An online seminar by the • Sharing policy and media briefings, EGP artist for the building of the masks was also materials for Young Candidates to make offered. use of; • Ad-hoc support calls for strategising 1st of May: Free Money action for a SOcial around individual campaigns. Europe. On Labour Day, activists were What didn’t work? handing out “free money” in public to 12 people passing by. Passengers were asked • Online trainings had least engagement; what they would do if they you had a • Website highlighting the candidate universal basic income? FYEG provided profiles took too long to organise; templates for the money bill flyers and • Organising the main campaign event inspiration for conversation starters. in a place which did not necessarily

benefit directly from the increased th 9 of May: No One is Illegal action for green presence for their local a welcoming and inclusive Europe. On campaigning. Europe Day, The action was to build an artificial border or barrier in a public place Recommendations to symbolise those that are still hindered by borders and are lacking the basic right • FYEG should take a longer term of freedom of movement. Passengers were approach to trainings for potential involved in discussions and freedom of young candidates; movement for all was promoted. • Create opportunities for shadowing MEPs; Participation of groups was rather low, • Mentoring or buddy systems with despite dates and materials being available previous young candidates. early on. Reasons might be because of the effort needed (XR Parade), or how the action fit in the loal context. Groups might have already planned other events or actions for the same days. There were good actions in Dresden, Brussels and Tbilisi. fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation Other Actions Grüne Jugend performed the action “Your hand for a social Europe” with our support, where a banner was sent to Italy, Czech Republic, UK and Belgium, people on the street could leave their hand print and demands on it and then the banner was sent back and was given to the lead candidates at an event. During the whole campaign, many MOs were very actively canvassing, organizing events and performing actions.

Apart from the coordinated common actions, a range of MOs conducted their own actions on various topics. FYEG Office and EC members present in Brussels undertook a number of small actions in the last two weeks leading to the elections. These included stickering, stenciling, chalk drawing in front of the EP, putting up vote for climate banners on people’s balconies or staging a milkshake bar in front of the EP in response to Nigel Farage being milkshaked. The activities were conducted 13 with the aim of gaining additional visibility on social media while providing tips and tricks for home-made campaigning activities people could follow. Banner drops in Madrid, Brussels and Dresden. FYEG activists were encouraged to participate in demonstrations, events and actions of partners. Like Climate Strikes what worked? and the #OccupyForClimate direct actions, • The Banner Drops; #RepubliqueDesPollueurs, Women’s Day • Participating in and reporting on etc. partner actions; • Provocative pictures on online trending Banner Drops topics. Starting with a banner drop in Madrid, what didn’t work? and continuing with the big Be Brave Banner Drops in Brussels, Dresden, Rome, • The action days. Mannheim, Bolzano and Sofia. This was followed by the Vote For Climate Banner recommendations Action in Brussels, Leipzig and Helsinki. • Communication planning of and These were coordinated actions in information about actions more in several European Countries, at the same advance; time. Which motivated our activists and • Provide ideas for more flexible actions gathered social media attention. (time, group size etc.); • Develop small scale actions for volunteer groups on trending topics. fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation Events • European Youth Forum (YFJ) event with Spitzenkandidaten, 13th April We kicked of the campaign with a series in Brussels. FYEG helped to plan this of actions at the Madrid launch organised event together with YFJ and EGP. It together with the EGP in March. Over 60 was live-streamed and the two Green Green activists and Young Candidates lead candidates answered questions on took part in the event which involved human rights, social justice and climate training on campaign skills, a banner drop which were prepared by activists and and preparing for common actions, and a organisations. campaign rally. • EGP Green Wave, 1000 people from We organised a common bus for some all over Europe attended EGP’s main participants to travel together to Madrid rally in Brussels. The event consisted from Brussels. Due to train delays to of speeches by different Green Brussels from other cities, the bus arrived actors, civil society representatives, with a delay of 10 hours. This meant that and Green candidates. Kim van participants had to be given improvised Sparrentak, candidate of GroenLinks training onboard instead of in Madrid. in the Netherlands and member of the FYEG Young Candidates Platform, At the campaign rally young candidates gave a passionate speech on the had the opportunity to present themselves fight for climate justice that younger and their political ideas, through speeches generations are undertaking. The or FYEG Instagram takeovers. The topics speech can be watched here. FYEG were varied and reflected different had a stand at the event, where we campaign narratives, i.e. social, sustainable, distributed merchandise to MOs and welcoming and inclusive Europe. We to other interested people. The t-shirts 14 also had speakers from climate, social were a very popular item. The event was justice and anti-racist movements, and a good occasion to talk with a variety of the Greens/EFA group in the EP and the Green actors about the FYEG campaign EGP. Another highlight of the event was and about what Young Greens are an artistic dance performance opening doing all over Europe. questions about race and belonging in Young Greens who joined us at Spain today. Democracy Alive travelled together to be at the YFJ and EGP events in Brussels. Both the banner drop and campaign rally were live-streamed on Facebook with help • YoFest!, on 29th and 30th April from a professional live-streamer. YFJ organised its annual YO!Fest, a Partner events gathering of youth organisations and young people. FYEG had a stand at the From 11th • Democracy Alive Festival; event to promote FYEG’s and EGP’s to 13th April we participated at the campaigns. This was an opportunity to European Movement International reach a large number of young people (EMI) Democracy Festival in Texel. An from all EU member states in a short event to discuss Europe and engage amount of time. In addition to a stand with young people. We co-organised where we distributed material, FYEG the European Greens pavilion, hosting organise a workshop on climate strikes workshops on activism and climate and different climate movements strikes, and a meet-up with Green lead in Europe and in the world. Young candidate Bas Eickhout. We supported Candidate Tanja Duprez (from déi jonk the participation of a number of young gréng) took part in a debate that was a Green activists from our MOs. part of the YO!Fest programme.

fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation what worked? Green Team • Madrid: organising actions & giving We set up two channels for platform to young candidates; communication with the Green Team. • Ensuring strong young green presence These were on Telegram and WhatsApp. at partner events, especially EGP. By the end of the campaign 275 people were engaged through the platform What didn’t work? on Telegram and 85 on WhatsApp. • Logistics related to using a number of Through the Green Team channel we different venues for different parts of communicated in an engaging, motivating the event in Madrid. and inclusive style to encourage people to take part in FYEG campaign actions both Recommendations online and offline. • Choose more central location for a big launch if you expect people to be able According to an evaluation questionnaire to reach via train and bus. about the Green Team, some answers indicated that the Green Team channel Volunteers was mostly used by people that are active We aimed to establish a way for individuals in FYEGs MOs, it was well liked, motivated to become FYEG Campaign Volunteers people to be active in the campaign and to contribute to a European-wide and gave the feeling to belong to a pan- campaign. Our objective was to have european movement. All respondents are volunteers engaging actively in the in favour of continuing the Green Team. campaign and a platform to receive information and have possibilities to be what worked? active. So we set up the Green Team and • Mobilisation of Green Team for events, included Live Volunteers into our work. 15 online actions and banner drops; • Involving volunteers in the campaign Several volunteers joined the campaign was of crucial support during the most in addition to the online volunteers of the intense campaign phase. Green Team, in particular during the final sprint. The volunteers helped with a variety what didn’t work? of tasks, from preparing tweets to painting • Using the Green Team platform to banners to finding video clips for our promote young candidates; campaign video. One volunteer reached • Challenges around online privacy/ out to us in April and helped online with security. different tasks throughout the campaign, in addition to joining us in the office for recommendations a few days during the final sprint. Several • Continue to use the Green Team other volunteers came for specific tasks, channel to engage with activists and usually in the evenings. The volunteers coordinate actions outside of elections; were close to Green circles in Brussels and • Use the Green Team to gain individual this is how we got in contact. The EGP was volunteers for specific tasks, eg write also running its own volunteer platform a political statement or organize an and some of the EGP volunteers expressed action; an interest to support the FYEG campaign, • Make the Green Team more which they did. It was a unique learning participatory and allow members to experience for the volunteers and for FYEG. give feedback and create own content Volunteering for FYEG is something that for sharing with others. can be further developed, possibly as a • Promote the Green Team at all FYEG part of the Green Team. and MO events to reach out to more individuals. fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation Work with Partners Greens/efa Group in the EP EUropean (EGP) (GGEP) FYEG is the official youth wing of the EGP As the GGEP was not conducting its own and we worked closely with EGP as one of campaign, this cooperation mainly focused our primary partners during the campaign. around content and communications. The We were well represented within various GGEP developed a range of information EGP structures relating to their campaign, materials on various Green policies this includes in the Editorial and Manifesto which were extremely useful to Young Working Group which developed the Candidates when preparing for debates. European Elections Manifesto and 12 Key GGEP staff joined us on a podcast for MOs Priorities of the EGP, as well as the EGP to share Green successes and the ways to Campaign Working Group. Not all our message around them. demands were taken on board but the process delivered a Manifesto which was Last but not least, we attended the Group’s ambitious, visionary and inclusive of youth. meeting and celebration in the EP when the election results were announced, FYEG also submitted a motion on unpaid allowing us to be in the centre of things, internships to the EGP Council which to network, and report on our social media committed EGP member parties to from on the spot. change their internal internship policy in order not to employ any unpaid or European youth forum (YFJ) poorly paid interns from the start of the Another key partner for FYEG during the campaign, at last. This motion was adopted European elections campaign was the unanimously, nonetheless it remained European Youth Forum. The YFJ was unclear to what extent it was implemented 16 carrying out its own campaign under by the individual member parties in the title “Change is Coming.” It was practice. very beneficial that the Youth Forum’s campaign and their key demands topically Young Candidates were featured in EGP’s overlapped with many of the policies campaign, given speaking opportunity already advocated for by FYEG and at the EGP Green Wave rally, and advanced by FYEG towards EGP. Inviting being featured in EGP videos. These experts from YFJ secretariat to provide opportunities enhanced the prospects of input on the EGP Manifesto has helped to these young candidates and ensure that strengthen these links. the EGP campaign was putting youth at Our cooperation with the YFJ during the the forefront. campaign focussed mainly on various events and political cooperation. Before We actively coordinated on events, our respective campaigns kicked off, YFJ including the Green Wave rally, Democracy facilitated the process of writing a joint Alive Festival, and FYEG’s campaign event. statement among party-political youth organisations on the European elections, One of the most fruitful exchanges of this which can be found here. partnership was the cooperation between YFJ, organised the Maastricht debate staff of FYEG and EGP. We provided with Politico Europe and University of feedback to each other, and EGP staff Maastricht, which was focused particularly also attended events with MOs, Young on youth. We provided a briefing for the Candidates and CT planning sessions Greens lead candidate whose performance to share their input and expertise on was overall very high rated by young campaign strategies and tactics. people, he ended up gathering the second highest amount of support votes. fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation Movements what didn’t work? We have been following youth strikes • Despite clear pledges by EGP member for climates since the early start and parties, the work with Green Parties showed our solidarity by taking part in across Europe did not always result in these strikes when our presence was young people being placed on strategic welcomed. We logistically supported the positions on their candidates lists. In #OccupyforClimate occupation of the some Green Parties, young people still EP. While members from our MOs were need to fight for being recognized as involved in the Climate Strike movement valuable partners; on different levels. Movements like Fridays • There is still a tendency among Green for Future, Extinction Rebellion and the Parties to confine youth issues primarily anti-coal movement, contributed to to questions like education, to the making climate action one of the main detriment of a broader perspective; topics in the lead candidate debates and • Sometimes requests from our partners the public debate in several countries. exceeded our own capacities, FYEG Climate movements have resulted in a has more limited capacities than it’s record turnout among young voters and partners and hence, expectations record results for Greens among youth. management is crucial to avoid misunderstandings. recommendations • Strive to have representatives in the different EGP and Greens/EFA bodies relating to the preparation of the campaign from an early start.; 17 • Work with EGP member parties on raising the awareness of the importance #OccupyForClimate - Occupying EP in Brussels. of youth candidates for gaining young people’s votes.; what worked? • Strive to offer and be ready to • Overall cooperation with EGP and provide feedback on young people’s Greens/EFA staff and FYEG’s inclusion in perspectives for the communications of EGP’s campaign; our partners; • Being involved in EGP Manifesto • Develop good working relationships process and bringing a strong youth between FYEG staff and the staff of EGP perspective in there; and Greens/EFA. • Profiting from the know-how and resources of EGP and Greens/EFA; • Additional visibility for Young Green candidates, enabling EGP to “youth-up” their own campaign; • Providing feedback on communications relating to young people and their interests; • Online and offline support for Fridays for Future; • Giving and gaining visibility to and through movements; • Having Young Candidates present during YFJ campaign events. Reporting live from the Greens/EFA election night in the European Parliament. fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation Communications Campaign Brand Identity After a long process we decided on the campaign slogan Be Brave. Green Europe! The process of developing the slogan and visual identity was not smooth and started too late. This created some delays in developing other communications tools. Merchandise The main merchandise produced were black t-shirts with the campaign logo and Young candidate Mina Tolu wearing the campaign t-shirt at a YFJ debate. slogan. They were popular among our A standardized merchandising package MOs and activists from civil society. Young was delivered to the MOs during various candidates also wore them during debates events as well as via post. Additionally, and campaign activities. FYEG launched an online shop through which additional T-Shirts, as well items with key messages which reflected Stickers outside of the standardized package could our narratives were very popular, feminist be purchased, such as hoodies or tote- messages in particular resonated with bags. In total, 10 T-Shirts, 2 hoodies and people. Stickers included: Nobody is Illegal, 1 tote-bag were purchased during the Saving Lives is Not a Crime, Riots not Diets, campaign. Abortion is Human Right, Education is not a Commodity, Basic Income for Everyone, All the merchandising was purchased Polluters Out People In, Burn Borders not 18 with environmentally-friendly and ethical Coal etc. Green with the campaign badges producers. The reactions to how the logo and with the text “Save beer coasters merchandising turned out were positive. beer, vote Green!” were also produced. However, as there was a delay in the Visual Identity design, the merchandise production delayed and fewer items could be produced. Any items which remain can continue to be used as the messages are universal.

Distributing merchandise at the EGP Green Wave. Campaign sticker, somewhere on a street in Europe. fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation online communications Facebook During the campaign we used Facebook Twitter to publish sharepics which highlighted We used Twitter on a daily basis the policies we fight for, share statements, throughout the campaign, to react quickly present young candidates and as a to emerging developments, ampligy the platform for our two main campaign activities of Young Candidates and MOs, videos. In the final sprint we also focused and share policy sharepics. Twitter was on the Vote For Climate event. an incredibly useful tool to amplify green voices during the two Global Climate During the last two weeks we organised a Strikes and the the three major European Young Green Final Campaigning Marathon election debates. Our top three tweets event, which together with a map in both March and May were about the highlighted all the final campaign events Climate Strikes! of our MOs, events of Young Candidates, as well as events organised by civil society Instagram partners in which Young Greens were We used Instagram and Instagram Stories participating. We did this to create and continously during the campaign to report show the momentum of all who are from actions, activities and events we were fighting for change and motivate others organising. During the last two weeks of to join local activities. By the end of the the campaign Young Candidates took over last campaigning week we had 131 entries to share a day in their campaign. under MO events, 29 entries under Young Rather than share policy-related or text- Candidate events and 250 entries under based share pics, we chose to share other civil society events. beautiful photos from MO activities. The 19 stories worked particularly well, generating reactions from our followers especially when we introduced bold policy proposals. Creating good stories is time-consuming and requires a lot of balance. Over time the average number of people watching our stories was dropping, possibly due to too much content.

FYEG’s Instagram during the campaign. Video: top campaign post on Facebook. 2.6k unique views. fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation Videos Telegram Crowdfunding video: we launched the FYEG’s Telegram channel, and group were crowdfunding campaign with a video useful in keeping MOs and individual that explains what we stand for, what we activists engaged and informed about wanted to achieve, and MEPs explaining the campaign. In particular ,about specific their focus and what they fight for. discussions around national issues and to gather support videos or online actions for General campaign video: had a clear Young Candidates. contrast between the Europe we didn’t like and the Europe we wish for in the future. Reddit In the final two weeks, we reached out Madrid banner drop video: a live video during our event in Madrid, and had a to climate activist groups on Reddit with focus on getting visibility plus giving the our #VoteForClimate campaign. This necessary context for our action. It was turned out to be quite successful, with 129 the first time we announced the “Be Brave. positive interactions for our messages in 5 Green Europe!” slogan. different climate activist boards.

Get out the vote video: this was our clear Newsletters call to vote Green! It is possible to change Newsletters were not a priority tool during Europe with a vote for the Greens. A young the campaign. However they were used powerful woman was the main focus of to send updates about FYEG’s campaign this video. in general. Our newsletter about the campaign was opened twice as much as Impact in videos of EGP: in various the previous newsletter. moments during the campaign, FYEG was 20 visible in the campaign material of EGP. Most notably (including logo and clear press reference) during the first climate strikes, Although outreach to press was not a before and during debates, and the Green priority during the campaign, our actions Wave video. were visible in various online newspapers, including: 21.01.2019, Denik Referndum (CZ) Website 04.04.2019, Cuartopder (ES) The website www.bravegreen.eu was the 12.04.2019, EU Observer campaign overview platform. It included 27.05.2019, France 24 information about our Young Candidates, 28.05.2019, AFP BB News (Japan) the Political Priorities and served as a place 29.05.2019, Denik Referendum (CZ) for individuals to get involved in the Green Team and actions. The process to develop We also supported Young Candidates the website started too late because of preparing for interviews when requested. delays in developing the visual identity. Providing a multilingual website provided technically challenging. Content relating Debates to young candidates took too long to Apart from Young Candidates participating compile. Average visitors to the website in debates, EC members also took part in was only 1523 per month. In the future we debates relating to the European elections. would recommend to integrate the visual Co-spokesperson Zuzana took part in a identity of the campaign in the regular debate among representatives of political website instead of building a new one party youth organizations organised by entirely from scratch. Politico. Watch it here. fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation ONLINE ACTIONS Maastricht, Florence, and Eurovision Debate: We actively prepared to campaign online during all three of the big European debates among the leading candidates. Our aim was to support the Green lead candidates on Twitter, preparing by researching past voting behaviour of the political opponents and preparing tweets from before hand. This was coordinated with EGP staff.

The Eurovision debate turned out to be a major success for the Greens in terms of Twitter engagements. #GreenWave and #VoteForClime were amongst the trending hashtags during the debate.

Global Climate Strikes, 15 March and 24 Tweeting about the climate strikes, 2.3k likes and 537 retweets. May and #OccupyforClimate One of the main ways we supported climate strikers was by amplifying their what worked? messages through our social media. In • The merchandise, in particular the particular during the Global Climate Strikes. t-shirts and stickers were very popular; On both days we started Twitter threads • Using social media to reach out for 21 to report on strikes taking place across volunteers; the world. Highlighting the global nature • Mobilising around climate, amplifying of the movement and the more recent the voices of youth climate strikers emerging strikes in Southern and Eastern across Europe on Twitter and Instagram; Europe. We used Instagram and Instagram • Mobilising support for the Green Stories to live-stream the strikes and share Spitzenkandidaten online during live updates. Our Twitter content and debates, especially on Twitter. content by FYEG EC members was shared by Greta Thunberg on at least three what didn’t work? occasions, which we dare to call a success. • The website took too long to launch; Reporting in real time from Twitter allowed • Internal processes around the visual us also to gain additional visibility and identity and campaign slogan took too enter traditional media. We adopted long and delayed other processes; the same strategy when climate strikers • Merchandise distribution, at least one occupied the square in front of the MO did not receive merchandise in European Parliament in Brussels on the time. weekend before the elections. We strived recommendations to offer a good quality lifestream from the occupation, but faced technical difficulties. • Start process for visual identity sooner Nevertheless, a tweet by one of our Co- and not online; Spokesperson breaking the news about the • Create online actions around trending occupation was among the most popular topics when relevant (e.g. milkshake tweets from FYEG during the campaign, photos worked really well.); allowing us to reach wide audiences in the • Make universal merchandise that can be last hours before closing the polls. used beyond the campaign. fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation #Voteforclimate Finances In the final phase of the campaign, we The funding for our campaign came from decided to try out a minor campaign various sources depending on the kind element that would focus on the of expenses. Several campaign-related importance of the European elections with expenses are not part of the campaign regard to fighting the climate crisis. This budget as we have mutualised these costs became the #VoteForClimate campaign. with other projects. This is the case for Inspired by similar small campaigns that most meetings of the CT or for the Young are not strictly party-political (such as Candidates Trainings that were organised “Vota por favor” in the general election in parallel with other FYEG events. This in Spain in April 2019), we developed a allowed us to reduce costs and they have narrative and an aesthetic for a campaign not been accounted in the campaign calling for people to vote for climate in the budget. European elections. We were supported by a volunteer who created the visual identity. Inside our campaign budget, the The campaign had an online presence on main spending budget lines were the Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, with one organisation of FYEG campaign rally in of the main elements being a Facebook Madrid, the recruitment of a campaign event that ended up reaching nearly 35000 and events assistant, the production costs people and 1500 responses. of the campaign material (t-shirts, beer coasters, stickers, badges), the costs related #VoteForClimate was set up in a fairly short to the visual identity, and the website. amount of time with low resources. It took By the time this report is being drafted, some work to coordinate the accounts and exact numbers are not available yet but the content, but overall it was a campaign the total campaign expenses are close to 22 element that brought an added value 60,000€, excluding the Young Candidates in emphasising that these were climate trainings and some of the CT meetings. elections. The concept can certainly be Several elements of the campaign built upon and further improved in the were considered as joint projects of the future, either as #VoteForClimate or as and FYEG. This something else. means that the EGP directly paid for some of these costs (around half of the campaign budget).

The other main sources of funding are our crowdfunding campaign organised which brought us 2000€ and our General budget (Membership fees of Member Organisations, donations, EGP grant, etc.) We have been able to fund this campaign also by cutting expenses in 2018 and transfer those resources to 2019.

This might not be possible every election year. We therefore advise FYEG to start constitute a campaign fund, putting aside at least 5000€ per year in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 to allow us to have at least 20,000€ ready for the campaign in 2024. fEDERATION OF yOUNG eUROPEAN gREENS campaign evaluation Conclusion With the urgency of the climate crisis being brought to the forefront of the political agenda, the European elections campaign of 2019 was a campaign like no other. The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament increased from 52 to 75 MEPs, providing the Green European family with new opportunities for organizing and pushing for change.

Conducting a European campaign is not always easy, as campaigning often highly depends on local political contexts. With FYEG’s campaign, we were able to establish a common ground for campaigning, providing a good basis for potential future campaigns around transnational lists. While it is impossible to establish a clear correlation between FYEG’s campaign and the number of MEPs elected, we can say that FYEG’s campaign contributed positively in bringing about the Green Wave.

Our campaign was particularly strong in the way it centered around three key stories, whose narratives were repeated consistently. At the same time, we remained flexible, experimented with new formats and engaged in activism online and on the streets.

Out of all the components of the campaign, the Young 23 Candidates Platform proved to be a particularly useful tool, allowing for recruitment, preparation and support for candidates throughout their campaign trail. It is also thanks to our campaign activities that now 11 Young Green MEPs will sit in the European Parliament and bring the Green Wave further.

We want to thank everyone who was brave with us. The fight for a Green Europe continues.

Be Brave. Green Europe!