As a member of the Rise and Reflect co-inquiry group I attended the 8th Advisory Board meeting in Brussels from March 15th to 17th 2026.
The Advisory Board came together to keep track of all the surveys and activities that had been done and to outline future priorities of the Platform.
My role at the Board meeting
As an alumnus, my role was both to explain what we have been doing at the Rise and Reflect co-inquiry group and to help and facilitate the children during the activities.
It was an experience of great value to me and if I think of when I attended the Platform’s first General Assembly as a child in 2023, I realise that the presence of a young co-facilitator would have helped a lot!
Personally, it was an extremely engaging experience, and it once again it showed the influence children can have when they are given space and opportunities.
Facilitating for the Board
We spent three interesting days analysing all the topics suggested by the children and revising all the work that was done before.
We had the chance of meeting inside the European Parliament’s building. I think this helped everybody to physically realise the closeness to the decision-making process.
On the first day we got to know one another, shared something about ourselves (i.e. a hobby, past experiences, ideas…) and recalled what had been done at the past Advisory Board meeting. After this, the children started to put forward some ideas and goals they felt were priorities and they clustered them into different groups. They then voted on these proposals to decide what was more important for them.
Later, we started to prepare and discuss the questions for the MEPs that we eventually met on the last day. The discussion was stimulating for everybody as many different topics were involved, especially on youth participation, online safety and social equality.
The next day we went over all the activities, surveys and projects that had been made since the previous Advisory Board meeting, and the children were asked opinions and suggestions on a survey concerning the Digital Fairness Act.
The children then expressed their opinion on the work that had been done so far and highlighted what they felt was enough and what needed improvement.
Eventually, the discussion moved to the 2027-2028 work plan. Once again, the children put forward their ideas, clustered them in different topics and then voted. Mental health and online safety emerged as some of the most compelling problems for the children.
Meeting with decision-makers
On the last day we had the great opportunity to ask the MEPs the questions prepared on the first day.
The first one to meet the children was the deputy president of the European Parliament Ewa Kopacz. The children had selected the questions they thought were the most suitable to ask her and they led the conversation.
Just after deputy president Kopacz, two other MEPs joined us: Hristo Petrov and Lena Schilling. More questions were asked and more topics were discussed. The children also received an invitation to the next parliamentary discussion about the Child Guarantee.
During the conversation with the MEPs, the focus was on climate change, youth participation and welfare system for children and families with difficulties.
At last, these wonderful days came to an end, and after one last lunch together we said good-bye.
It most definitely set goals for the future; and to meet them, effort will be required from everybody.
About Emanuele
Emanuele lives in Rome, Italy. He participated in the first General Assembly of the EU Children’s Participation Platform in 2023, and in other projects with the Italian Independent Authority for Childhood and Adolescence. He takes participation very seriously and tries his best to make a difference!