“Europe on the Ground” was awarded first prize at the 2012 Charlemagne Youth Prize

“Europe on the Ground”, a Babel International youth media project, was awarded first prize at the 2012 Charlemagne Youth Prize ceremony on 15 May in Aachen. The Charlemagne Youth Prize is awarded annually to projects that foster a shared sense of European identity and integration among young people.

Cafebabel Roma, Cafebabel Greece and Babel Espana Communication, which are partners of Mediter network, are local branches of Babel International.

The first prize was awarded by EP president Martin Schulz, the second by former EP president Hans-Gert Pöttering and the third by the Mmyor of Aachen, Marcel Philip.
EP president Martin Schulz said: "Personally, what I like about the 'Europe on the ground' project is that it makes cultural diversity in Europe tangible, promotes multilingualism and encourages the emergence of a European public. We need more European debates on European issues, if we want to strengthen European democracy.  There is an increasing awareness of how much we depend on each other, how we are intertwined with each other. The winner of the Charlemagne Youth Prize is helping to create a more European public."

Europe on the Ground is an innovative youth media project that sends multicultural teams of over 50 young citizen journalists and amateur photographers to 10 European capitals each year.  The young participants are given four days to write articles and produce photo galleries on subjects related to European culture and society. All contributions are then edited by professional journalists and published in six languages on the European online magazine www.cafebabel.com. The project aims to improve understanding between the people of Europe by making Europe more concrete for young citizens, and to use innovative forms of European journalism.

For further information:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/content/20120510STO44845/html/Europe-on-the-Ground-wins-2012-European-Charlemagne-Youth-Prize