WIREDGOV

The selection procedure for next year's European Charlemagne Youth Prize was launched on Thursday. The prize is awarded to young people who have been involved in projects to promote understanding between people from different European countries. The deadline for submitting projects for next year's prize, the fifth since it came into being in 2008, is 23 January 2012.

The Charlemagne Youth Prize, which is jointly organised by the European Parliament and the International Charlemagne Prize Foundation in Aachen, is awarded to projects undertaken by people between 16 and 30 years old.  The winning projects should serve as role models for young people living in Europe and offer practical examples of Europeans living together as one community. Youth exchange programmes, artistic and internet projects with a European dimension are amongst the projects selected.

Total prize money of €10,000

The three winning projects will be awarded funding of €5,000, €3,000, and €2,000 respectively. They will also be invited to visit the European Parliament in the autumn.

The representatives of the national winning projects will not only be invited to take part in the Charlemagne Youth Prize award ceremony, but two days later will attend  the City of Aachen International Charlemagne Prize award ceremony during a four-day trip to Aachen.

2011 winners

In 2011, the UK online lifestyle magazine "Europe & Me" created by young Europeans for young Europeans in 2007, was awarded the first prize in the Charlemagne Youth Prize competition. The second and third prizes went to "Balkans Beyond Borders", a short-film project from Greece, and the "Escena Erasmus Project" (Spain), addressed mainly to Erasmus students and encouraging cultural and linguistic exchanges.

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