Brussels 4–6 November 2025
The heart of Europe beats with the voices of its youth this week, as the PulseZ Youth Festival transformed Brussels into Europe’s largest youth Newsroom. Over 100 young people from across the continent have gathered to collaborate with journalists, content creators, and policymakers, telling stories that matter, challenging disinformation, and shaping Europe’s future narrative.
The PulseZ Youth Festival celebrated the power of youth voice and civic storytelling, bringing together aspiring journalists, influencers, and changemakers to explore the process of content creation. Through podcasts, articles, reels, and articles, participants learned how to transform their ideas into powerful messages that inspire change, foster dialogue, and strengthen democratic participation.
The event officially opened with inspiring remarks from Salvatore Nigro, CEO of JA Europe, Glenn Micallef, Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, European Commission and Hervé Huot-Marchand, Chief of the Section for Youth, Literacy and Skills Development (YLS) in the Education Sector, UNESCO.
The “Empowering Youth Voices on Work, Innovation and Europe’s Future” session gathered leading voices;
- Riccardo Barberis, Regional President Northern Europe & France, ManpowerGroup
- Laurence Morvan, Chief of Staff to Accenture CEO EMEA / Chair, JA Europe Board of Directors
- Andreea Calbeaza, Senior Manager, Government Affairs, Microsoft,
- Paola Zamboni, Young European Ambassador, ECAS,
Marijn Duijvestein, Policy Officer, DG Connect, Unit I3 – Audiovisual Industry & Media Support Programme, European Commission,
- Irina Ilieva, Head of Marketing, Communications and Policy, JA Europe who moderated this engaging discussion.
The festival’s core moment — the Youth Newsroom — turned Brussels into a buzzing media hub where participants reported live, produced reels, and co-authored articles in collaboration with professional journalists and creators.
The first day concluded with JAvos, spotlight for young delegates to share the stage with policymakers to debate & co-create ideas for Europe’s future. Thank you to our speakers;
- Maria Walsh, MEP (Ireland), European Parliament
- Michalis Hadjipantela, MEP (Cyprus), European Parliament
- Jüri Ratas, MEP (Estonia), European Parliament
- Philipp Schulmeister, Director for Outreach (DG COMM), European Parliament,
- Chiara Riondino – Head of Unit, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission,
- Patricia Perez-Gomez Delaunay – Head of Unit, Quality Jobs, Working Conditions and Social Dialogue (Spain, Malta), DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission,
- Silvan Vifian (Switzerland) – President, JA Alumni Europe,
- Adelina Lambreva (Bulgaria) Blue book trainee, European Commission,
- Petra Massaro (Italy) Writing Expert EPIS Thinktank,
- Klara Jovanov (Croatia) Content creator and podcaster.
The evening of 5 November concluded with an Awards Ceremony, celebrating excellence, creativity, and impact across the JA network. In true PulseZ spirit, youth journalists and creators led on-stage interviews and captured live reactions from the awardees, turning the celebration into a moment of dialogue between generations.
The evening featured the FERD’s List awards, honouring seven outstanding JA alumni whose entrepreneurial journeys embody purpose and perseverance; the UPS Teacher of the Year Award 2025, presented by Chelsea Allison, VP of Human Resources, UPS EMEA, Teacher of the Year Award 2025, presented to Natalia Rybak (Ukraine) for her inspiring leadership in education; and the TJ Bata Quality Award 2025, which recognised JA Portugal for excellence in innovation, design, and social responsibility. The award jury included the following members: representing the Bata Shoe Foundation Elvira Eilert Pignal, Trustee of Bata Shoe Foundation; Riccardo Barberis, JA Europe Board Member and President of Northern Europe at ManpowerGroup; and Siobhan McDonagh, JA Europe Board Member and Head of Group People & Culture at UniCredit.
The festival concluded with two workshops for youth by youth that equipped participants with tools to identify misinformation and produce credible, impactful content, fostering a new generation of informed digital citizens. A group of Young European Ambassadors lead “Disinfo Detectives” – a simulation game for digital democracy. At the same time, at the European Economic and Social Committee, Ms. Nicoletta Merlo, President of the EESC Youth Group, welcomed the PulseZ participants, who then brought the space to life during the sessions “Facts Instead of Fake News” and “Make a Reel that Matters”, led by Max Hillenberg from Salon5 and EU influencers Klaudia Woźniak and Chiara Gerngrosz.
All the stories, articles, and creative content produced during the PulseZ Youth Festival will be available on the PulseZ platform and its social media channels, inviting everyone to discover Europe through the eyes, voices, and creativity of its youth.
PulseZ Youth Festival is organized as part of the EU funded Project PulseZ led by JA Europe with a consortium consisting of; Matrix Internet, Ciaopeople, Europejskie Media SP. (EMS), ADB-Euractiv Romania, YMCA Europe, European Dialogue, European Youth Press.
JA Europe extends its heartfelt thanks to ManpowerGroup, Delta Air Lines, Bata, FERD, and UPS for their continued support and inspiration, which make these achievements and celebrations possible.
About PulseZ project
PulseZ is an EU funded project promoting European values through the eyes of young people. PulseZ is a digital democracy platform with a central aim to empower young people aged 16-25 to voice their opinions on European issues, engaging in activism through journalism and content creation on their channels. PulseZ collaborative platform with a central content hub, along with events, training, and entrepreneurial opportunities, allows young Europeans to contribute to mainstream media and apply these skills to global youth initiatives. The aim is to recruit over 3,000 young people from more than 20 EU countries as content contributors, with well over half a million reached through our communications activities.
About JA Europe
JA Europe is the largest and leading organisation in Europe dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed. For over 100 years, JA Worldwide has delivered hands-on, experiential learning in entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial health. In the last school year, the JA Europe network in over 40 countries provided nearly 7 million learning experiences for youth in online, in person and blended formats, the organisation provided 95,581 teaching experiences and 86,533 volunteering and mentoring experiences. In 2025, JA Worldwide was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, the fourth nomination in four years.
For any further information, contact Anna Demiri (annad@jaeurope.org).
