Webinar: Young people in Europe

As part of the European Union’s Year of Youth, we hosted an online conference on Wednesday 7 December 2022.

Substantive research that focused specifically on the attitudes of young people was presented by academics on a range of topics included in the first ten rounds of the survey (2002-22).

00:01:36 Do young people’s concerns about climate change relate to wellbeing? - Alina Cosma (Trinity College Dublin) and Gina Martin (Athabasca University)

00:24:30 Are young voters more loyal than others to environmental concerns? - Elisabetta Mannoni (Central European University)

00:44:35 Approaching the European energy crisis from the demand side - Julian Reul (Institute of Energy and Climate Research)

01:09:30 The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people’s perspectives on the future - Laurène Thil (HIVA - Research Institute for Work and Society, KU Leuven)

01:39:22 Perceptions of youth towards information and communication technologies (ICT) - Maria Symeonaki (Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences)

Do young people’s concerns about climate change relate to wellbeing?

Alina Cosma (Trinity College Dublin) and Gina Martin (Athabasca University) examined whether young respondent’s mental health is affected by concern about climate change and feeling a personal responsibility to help prevent it.

Cosma currently holds a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship at Trinity College Dublin - the project explores contemporary perspectives on adolescent mental health.

Martin is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Disciplines at Athabasca University, Canada. Her research focuses on the relationships between the environments and young people’s wellbeing.

Are young voters more loyal than others to environmental concerns?

Elisabetta Mannoni (Central European University) discussed whether young people are more likely to vote in line with their concerns about the environment than older voters.

Mannoni is a PhD candidate in Comparative Politics at Central European University, where she researches the relationship environmental protection and pro-environmental voting.

Approaching the European energy crisis from the demand side

Julian Reul (Institute of Energy and Climate Research) assessed the factors that encourage the reduction of energy consumption amongst different age groups.

Reul is a postdoctoral researcher who studies the decision-making of individuals and private companies in the energy and transport sectors.

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people’s perspectives on the future

Laurène Thil (HIVA - Research Institute for Work and Society, KU Leuven) revealed the results of a new survey conducted in 2022 to examine the impact of COVID-19 on young people’s opinions.

It used the exact question wording from the ESS and other surveys to allow for comparisons over time.

Thil joined the Work, Organisation and Social Dialogue research group at HIVA, KU Leuven, as a researcher earlier this year and is currently conducting research on employment, quality of work and gender equality.

Perceptions of youth towards information and communication technologies (ICT)

Maria Symeonaki (Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences) presented analysis of our newest available dataset (Round 10, 2020-22) measuring attitudes towards digital social contacts in work and family life.

Maria Symeonaki is Professor of Social Statistics at the Department of Social Policy, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, and Director of the ‘Social Statistics and Data Analysis Laboratory’ (STADA Lab).