From 12th to 15th of June a group of 10 Shokkin members travelled to Strasbourg (France) in order to participate in the 2025 edition of the European Youth Event, wow! And not only that! Shokkin was selected among more than 500 organizations from all over Europe to facilitate a workshop as part of the official event programme: our educational escape game “The Truth Seekers” about critical thinking and media literacy. Here are the experiences of our members:

“My experience at the EYE this year in France was something I didn’t know I could do while being still young. This event was so charming and very open for everyone. I could have gone to anybody and still have a very enjoyable conversation with them! I enjoyed short films and I’ve become a jury who decided what movie was the best!

There were many other opportunities to try something different and to get knowledge from other activities that were there. And facilitating our own game called “The Truth Seekers” was very motivational. Seeing how many struggles and problems we’ve overcome while also feeling the great energy from players that experienced our game left very pleasant feeling that we’ve achieved something with practicing and trying. I recommend to go for it if you have a chance!”

Kristian Heidmets

“My experience of EYE was overall really good! I felt privileged to be able to travel basically for free, enjoy the wonderful city of Strasbourg, meet the friendliest groups of new people I’ve ever seen and to spend quality time with my friends. My favourite moments from the event were exploring the city and visiting the parliament building. I didn’t stay at the parliament building or the EYE village for too long, but if I had more time and energy, I definitely would’ve tried to visit most of the workshops, concerts and discussions available there!

Facilitating our activity was a bit hectic due to unforeseen technical difficulties, but fun nevertheless. It was very interesting to talk to people during our activity and to hear their thoughts. This event, in general, felt like a great opportunity for networking: influential people from diverse backgrounds were on every step, ready to talk to you and to get to know you and what you do. At one point, we randomly met a parliament member on the street, she recognized our EYE-branded bags and we started talking, just like that!

As the second activity coordinator, I must say that the logistics of the event and the communication during the preparation phase from the side of the main EYE organizers weren’t perfect. Firstly, we weren’t told from the get-go, that not all of the activity facilitators from our team would get the fast-lane bracelets at EYE. Because of that, we had to quickly change plans, so that everyone from our team, who had put in effort to prepare to be a facilitator and deserved to facilitate during EYE, could have the opportunity to do so. Also, we felt like the fast-lane to non-fast-lane people ratio was way out of balance: people without the fast-lane would stand in lines under the 35°C sun for hours of time, while the fast-lane was free to walk through at any time, if you had the corresponding bracelet.”

Nikolai Kester

“My experience at EYE 2025 was very colorful, filled with many different activities. The event lasted for 2 days, excluding the concert during the evening before. The parliament was full of workshops and young people from Europe and beyond. 

One of my highlights during this experience was facilitating “The Truth Seekers”. It was my first time facilitating an escape game for total strangers in English. Even though everyone in the team tried facilitating the game at least once in Estonia before going, nothing compares to the feeling of facilitating during the event. Doing the workshop felt empowering and rewarding. For me, it was really nice to see how interested people were and how good the teamwork between them was. Hearing the feedback from participants made me feel that all of the preparations for making this happen were worth it. 

When exploring the parliament, we stumbled upon a stand about interpreting. I had never heard about interpreting before because in Estonian the word for interpreting and translating is the same. In this stand I could try interpreting myself and against all odds, one of the eight interpreters present was Estonian so I could interpret into Estonian. It was a unique experience that I will remember for a long time.

The town days were packed with activities and sadly I didn’t have time to explore so many. In an ideal world, the EYE would last at least 4 days for me to be able to discover and try everything. Despite this, it was an amazing experience that left me with knowledge and memories. I recommend everyone who has the chance to participate in the upcoming European Youth Events, as an organiser or just a visiter.”

Marika Karnetova

“I would say that my EYE experience was absolutely amazing! I enjoyed every day there, all the activities were super fun and people were nice. There were so many different moments I enjoyed a lot, but I think my favourite was just wandering around the Parliament. There was so much to do, different stations where we were able to try new things, like being a translator or do quizzes about the EU.

At the event, I got the chance to facilitate our game on the second day. Before actually facilitating it, I was scared and nervous, but everything turned out good. I was able to work and facilitate in a pair with a friend of mine which made me calmer and comfortable. It was sometimes hard to give participants subtle hints, because knowing the game so good myself and it feels like since i know it well, it’s weird that others don’t.

Overall, I think we did an amazing job and while we were doing debriefing, all of the participants said that they enjoyed it and learnt something new, which I think is the most important. If attending the event crosses any youngster’s mind but are scared and need assurance – all I can say is that the event is 100% worth getting out of your comfort zone and trying something new. It offers you so much – new connections, knowledge and faith. I had so much fun and would attend the event again in a heartbeat.”

Marta Kont

“The EYE was a project I had been waiting for it for several months. Realizing that you’re going to another country with your friends to do something you love it’s an incredible feeling!

When we ended up in the Parliament, I was very surprised by how open all the participants from other countries were to conversation and how open-minded they were about everything. No one was afraid to express their opinions or share their thoughts. Evening walks around the city felt magical: the city I had no expectations but then I was completely amazed with its beauty and how lively it was.

Hosting the game was actually enjoyable, because I could feel that people were really listening to me, truly hearing me, and were open to communication and discussion. My favorite part of running the game was the debriefing, since that’s when people shared their: opinions, ideas and laugh.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend anyone to experience a project like this at least once, because it’s on a completely different level. Countries from all over Europe come together in one place: everyone with their own goals, yet all these people are doing what they love, and that’s what unites us.“

Lorena Sedaševa