Alumni form new political party in the Netherlands

Meet Mila, Favian, Beatrice and Miranda (not pictured). They’re alumni of Class of ‘21. Together with other alumni, they’re creating a new political party in Europe.

Starting initially in the Netherlands but with hopes of expanding. Their aim is to participate in the European elections taking place in June. Their party, Stem Voor De Aarde’s mission is to amplify the voices of the underrepresented. Specifically, our planet and our future.

These courageous young people want to tackle the low representation of the younger generations in the European Parliament as well as protect the planet for future generations.

“Our mission is to foster a REAL democracy, where EVERYONE and EVERYTHING has representation. From nature – the birds, the fish, the water, the trees – to the 10-year-old child facing a future on a warming planet, we believe every voice deserves to be heard.

Currently out of the 705 members of the European Parliament only 6 were under 30 at the start of their term 5 years ago. So there’s a massive section of society that’s not being represented. There are more MEPs named Martin than young parliamentarians! True to their aim, the party leader’s age is 21! “Adding to that we want to give a voice to the earth with the climate crisis we’re facing.

We want a voice in OUR future which isn’t currently happening. We want a voice in how we live our future. We’re taking our UWC education to become changemakers, we have a problem and we’re trying to find a solution.”

In order to be able to enter the race for an EP seat, our young AC alumni need to pay a fee to the Dutch government.

They have started a crowdfunding campaign to overcome this formal threshold. You can contribute in many ways! To find out more about how you can help support the next generation of UWC politicians visit: https://stemvoordeaarde.nl/ "