At the heart of Accidental European lies the belief that well informed citizens make the world a better place. And while we’d love to solve the world’s problems with a magic wand, we decided to start by first sorting out some of the European continent’s issues. We see it crucial to focus on policy as it is the translation of societal needs into laws, rules and all which institutionally build our “vivre-ensemble”.

We believe that the European project, with all its ups and downs, mistakes and successes, still represents an extraordinary story of incremental policy making. Today, decisions taken by European policy makers affect virtually all aspects of our lives. Paradoxically, one of Europe’s core problems is how little it is understood. And, due to misrepresentations, how little citizens feel engaged in the decision–making process which is intended to solve their daily problems and make their futures brighter.

The European project’s information problem is twofold… 

• On the one hand, citizens’ awareness is affected by information silos. Information flows, especially between citizens, civil society at large and policy makers, is truncated by mental walls, which creates misrepresentations and misunderstandings on all sides. Well- informed citizens are those that take different perspectives to make informed judgments.

• On the other hand, policies lack simplification, humanisation and comparison. Policy-makers are often viewed as developing regulations with which Europeans have a hard time relating. We believe that bringing human perspectives to policy making will make the European continent a better place.

This platform aims at providing part of the solution to these two sides of the same European information problem. We believe in the dynamism of societies and in shedding light on countless amazing citizens’ initiatives which can complement overarching public policies. By showing that local actions can tackle global problems, we aim to provide more public engagement with policies. And if we listen to all active actors in a specific policy field, we can breed greater understanding, and, almost as a by-product, further citizens’ engagement.

We believe in local intelligence. We believe in global intelligence. And we believe in individual intelligence.