15th EESC Civil Society Prize

Three organisations are awarded the 15th EESC Civil Society Prize

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Brussels
Belgium

The EESC is pleased to announce the three winners of the 15th edition of the Civil Society Prize, which rewards effective, innovative and creative initiatives carried out on the territory of the EU to combat harmful polarisation of European society.

An evaluation panel composed of ten experts chose the winners from over 50 projects from across Europe.

The prize awards ceremony took place on 20 March 2025 during the EESC Civil Society Week.

Photos on Flickr

The first prize of a value of 14.000 EUR, went to the Slovak Debate Association (Slovakia) for the Critical Thinking Olympiad

The Critical Thinking Olympiad (CTO) is one of the most innovative and successful programmes run by the Slovak Debate Association. Launched in 2021, the CTO has been widely adopted, with nearly 9 000 registered participants from over 300 schools last year. It is structured as a competition across three age groups in three rounds, in which students tackle real-world media challenges. The tasks mirror the content young people encounter on a daily basis, such as evaluating Instagram posts, analysing TikTok videos, and fact-checking AI-generated content

The other two prizes, of a value of 9.000 EUR each, went to:

2nd prize: Reporters d'Espoirs (France) for its Prix Européen Jeunes Reporters d’Espoirs

The Prix Européen Jeunes Reporters d’Espoirs is an educational programme created in 2020, which has built up a community of nearly 800 young reporters. Its aim is to promote solutions-based journalism and the use of the French language among young Europeans and French speakers under the age of 30 – whatever their status, education or training. It encourages participants to improve their writing skills, self-confidence and critical thinking, and to defend their work orally. The aim is to produce a written report of 5 to 10 pages on a social challenge and on initiatives in one or more European countries that provide practical, proven solutions.

3rd prize: FEC Diversité asbl (Belgium) for its Escape Game Extreme Droite

To raise awareness on the dangers of far-right movements, FEC Diversité has devised an escape game made up of four districts, in which different ‘families’ take part. The game creates an immersive experience for players, with supervisors wearing protective suits and gas masks, and using voice modification tools. The game can be set up for small groups (3-4 people) or large groups (160 people). It can take an hour, half a day or a whole day, depending on what those hosting the event need and how much time they have available.

The EESC thanks all candidates for their application and warmly congratulates the winners.

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