By Séamus Boland, President of the Diversity Europe Group

The Conference on the Future of Europe provides opportunities for citizens and for civil society organisations to be heard and to shape the future. It also offers opportunities to bring about sustainable and people-centred change.

The Diversity Europe Group attaches special importance to three points:

Firstly, this process is an opportunity to shape the future! It is an opportunity to put civil society firmly in the driving seat! What we want to see come out of the Conference is a genuine recognition by European and national authorities that civil society organisations are guardians of the common good. That they are integral to identifying solutions. To acknowledge that civil society has a key role in building trust, shaping public opinions and acting as a positive agent of change.

Secondly, the Conference on the Future of Europe is an opportunity to bring about a mind-shift. A change in thinking, where the future and the post-COVID-19 recovery will go hand in hand with policy coherence and the Sustainable Development Goals. Poverty reduction is, of course, the first objective of the SDGs and must be at the heart of our future.

Thirdly, any discussion on the future of the EU has to bear in mind that the COVID-19 pandemic has nurtured greater respect among citizens for the values of solidarity, social justice, inter-generational cooperation, gender equality and just green and digital transitions. Now is the time to leverage public support for those values, in order to re-think our growth and governance models. To build a more equal society based on citizens' well-being. To embrace new definitions of well-being and development beyond GDP, while also respecting citizens' opinions and rights.

Make your voice heard: https://futureu.europa.eu/

#TheFutureIsYours