80 Ideas for Europe

DemoPlay is an interactive, AI‑powered simulation game that places young people (14–24) in political roles. It simulates decision‑making consequences in realistic scenarios and uses adaptive feedback loops to foster critical understanding of democratic processes – developed inclusively, accessibly, and through participatory design.

Mathias Lip, AI Empowered Politics, FH Wiener Neustadt, Yep, HeyQQ GmbH

The EDPO would be a dedicated institutional EU body designed to address fragmentation and regulatory barriers in defense cooperation with strategic non-EU partners. Initially involving committed countries from the Ramstein Group (e.g., Ukraine, UK, Norway, US, South Korea, Japan), it would coordinate joint defense R&D, procurement, and structured access to EU financing mechanisms, enhancing interoperability through targeted training. EDPO would significantly strengthen Europe's collective security and global influence, ideally launched within the next 2–3 years.

Bodhan Tierokhin, University of Dundee

A global boom in humanoid robotics is underway, yet Europe lags behind the US and China. The next 5 years will be crucial for adoption, offering a unique opportunity to catch up. Humanoid robots can address labor shortages, boost productivity, and enhance innovation. Industries, policymakers, and researchers must act now to position Europe as a leader in this transformative field.

Christian Tauber, NEOALP

LAWGIC is an AI-powered tool that provides adaptive, on-demand legal guidance for EU startups. It simplifies regulations like GDPR and beyond, grows with businesses, and keeps pace with legal changes - empowering entrepreneurs to innovate confidently and responsibly.

Adrianna Czechowska, Lodz University of Technology

A pan-European civic preparedness program for youth aged 16–25, combining training with active service in essential roles like cybersecurity, firefighting, medical aid, and crisis response. A civilian counterpart to military reserves—backed by the EU, rooted locally, and woven into Europe’s wider defence and disaster response systems.

Theodore Croft, Forward College

Taken the planets boundaries, there seems be an inherent design error: While needs constantly grow, limited resources seem to place future boundaries to sustainability and growth. By expanding the world’s leading material cadaster with data from today 20.000 assets in 7 countries, madaster gives value to existing building stock as secondary resources and reduction of global dependencies.

Werner Weingraber, Madaster

MINTor: RoboSDG empowers teenage girls to become STEM mentors ("MINTors") who lead robotics workshops for children using the RoboSDG toolkit. Together, they build robots that address real-world challenges based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals – such as poverty, climate action, or clean water. The program strengthens digital skills, leadership, and civic engagement, especially among underrepresented youth. By combining mentorship, technology, and sustainability, MINTor: RoboSDG fosters inclusion and empowers the next generation to actively shape a strong, democratic, and innovative Europe.

Sonja Macher, InnovationsMacherIn

Europe has 9 domestic card payment schemes (Girocard, Card Bancaire, etc) and 12 alternative payment schemes (Bizum, Bancomat, etc). These domestic solutions cover almost every region and the vast majority of Europeans. We have developed a payment roaming solution where one solution can pay into the merchant network of the other. Analogous to the SIM card roaming we can build a pan-European way to pay and thus reduce the reliance on (US) international card schemes!

Christian Pirkner, Blue Code International AG

The Alpine Futures Lab pairs youth and elders to reimagine mountain sustainability. Using digital twins and mixed-reality tools, generations collaborate to create immediate community changes while experiencing potential futures. This network of innovation spans Alpine villages, preserving traditional wisdom, engaging young people, and building a model for sustainable communities across Europe.

Franz Walter, in collaboration with the Austrian Alpine Club

With a growing number of people around the world feeling alienated from politics and decision-making processes, our democracies are facing an existential crisis. The theater for transformative action is a new collaborative tool aiming to revive local governance through legislative theater, community resilience games and citizens' assemblies. We are giving back the power to the people.

Samira Ben Ali, Salzburg Global - Public Policy New Voices Europe Fellows 2024

Unframed is a mobile exhibition using augmented reality and contemporary art to bring EU policy to life. By pairing artworks with real political resolutions, it turns abstract legislation into emotional, relatable experiences—inviting citizens to engage with democracy through art in public space.

Anastasia Lemberg-Lvova, De Structura