During the Explore#EU simulation games pupils assume the roles of Members of the European Parliament and negotiate a legislative Regulation on sustainability in the EU’s agricultural policy.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is an important part of EU politics. Yet, European agricultural policy is not subject to a lot of debate – despite the fact that every EU citizen is paying, on average, 30 cents per day for the CAP. Two years ago, the CAP was reformed with a stronger focus on sustainable farming. This was supposed to secure natural resources for future generations and ensure that the produced food does not have any negative impacts on animals and humans. Explore#EU addresses this subject matter and deals with an EU Regulation on the future of a sustainable European agriculture.

The simulations are designed for 70 up to 150 participants and can either take place on school premises or public places near to the schools. During the simulation the pupils debate on two concrete and pre-defined aspects of the Common Agricultural Policy. For this purpose they will receive access to an online portal where they can download their own personalised profile and important background information on the topic. Moreover, the online portal offers material for the teachers which can be used to prepare the pupils for the simulation. The simulation games will be supervised by four or five seminar leaders who will provide guidance for the pupils.

The aim of the simulation is to make politics and democratic dynamics more tangible. The active experience and implementation of theoretical political knowledge is essential to the simulations. In comparison to conventional learning methods, this approach of actively involving the pupils has a much larger impact on the effectiveness of the learning process, meaning that the acquired skills will be easier to retrieve for the pupils.