This year’s Spring of Europe includes events in the schools of the 27 EU member states and other continents, with highlights on 8th and 9th May on the occasion of the Festival of Europe. Participation is open "to all of the EU’s schools, from nursery schools to primary and secondary schools and to the schools of the rest of the world". Between the end of March and 30th June, the team of the Spring campaign will encourage and organise visits by local, national and European personalities in the schools". These meetings "are an opportunity to discuss subjects concerning Europe and make the new generations’ voices be heard by the decision-makers". The Spring Day was launched for the first time in 2002 to raise awareness of the EU, its citizens and the related institutions and to "promote in the schools the education to European citizenship through traditional curricular activities and activities related to the use of IT technology". The campaign is part of "Plan D" to increase democracy, dialogue and debate: the schedule of events and other information can be found at: www.springday2008.net/.
