The European Correspondent

In Belgium, some scouts as young as 11 are dropped off in unfamiliar countryside and expected to find their way back to camp, largely without adults or smartphones. The tradition, known as “dropping”, is part of a much bigger scouting culture: around one in five children in Flanders and one in six in Wallonia and Brussels belong to youth movements. Read the full piece by Aoife White on our website: https://lnkd.in/e7GDAJ_F

Maybe you can’t name any Swedish music producers - but you’ve definitely sang along to their songs. Here’s how Sweden came to dominate global pop music. Based on an article by Julius Fintelmann.

The data centre boom is spreading from Western Europe to the North and South. As their environmental impact grows, Europe is looking for innovative ways to make these facilities a better fit for its energy and climate goals.

Record-low water levels in the Rhine, Danube, Po and Loire have exposed centuries-old “hunger stones”, WWII wreckage and even mammoth remains. But the consequences go far beyond archaeological finds: low rivers are disrupting shipping, agriculture and energy production across Europe. Half of the EU and UK is already experiencing some level of drought. And scientists warn that droughts are no longer just becoming more frequent, extreme heat is making them develop much faster. Read the full piece by Belle de Jong on our website: https://lnkd.in/ePsxKMSm

French parenting has long been held up as the gold standard for raising well-behaved, independent kids. But is ‘gentle parenting’ changing that? Based on an interview in The Times by Alix O’Neill.

Extreme heat killed at least 25,000 people in Western Europe this summer. Across the continent, around 80 million people were exposed to temperatures of 40°C or more. Europe has known for decades that heat kills. After the deadly summer of 2003, many countries introduced heat-health action plans. Yet more than 200,000 Europeans have died from extreme heat in the past four years, deaths the WHO says were almost entirely preventable. Read the full piece by Belle de Jong on our website: https://lnkd.in/eCTdBAn9

Can you think of a word in your native language that is missing in English? Tell us in the comments which word we should cover next!

Pizza and the EU: not the most obvious pairing, but here’s why they have more in common than you think. Based on an article by Aoife White.

This summer, wildfires tore through two of Europe’s most valuable peatlands: Belgium’s High Fens and England’s Great Fen. Peatlands are major carbon stores, but only while they stay wet. Once drained and dried by agriculture, forestry, heat and drought, they can become highly flammable — and peat fires can smoulder underground for weeks. In Belgium, more than 3,000 hectares burned in a single weekend, destroying around 7% of this type of peatland in continental Europe. Read the full piece by Christian Cummins and Lotte Debrauwer on our website: https://lnkd.in/etj3235p

The EU’s tech workforce almost doubled from 5.6 million in 2011 to 10.3 million in 2024. Yet recent graduates are finding that companies increasingly favour experienced, specialised workers over junior hires. That could become a problem: the EU wants to reach 20 million tech workers by 2030. Without a steady pipeline of young people gaining experience now, Europe could face an even bigger skills gap in the future. Read the whole piece by Olaya Argüeso Pérez on our website: https://lnkd.in/exSFKfzJ