Mission possible

We like Europe. We like each other. Out of those two facts this magazine was born.

It's really hard to define what Europe really is: a continent, but with no clear border in the East; an area with a common history which is understood in a thousand different ways; a unity which consists of about 50 countries and more than 700 million people speaking 100 languages.

That's why we keep our definition simple and snappy: Europe is a state of mind.

We have very serious goals. We want to support the emergence of a young European public. We want to contribute to a new perception of the European community - beyond the category of a nation state. And last but not least, we want to have fun! We don't particularly fancy the boring world of Brussels, we'd rather have the colourful and kitsch world of Eurovision Song Contest. But both of these are us.

Europe is us!

Overview

E&M is an online lifestyle magazine created by young Europeans for young Europeans. Its motto is to "make Europe personal", because Europe is often only identified with politics and bureaucracy. The magazine was founded in September 2007 and first published in July 2008, and since then we've been writing about every possible "Europe" - the Europe of young masters students, the Europe of Chernobyl survivers, the Europe of the European Commission, the Europe of immigrants and the Europe of ex-pats.

During the last three years, the magazine has published a new issue every three months and built up an online community of more than 1500 participants. More than one hundred authors have written for the magazine. The founding team comprises eight people with six different nationalities, and the writers and readers come from twenty different countries. Editors, authors and community work together voluntarily for a common goal: to capture the feeling of a new, transnational lifestyle.

The magazine is not funded by the EU or affiliated bodies, although we have received some prize money and some funding for individual events. All participants are independent volunteers. Find out more about our partners here.

History of the project

E&M was born in September 2007. Six of our founders met for the first time in Berlin as part of the Studienkolleg zu Berlin programme. The programme invites students from all over Europe to study European topics for a year. The idea arose that we could use the year together in Berlin to create an online magazine: in spite of our different backgrounds, we all agreed that for young people like us who were enthusiastic about Europe, there was no magazine in the European media landscape with which we could identify as "Europeans". So what could be more obvious than to start one of our own?

The eight founders could not have been more diverse: we came from Germany, Austria, Latvia, Poland, UK and Bulgaria and studied journalism, law, German, European studies, philosophy and economics. However, to get the project started, we had to start recruiting immediately. To ensure everyone had a chance to participate, we sent out calls for collaboration across a large number of networks. Authors from across Europe applied.

On July the 1st, 2008, the first edition was published and presented to the media. During the next year, dozens of collaborators joined us. With them, we developed the concept further. By now, more than one hundred authors have written for the magazine. In 2010, the project was nominated for the Charlemagne Youth Prize (we were the UK nominee), and in 2011, we won first prize!

A magazine for the whole self

We believe that if Europe is understood as nothing more than a political unit with corresponding institutions in Brussels and Strasbourg, this will hardly encourage people to identify with it. Hence, the central aim of E&M is to make Europe more personal. Taking this aim seriously meant designing a magazine for the whole self. Accordingly, the concept of E&M relates to the human body as a symbol: Brain, Heart, Diaphragm, Baby, Legs.

• Sixth Sense means "keen intuition" - the blogging platform that brings our transnational approach to current affairs. As well as live reporting from exciting events around Europe, the Sixth Sense has regular columns covering a range of topics from political debates to European films you shouldn't miss. It's also where we publish reader submissions. 
• Brain contains articles in which our writers think seriously about Europe - here the reader finds myths unravelled, politicians criticised and history looked at afresh.
• Heart gives our readers a "European feeling" - here the writers might interview an artist on the subject of European identity, tell love stories or delve into people's feelings about the European past.
• Diaphragm offers entertainment - it mocks European legislation, provides interactive quizzes and puzzles and gives fun tips for how to emulate great Europeans from times gone by.
• Baby explores sexuality in Europe - it breaks taboos, conducts exciting interviews with "sexperts," advises readers on what to expect from dates in different European cities and takes them on journeys through European sexuality in different times and places.
• Legs symbolises travel and progress - here we give advice and information on European careers, discuss transnational opportunities with employers and with young people who have chosen to work abroad, and report on fun ways to travel across the continent.