The venue is situated in the Regional Park of Monte Barro in a picturesque zone – which we wanted, with this occasion, to promote and present its beauty on an international scale.

Legambiente Lecco

Legambiente Lecco is a non-profit organization, that is active in the field of environmental protection, with the main aim of promoting and developing sustainable and well-balanced with the environment lifestyles, whereof man is an integral part – goal that fit like a glove with the main objectives of the mobility:

• Increasing awareness of the environmental impact of human activities.
• Raising awareness about waste and food waste through practical upcycling workshops, utilizing items like newspaper, plastic bottles, glass, tetrapak, clothes, and herbs. 
• Sharing of best practices in waste reduction and recycling among European countries.
• Providing young people with a multicultural learning experience.

The Youth Exchange

These objectives were explored, during 6 days of non-formal based activities, by a total of 39 participants (including 8 group leaders & 1 facilitator) from 6 countries – Italy, Romania (Asociația Hair Redivivus), Portugal (Cooperativa de Inovação Educativa para a Transformação Social), Poland (Polish Ochotnicze Hufce Pracy), Hungary (Association Travelnest) & France (Association Hors Pistes), through ice breaking & getting to know each other activities, international evenings, practical workshops on learning skills related to upcycling (newspaper to create paper, glass and tetrapak to create decorations, clothes, plastic bottles to create jewelry, corks), team building activities, practical workshop on the identification of edible plants in the forest close to the hostel, as well as preparing natural sauces out of them, offered by an external expert, practical workshop on the creation of deodorant & charcoal toothpaste, using natural ingredients, discussions, debriefing and reflection groups. Additionally, the participants even visited “Cascina Selvetto” for a workshop on herbs to address food waste issues.

Since the project was designed and organized under the umbrella of Associazione Joint’s strategic accreditation on the inclusion of youngsters with fewer opportunities, the exchange involved 15 such participants (50% of the total number of participants), many of them with a level of English close to zero. This led to structuring the activities as practical as possible, in order to make them as little based on verbal communication. 

More so, the entire schedule was personalized based on participant’s feedback, with sessions organised & facilitated by the group leaders of the different countries, with the support of the facilitator. This division of roles between partners had the aim of empowering the leaders, as all group leaders were given space to structure & manage at least one activity.

Curious to discover more? Here’s the story of the project, captured in pictures.

L'articolo “Upcycling & Sustainable Lifestyles” – an Erasmus+ Youth Exchange proviene da Youth Networks.

The small gestures we make during our days have a great impact on the planet where we live and it is important to take new action to live in a sustainable Europe.

Without realising it, in fact, the choice during our purchases, the food we buy, the objects we own have great effects on the environment and climate change.

The future hinges on our capacity to shift towards a circular economy. This means not only encouraging companies to produce goods sustainably but also altering our consumer habits to repair, reuse, and recycle products, extending their lifespan whenever feasible.

These issues were addressed during the policy dialogue conducted by Executive vice-president Frans Timmermans. If you are interested in learning more about sustainability in Europe, read on and learn how to watch the event video in streaming.

The aims of the dialogue

During the event, the theme of sustainable Europe was addressed. Participants talk about how European citizens can make more informed choices for the protection of the environment.

The conference discussed the following points:

1. How to ensure that shoppers have access to information about the sustainability of foodstuffs and products
2. How to avoid greenwashing and ensure that consumers can trust the sustainability claims made by producers
3. How to design products that have a longer lifespan to avoid ‘planned obsolescence’

The discussion allowed the 15 participants from all over Europe to discuss this topic and to express their opinions.

The topics of the discussion

At the end of the event were drawn up three key points that will be used to create awareness among the young generations of Europe:

1. Sustainable Production. The consensus among participants was that it’s essential to cultivate greater interest among industries in sustainable choices. Additionally, there’s a need to persuade consumers to opt for less plastic and provide them with more sustainable alternatives.
2. Energy. During his conversation with young participants, Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans emphasized the significance of transforming the energy production methods in Europe and enhancing our daily energy efficiency. These measures will diminish our reliance on Russian oil and gas.
3. Food. During the conversation participants proposed the idea that, similar to energy labels, a straightforward labelling system could be useful for food. However, he cautioned against the risk of greenwashing and false labelling, stressing the importance of creating certifiable and easily comprehensible labels.Furthermore, he pointed out that producing food closer to consumers facilitates better traceability back to the producer.

The Video Resume

If you are curious and interested in finding out more about the topic you can see the video summary of the event on the official website.

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L'articolo Sustainable Europe | Dialogue with Young Europeans proviene da Youth Networks.

The future of agriculture and sustainability depends heavily on the young population.

In recent years in particular, the average age of agricultural workers has risen considerably: only one tenth of European farmers are under 44 years old.

For this reason, one of the priorities of the new Common Agricultural Policy is to encourage young people to explore this type of work and support those who want to start their career in sustainable agriculture.

Beyond agriculture, another goal of the new policy is to improve rural quality of life by supporting rural service provision, infrastructure and rural economic.

These issues were discussed in the Policy Dialogue with Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wokciechowski. If you couldn’t attend the event, read on and learn how to watch the event’s streaming video.

The key point of the discussion

The event was useful to discuss the importance of agriculture and the introduction of young people in this type of work.

Participants had the opportunity to dialogue with the organisers and share their views on these issues.

The dialogue followed the following key points:

• What are the main worries and key opportunities for youth in agriculture and rural areas?
• How the CAP supports young farmers?
• How young people can be empowered to take an active role in local development?
• Other relevant topics such as animal welfare or maintenance of rural areas?

These questions were useful to better organise the meeting and allowed to create a dialogue between the participants and the organisers.

The topics of the discussion

The outcome of the event can be summarised as follows:

1. Generational renewal. There are difficulties for the young farmers because of difficulties to have access to land, limited services in rural areas, limited revenues, high risks and limited insurance systems, increased by the climate change, as well as social recognition of agriculture. The first instalments support should take these elements into account. The young farmers voiced that more incentives and less red tape would be desirable under the Common Agriculture Policy.
2. Quality, not quantity. The added value of the EU agricultural products is related to the quality and safety, which is the highest in the world and this should be further promoted.
3. Revenues for farmers should be increased, not least by increasing the share of prices paid by consumers into farmers’ revenues. Decreasing the abuse of position by supermarkets, guaranteeing that the prices paid by supermarkets cannot be lower than the production costs could also ensure higher revenues for farmers
4. EU funding for agriculture. EU funding instruments should contribute to support rural areas, such as cohesion funds and Recovery and Resilience Facility.

The Video Resume

If you want to learn what more about the event you can view the video resume on the official website.

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L'articolo Young People in Agriculture | Dialogue with Young Europeans proviene da Youth Networks.

It was an opportunity to give young people a voice on these issues that are close to their hearts.

European Youth Conference

Organised by the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in collaboration with the National Youth Council – CNAJEP – and with the support of the European Commission, the European Youth Conference took place online on 24-26th January 2022.

The event brought together more than 300 participants, including youth delegates from all over the EU, representatives of Member States’ ministries, youth organisations, the European Commission, the European Parliament to discuss how to “Engage together for a sustainable and inclusive Europe“.

The conference opened the 9th cycle of the EU Youth Dialogue, an EU wide participatory mechanism. Its aim was to define the priorities for the work of the 9th cycle in relation to the European youth goals

• “for a green and sustainable Europe”, and
• “inclusive societies”.

This conference focused in particular on how young people can be actors of change for the protection of the environment. 5 projects from young Europeans received an award by a jury in the framework of the “Young and Eco-committed” competition.

Report

The day after the event, the young delegates presented the conclusions of the conference to the European ministers for education and youth informal meeting on 27 January 2022 in Strasbourg.

Find all the work and conclusions of the young delegates in the conference final report.

Download it in English.

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L'articolo European Youth Conference Report 2022 proviene da Youth Networks.

The youth sector has been at the forefront of developing good practice in the area of sustainability and this is not a trend that is new to the sector; it is something that has been developing for many years, but it is true that in recent years there’s has been much more of a policy focus and, following that increased funding.

As the EU-CoE Youth Partnership Exploratory Study: Sustainability in Learning Mobility points out:

“The youth sector has been active in the sustainability field for many years. There are numerous initiatives coming from the grass roots….. Non-governmental organisations have been developing sustainable practices, among them learning mobility ones, since long before specific policy strategies were published. However, in 2021, major EU programmes providing funds for learning mobilities in Europe, Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps, introduced a new priority focusing on the environment and fighting against climate change, which has already boosted initiatives devoted to this topic.”

The study goes on to lay out some examples of youth-led organisations who are working extensively on the topic of sustainability.

A journey to sustainable, quality youth mobility

Whilst it’s clear that there’s work to be done in further mapping and spreading good green practices in learning mobility, it’s also evident that young people don’t need to be persuaded on this front. Their activism is changing minds and policies, but more needs to be done, both on a practical level and on embedding the topic in youth work and in citizenship education.

On a practical level, when developing youth mobility projects, there are many ways to build in greener practices. The Q!App has plenty of “food for thought” and tips in this area, see for example, its preparation plan for more environmentally friendly projects.

Build Best Practices

To ensure youth mobility activities follow good practice when it comes to sustainability, the Youth Partnership between the EU and the Council of Europe has published a handy guide:

• “Greening the Youth Sector – Sustainability checklist” which lays out some key criteria for making youth projects, including mobility projects “greener” – from venues and accommodation – checklist etc, through to food, waste and, of course, travel – the document gives top tips on ensuring a lower impact on the environment and embedding good practice in organisations. But, as it states in the publication, the youth sector still has a way to go on its journey to becoming greener: “Environmental awareness and thinking sustainably are part of a continuous process of learning, innovating and (re)creating.”

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L'articolo How To | Sustainable and Environmentally Friendly Projects proviene da Youth Networks.

Erasmus+ Priorities

Among the objectives to pursue, here are the four main ones:

• Promoting inclusion and diversity;
• Making projects ‘greener’ and encouraging environmentally sustainable and responsible behaviour among participants and participating organisations;
• Supporting the digital transition through projects and activities that boost digital skills, foster digital literacy and develop understanding of the risks and opportunities of digital technology;
• Promoting the participation of young people in democratic processes and civic engagement.

Environmental Sustainability

A new research maps out Erasmus+ projects in education for environmental sustainability and highlights 15 case studies, summarising the findings from the Erasmus+ programme which showcase successful educational approaches towards learning for environmental sustainability. 

Education and training plays a crucial role in helping people understand and act on environmental sustainability. For this reason, the European Commission supports actions which work towards this goal. According to a new study, there have been thousands of Erasmus+ projects which focus on learning for environmental sustainability since 2014.

The Power of European Projects Toward Sustainability

Over European Projects, transnational teams come together to explore environmental challenges of common European and global concern, with a variety of innovative, interdisciplinary, hands-on methods: from simulation games, and science-technology-society education models, to GPS-based scavenger hunt apps.

Explore these successful cases, and get inspiration!

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L'articolo Erasmus+ Projects for Environmental Sustainability proviene da Youth Networks.

About the project

In October 2019 in Turkey young people from 7 different countries met to discuss the matter of a more sustainable life. With this project –  “Creating a sustainable life: permaculture”–  it was aimed to integrate young people with nature. Among other objectives, the goals of this project were to:

– provide a better understanding of the ecosystem and its importance,
– raise awareness about ecosystem protection,
– introduce and spread the concept of permaculture,
– provide a better understanding of the concept of a sustainable environment,
– contribute to the protection of nature.

The outcome of the project is a HANDBOOK where you can find information about permaculture and ideas for activities that can boost the interest of young people towards nature protection.

Partners:
Group Education Volunteers – Turkey
Ecological Manifesto – ManEco – Bulgaria
Ecocenter Alapítvány – Hungary
Associação Quinta Das Relvas – Portugal
QG Enviro Merine – Italy
Permacultura Cantabria – Spain
Bioville Vecumnieku Novads – Latvia

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L'articolo Create a more sustainable life with… PERMACULTURE! proviene da Youth Networks.