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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How To | Sustainable and Environmentally Friendly Projects

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.

But how to equip our learners toward a green transition? How to give them the necessary skills so that their contribution is actual and effective?

Green Transition: Online Panel

The European Commission has organised a Policy and Practice Forum high-level panel.

The panel is in the presence of Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth and Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO.

It will address the learning-action nexus around sustainability, asking how to concretely equip learners with the necessary skills for the green transition.

It will be followed by introducing the concrete co-design dialogues between community members and policy experts around community challenges at different stages of their development.

Additional Information

The Education for Climate Policy and Practice Forum will take place on May 5th online at 10:00 – 10:50 (CEST). The speaking language will be English.

Enrol to this event.

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L'articolo Green Transition | How To Equip Learners proviene da Youth Networks.