Youth Exchange

The theme of the project has to do with the global environmental problems and the actions taken to deal with them. Its main objective is to enable young people and their leaders to work together and strengthen their European citizenship promoting at the same time inclusion and European awareness. Our project emphasizes two major social issues: Environmentally Sustainable methods, Sustainable cooking, climate change and Inclusion. What does it mean? We will give a description of previous topics we focused on to understand our interest in it.

Climate change is here. As its impact intensifies over time, the younger generations will face its worst effects. However, far from being passive victims, young people all over the world have begun to fight back on a scale never seen before. Take Greta Thunberg for example. In 2018, the 15-year-old girl from Sweden sparked a global movement of school-aged students demanding greater action from governments to fight climate change. Now millions of them are marching to demonstrate their support. Whether through education, technology, science or law, young people worldwide are tapping into their skills to speak up for climate action.

All over the world and, especially in the participating countries, there is a problem with the accumulation of garbage where several communities and places in our world have become vast landfills carrying all kinds of garbage and their waste underground. We will try to organize and help the young people of our organizations with their own strategy plans and their own involvement (always with the help of the participating organizations) so that they can bring their own results in the consolidation of environmental policy and protection through their awareness and their own initiatives.

The Project's specific objectives are:

• empowering the participants European identity and awareness of the need for social participation to reduce climate change among European citizens.
• Making young participants get out of the box giving their own ideas in green entrepreneurship and designing their own strategic plan for their places.
• Encouraging the direct participation of young people from 6 countries and encouraging the adoption of a responsible attitude regarding the reduction of energy consumption and waste (EU countries generated 487kg of waste per person in 2017, according to Eurostat. That's only eight kilograms less than the 496kg generated in 1997 according to the first statistical results we have. As we can see from these results, we haven't done a lot about wastes last year, especially in Cyprus and other countries of Europe).
• Understanding the differences between nations making them more united through the meeting between different cultures
• Promoting the reduction of environmental pollution and understanding the importance of a healthy living environment among the members of the communities.
• Inclusion of all participants in the YE, giving emphasis on pax with fewer opportunities

Sustainable food, energy and keeping a responsible attitude towards the reduction of energy and wastes are some of the key issues which are of concern. 48 youngsters (ages 15 – 22) from 6 organizations and 12 leaders (Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania) will gather in a YE and will get out of the Box though a lot of discussions and activities in sustainable learning methods in action. They are going to learn how to find food from earth, to take care the environment in the area of the camp so to take these methods to their areas. The aim of the project is to increase the level of the environmental knowledge and awareness of the need to protect the environment through alternative methods according to the environmental realities in the local communities. Also, it is quite important for us to give emphasis to the inclusion of participants with fewer opportunities. It will be our effort to promote our youngsters and participants' ideas. The project involves special activities which give the participants the opportunity to collaborate and and work together as groups for taking care the near environment. Such activities will develop the participants' entrepreneurship skills and at the same time encourage the reduction of wastes and approval of Climate Change in methods that can later be practiced in the participants' countries. During the training, democratic communication will also be promoted through discussion about environmental issues, group work and role-playing activities. The interaction, communication and cooperation among the participants will raise awareness of environmental protection in different countries and discussions on how to prevent it. 

Program of the Youth Exchange