“Change starts from you – bECOme active", YE in Cologne, Germany /08 - 15/08/2023

Project Name: Youth Exchange “Change starts from you – bECOme active”

Activity: Youth Exchange in Germany. The Change starts from you – bECOme active project will involve 42 participants from Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, North Macedonia, Italy and Cyprus in Cologne, Germany from 8 – 15 of August 2023.

Youth Exchange: 8 – 15 of August 2023 (including travelling days)

Accommodation: Station – Hostel, Marzellenstr. 44-56 50668 Cologne / Germany

Food: The venue of the training will serve the participants with 3- times-a-day meals and snacks and beverages for the coffee breaks.

Participants: 5+1 participants from 7 countries.

Total of 42 participants

5 youngsters and one leader will be selected from our organisation.

Characteristics of the participants:

- To have motivation to actively participate in international cooperation

- To respect the tasks and responsibilities defined by the coordinator and the organization to which they belong

- To behave professionally during the process of realization and implementation of mobility

- To be friendly and to promote a positive team spirit

- To have a desire to gain new knowledge, skills and competencies through non-formal education

- What is the project about?

From climate change, deforestation and other misuses of natural resources, loss of biodiversity, pollution, or contaminated water supplies - environmental challenges are plentiful. How leaders, scientists, and individuals respond to these challenges directly impacts the environment and the opportunities that we live with today and tomorrow. As crucial stakeholders in the sustainability debate, young people can provide an invaluable perspective that policymakers sometimes lack. Young people deserve a say in environmental politics, and this starts with raising awareness among young people about the key issues at hand and how to get involved in developing and implementing sustainable solutions. In the past several decades, eco-activism has been getting an increasing amount of attention and agents, as the environmental problem is becoming increasingly urgent to resolve. Eco-activism is relevant because it does not limit itself to the protection of the natural world. Instead, it also ensures that some are not disproportionately affected by environmental degradation by giving them the opportunity to voice their concerns. Eco-activism is therefore not just about ecology: it's also one of the best ways to bring about social and political change. As a matter of fact, there is a strong relationship between environmental protection and human rights. Indeed, the United Nations has moved towards recognizing the right to a healthy environment as a human right.

The fulfillment of the fundamental human rights go hand in hand with environmental protection as both people and the environment rely on each other for their well-being. Climate change and related consequences will create the most problems for people with less opportunities and that is why it is important to raise awareness of the impact on the environment that each of us is making. That is the main motivation behind this project, initiated by young people coming from a migrant background. They want to implement this project in order to create positive change and show youngsters from other countries how they can be active in this field. Partner organizations that showed interest in this project also dedicate some or most of their activities to raising awareness about environmental problems. Therefore, they are interested in having informed and empowered young people who want to become more active citizens and propose new activities in their local communities. The main objective of the project is to raise awareness of climate change and other environmental problems among young people, to help them understand the impact they have on the environment and to empower them to use their skills and talents for creating change in their local and also the international community.

Objectives

- to introduce young people to the concept of eco-activism and to learn about good practices in different countries;

- to raise awareness about the importance of active participation and impact of daily activities on the environment;

- to empower young people for eco-activism;

- to create minimum 4 posts/actions for participating in global movement Plastic free July and give participants the

- opportunity to take part in virtual activism;

- to create minimum 6 workshops/actions related to eco-activism that will be organized in participating countries after the mobility;

- to inform the youth about opportunities available to them through Erasmus+ and other European mobility programs;

Aplication for Interest of Participation: https://forms.gle/ki1kDCa1FtryxXL37