Erasmus + youth exchange “Say NO to plastic future”.
This year, May 22nd-31st, as part of the Erasmus + program, we will host a youth exchange called Say NO to the plastic future. 42 young people from six different European countries, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, Hungary and Latvia will participate in the exchange. The idea behind this project came from the desire and need of our association to contribute to solving this burning global problem – plastic pollution. Unless we change our mindset and our habits at this point, nature as we know it may no longer exist. By destroying nature, we not only destroy the beautiful environment and the various animal species, but we also destroy our future and compromise the future of our children and the future of all living things. If solidarity is about helping someone in need, then now is the right time to help our planet and future generations. Every day, we are bombarded with pictures, facts and tips on social networks about how to reduce plastic waste, which is good of course, but we think that all this information is just another post on Facebook or Instagram that we see and move on. In this exchange, we want to raise awareness among young people, educate and encourage them to work to change their collective consciousness, to collaborate and design new projects, and to become examples in their local communities to follow.
The main goals of this youth exchange are: to (re) connect them with nature to make them aware of their role and the relationships between nature and themselves; to make them aware of how and why, in general, plastic pollution has taken place in the present situation, because only by understanding the past can we solve present and future challenges; encourage them to have empathy, understanding, solidarity and international cooperation; encourage them to think critically and direct them to new methods of learning and acting; empower them with the skills, techniques and knowledge to be active in solving this problem; encourage them to come up with new projects and new “green” jobs so that they can become multipliers of a solid mindset and act on this problem.
This project will provide young people with an opportunity to practice and develop social skills; increase self-esteem, and life satisfaction; they will practice teamwork, presentations, public speaking, problem-solving, creative work that will give them a natural sense of fulfilment. By participating in this project, on the other hand, young people will experience and learn more about respect, empathy, solidarity with nature and all living things. We will inspire young people to become involved and actively participate in society as active citizens, to improve the level of key competences and skills, to promote the idea that change is possible and that change starts from ourselves.
BENEFICIARIES: Group of 36 young people aged 18 to 30 from 6 European countries.
PARTNERS: Asociación Cultural En Construcción from Spain, Radi Vidi Pats from Latvia, A Jornada Dos Heróis from Portugal, Mindenegyüttmegy Egyesület from Hungary, Kulturlabor Trial & Error e.V. from Germany, Eurogems Associazione di Promozione Sociale from Italy
DONORS: Agency for Mobility and EU Programs
DURATION: January 1 – December 31, 2020
VALUE: EUR 23,760.00
* Photo: Iva Milotic / 24 hours
