Last week, from 27 to 30 November, the kick-off meeting of the project "Eco Patrols – Boost Its Green Goals" was held in Athens. It is a two-year project focused on the informal education of young people aged 14 to 18 on current environmental topics. The education will be delivered through a pilot programme in five countries, in which 20 young people will participate, using a methodology specially developed in an eight-module handbook. Alongside the creation and printing of a new handbook, the existing mobile game will also be improved, with the aim of bringing environmental issues closer to young people in a way that is familiar to them, through digital means.
The meeting was attended, alongside our association as the project leader, by two representatives from each of the partner organisations: Kreator Kumanovo from North Macedonia, Eko Greece from Greece, GEYC from Romania and Brújula Intercultural from Spain. During the two-day meeting, the project activities, financial and organisational aspects, the content of the forthcoming handbook, the development of a new online platform and the enhancement of the educational game were detailed – all with the aim of empowering young people to understand and take an active role in environmental protection.
This project is a continuation of a previous initiative concluded a year ago, which also promoted informal education on ecology among young people. Thanks to its highly successful results, the 'eco patrol' method has been expanded to three new countries. Thus, the local initiative launched on Murter has become an international story that today connects a total of eight countries –Hungary, Serbia, Italy and North Macedonia in the first project, and Spain, Greece and Romania in its continuation.
We look forward to further cooperation and to all the positive changes we will together encourage among young people across Europe.
This project is funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ programme. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Union or the National Agency; neither the European Union nor the Agency can be held responsible for them.
