Greening International Youthwork

KA220-YOU – Cooperation partnerships in youth

Project Duration: 24 months

Partners:

– Naturfreundejugend Deutschland (German Young Naturefriends)
– IYNF (International Young Naturefriends)
– GIAN-Gio (Italian Young Naturefriends),
– ASAN (Senegalese Naturefriends)
– Biodiversa (Spanish partner organisation of the Young Naturefriends network).

The project, starting May 2022 and finishing in February 2024 aims to raise awareness about the climate impact of international Youthwork and how to improve it.

With the European Green Deal, the European Commission has taken an important step towards making European society and economy more sustainable. In doing so, she followed a demand that young people had made for a long time, for example in the European youth target number 10 “A sustainable, green Europe”. German Young Naturefrtiends have already spoken out clearly in our mission statement from 2007 for the protection of the climate and nature as well as for a sustainable life and economy. We therefore support the goal of developing European programs towards greater sustainability and would like to actively support this development. For us, the Erasmus+ youth programs and the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) in particular are of great relevance. If these programs are to be designed for the future, the concept of sustainability must be the focus of considerations. The 2030 Agenda with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at the 2015 World Summit on Sustainable Development, provides a suitable basis for this. Global economic aspects, social inequalities, the sustainable management of natural resources and conservation According to this, ecosystems can only be thought of as networked. 

In particular, SDG 13 is the focus of the project. It is about taking immediate action to combat climate change and its impacts. In view of this task, international youth work faces major challenges. Solutions must be found for future climate-neutral work. In the coming years, the greenhouse gas emissions caused by international youth work must be massively reduced. For this, concepts must be developed that can be transferred to as many measures and organizations as possible. This is to happen in two ways in the project: The fight against climate change becomes the subject of international encounters and voluntary activities and practical knowledge is conveyed. However, the individual measures should also be assessed and optimized with regard to their ecological effects.

This project, in detail, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international youth exchanges, training and volunteer teams. 

Overall, it should be shown that 40 percent of GHG emissions (in accordance with the EU target for 2030) can be saved or offset by measures.

We want to give youth workers the possibility to soften the impact that international youth work has on the environment through a number of different tools: personal experiences through international activities, a handbook of methods, a curriculum, social media content and a framework for mangrove restoration.

Project results are: 

  • An app to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for international youth work 
  • A Manual for Greening International Youthwork 
  • A curriculum for training teamers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for international youth work 
  • Modeling: Mangrove plantings as a greenhouse gas compensation measure
  • Multimedial presentations (photos, videos, podcasts) 

Stay tuned and follow up on our project via our social media. 

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