Green Youth Work Hubs - A Green Path for Sustainable Youth Work and Civil Activism

Climate change, ecology, and pollution persist as pressing global concerns. In response, the EU has initiated the "European Green Deal" with the objective of attaining climate neutrality by 2050. ...

We aimed to implement this project with the following objectives: 1.) Creating a Network of European Organisations who address climate change and establish Green Education in their youth work on local and international level 2.) Capacity Building of the Partners and Exchange of best-practice in regards to methods of Green Education and environmentally-friendly practices in youth work 3.) Forming 4 “Green Youth Work Hubs” in each participating country 4.) Forming and training 4 national teams of youngsters “Climate Ambassadors” who will implement workshops, clean-up events, panel discussions, etc. on local level and publish the E-Magazine 5.) Raising awareness on local and international level about climate change and environment 6.) Publishing a monthly E-Magazine on topics related to “Environment” published online 7.) Publishing a Strategy Paper on Green Youth Work 8.) Involving relevant external stakeholders and creating synergies

As planned the project started with a Kick-Off Meeting (in BG) and was attended by two representatives of each partner. It consisted of an advanced getting-to-know of the team members; introduction to the topic, discussion of the objectives; formulation and clarification of expectations and contributions; setting up the final working plan for the upcoming months, presenting each national PR and Visibility Plan; Involvement Strategy for the associated partners; confirming the selection criteria of the Climate Ambassadors and planning the selection process; setting milestones and interim targets as well as deadlines for specific project tasks. The Visual Identity and the Project Logo were created afterwards but we planned the task division. At the end of the Kick-Off-Meeting all consortium members had the same picture and vision and knew what to do in the next months. During Interphase I the national Climate Ambassador Teams were assembled and the contacts to the associated partners and other stakeholders was strengthened. The LTTA (in DE) was attended partly by the coordinators but also by the Climate Ambsassadors, as agreed with the National Agency. It served to a) train the selected CAs during a common physical activity, b) Planning the E-Magazine that will be mainly filled and edited by the “Climate Ambassadors” (Title, Design, Working Process), c) Exchange of Best Practice: with which methods to address Environment and Ecology in Youth Work, d) starting the working process on the Strategy Paper and e) planning the local activities by the CAs in detail. During Interphase II the CAs implemented local activities according to the developed Action Plan and start to work on publishing the E-Magazine. The national coordinators supported to the CAs. Besides, they worked on the Strategy Paper. Associated partners were involved in the activities. The Multiplier Events consisted of 4 Sustainable Days in each participating country. They had the character of a Fair or were embedded in a bigger Conference. We planned to organise them parallel at all participating organisations, however due to different timetables they happened in different dates. They served as opportunity to make the overall project visible, to present the project outcomes, to transfer the developed knowledge and skills to relevant stakeholders and to gather the associated partners. Each partner put a different focus regarding the organisational design. During the Evaluation Seminar (in GEO) the attendees evaluated the Interphase II (local activities by the CAs, networking and cooperating with the associated partners, creating the Strategy Paper), the national Multiplier Events (impact on local level, involvement of the associated partners and other external actors, opportunities to enlarge the network and connect the associated partners from each country to enhance synergies), planning how to maintain the E-Magazine after the end of the project lifetime, planning Follow-Up activities on a local level as well as on an international level.

The overall project had different outcomes. 4 GREEN YOUTH WORK HUBS- each partner established a “Green Youth Work Hub” which served: a) as a source of information for those (youth workers, NGOs, schools, etc.) who are interested in new methodologies and tools for green youth work; b) coordinating and supporting the activities of the Climate Ambassadors; c) maintaining contacts and networking with relevant stakeholders; d) contributing to the project website; e) working in cooperation with the other HUBs on the STRATEGY PAPER; f) coordination with the other HUBs; g) organising the Multiplier Events. 4 CLIMATE AMBASSADOR TEAMS- at each organisation a group of young people was established: the Climate Ambassadors (CAs). These teams implemented activities on the local level that aim to raise-awareness for environmental topics and contribute to an environmentally-friendly development in the local community. These activities were: organising workshops at the organisations and schools; clean-up events; film screenings; etc. E-MAGAZINE - this online publication was produced by the CAs and contained topic-related articles and interviews from the local community (reports about an ecological topic; interviews with relevant stakeholders; articles about environmental initiatives, interviews with youth workers, etc.); videos or instructions on how to recycle; reports about the local activities; tools for Youth Workers). In total 4 issues were produced, uploaded to the project’s website and shared by newsletters and advertised on social media. ACTIVITIES ON LOCAL LEVEL- these activities were organised and implemented by the CAs in cooperation with relevant external actors and interested young people from the community. 4 SUSTAINABLE DAYS - these days served as Multiplier Events during which a) the overall project and E+ were presented, b) the local activities and CAs will be presented, c) a workshop for youth workers, trainers and teachers was implemented on methods for Green Green Youth Work, d) workshops on up-cycling; clothes swap parties; panel discussion PROJECT WEBSITE: the website contains general info about the project, funding and partner consortium; tools and methods for green youth work; the e-magazine, events and activities and the latest developments of the project course and the Strategy Paper. STRATEGY PAPER: The Strategy Paper on Green Youth Work introduces the topic to interested parties, such as NGOs, Youth Workers, Teachers, Trainers, School, Youth Clubs, City Halls and Municipalities, etc. It presents the current academic discourse and the situation in the participating countries which gives an insight into different realities and situations in Europe and beyond. Besides, concrete methods for Green Youth Work will be presented that can be used for local youth work. AWARENESS-RAISING: a non-tangible outcome is the raised awareness about the topic among youth workers, the target group, stakeholders and in society. Although this is hard to measure. CAPACITY-BUILDING OF THE CONSORTIUM: the partners gained valuable skills and knowledge about the topic and are empowered to implement more activities and design new ones. All partners benefited from the close cooperation, the fruitful exchange and future cooperation. The integration of external partners and stakeholders into the project consolidated their position especially in the local context. Synergies developed and increased the impact on the local level. LEARNING OUTCOME OF YOUNG PEOPLE: the young people involved developed their Sense for Entrepreneurship, Initiative and for Civil Activism. During the local activities and the dissemination they carried these learning outcomes also to other young people in the local context. These are valuable experiences that will accompany and empower the young people also beyond the project lifetime.