Share, Develop, GO! | Youth Exchange
In the last few years, sustainability has been high on the agenda of both the European Union, as well as the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in order to meet the urgent environmental, political and economic challenges that the world faces in the present, as well to aid the creation of a more sustainable future. One million species are threatened with extinction according to IPBES, inequalities are rising all over the world, there is still a lack of environmental action by governments and businesses, while governments still do not have an SDG monitoring in place to track national progress on the SDGs. The next decade is crucial for achieving a better and more sustainable future, stressing the need for an increase in local and regional activism for fighting environmental issues, combating inequality, and eradicating poverty. Realizing the importance of the partnership between European civil society organizations, in order to tackle current developmental issues -from the threat of climate change, management of natural resources and eradication of poverty to fostering peace, inclusive societies and reduce inequalities. Based on that, KINITRO NGO wanted to explore the creation of new channels of convergence and cooperation between stakeholders across Europe. Moreover, according to the findings of the Eurofound survey (2019), a large proportion of young people aged 15-29 are in a state of unemployment, education, or training, which has been designated by the European Commission’s Employment Committee as ‘NEET’. To a large extent, young people believe that the education system did not provide them with the necessary skills for the labor market and as a result, they consider that the knowledge they have acquired is not directly related to it.
We implemented a Youth Exchange with 30 wonderful people from Greece, Croatia, Estonia, Bulgaria and Romania in Raches, Lamia during the period of 19-28 of April. Each day was full of activities focused on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, diversity, accessibility and inclusion.
More specifically, the objectives were the following:
-To raise awareness about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN, motivating young people to work towards a more sustainable future with equal opportunities for everyone.
-To provide participants with the knowledge on how to start their own social enterprise, enhancing their entrepreneurial and project management skills.
-To teach how to tackle major social issues and offer new, innovative ideas for social change, becoming aware, engaged, and active citizens.
-To empower the youngsters of the participating countries by equipping them with entrepreneurial knowledge, skills, and attitudes based on the European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework.
-To provide the platform where the youngsters of the participating countries can interact and exchange stories, ideas, and best practices with each other regarding the SDGs, youth unemployment, youth empowerment, and entrepreneurship.
-To enhance the creativity and innovativeness of the participants by asking them to draft, design, and conceptualize an entrepreneurial venture; (plan and implement a project; define, target, evaluate, cooperation).
-To foster intercultural dialogue and cross-cultural communication between the youth groups, encouraging an understanding of different nationalities and languages.
– To promote exchanges between young people in Europe.
– To empower the participants in order to engage and contribute to their local community.
– To validate and recognize the learned competencies gained throughout the project.
The project was in accordance with:
– the Europe 2020 Strategy and its Youth on the Move flagship initiative, improving the employment situation of young people, supporting young entrepreneurs.
-the 11 European Youth Goals.
-the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN.
The program is co-financed by the European Solidarity Corps Greece of the European Commission and supported by the Erasmus+ Youth Greece.
Watch the aftemovie of the project for further inspiration:
