Green Collars – Eco Youth

25 April 2023

Programme: Erasmus+, KA152-YOU – Mobility of young people
Project leader: Civil Life Association (SIYAMDER)  – Turkey
Duration: 30th of May 2023 – 7th of June 2023
Partners:

• Poland  – Stowarzyszenie Rozprawy o Europie
• Turkey – Civil Life Association (SIYAMDER)
• Bulgaria 
• Cyprus  
• Romania  

About the project:

Climate Change is one of the biggest problems that the world is looking for a solution to with great concern. Climate Change, that is, Global Warming, is around 1 degree according to the research. Scientists have determined that this will reach 1.5 degrees in 2030. The 0.5-degree increase in global warming in the last 30 years reveals the irreversible damage caused by our growing world.

As young people, we are aware of the world’s negative progress and are pulling out our arms today to leave a livable and sustainable world for the future. Our project consists of aims to understand this global crisis together with the youth of the world, to find solutions and to implement these ways. The project, which will last for 7 days with 30 young people between the ages of 18-29, participating from 5 different countries, will support the young people who will have the opportunity to observe different societies and cultural characteristics while progressing towards achieving our goals, to take the biggest step towards becoming a world person.

Summary:

On May 29 – June 7, a delegation from ROE participated in a unique Erasmus+ project called: Green Collars: Eco Youth! We met with delegations from Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. We called it exceptional not by chance, because it was the first ROE project on the Asian continent. And if that wasn’t enough, it was the longest Erasmus in the history of ROE, we stayed in Turkey for 9 days.

Participants took part in many interesting workshops and debates on broadly understood ecology. Each day brought new and more interesting challenges.

After familiarizing the participants with the topic of the workshop, the participants were given access to the Classdojo online platform, on which they worked throughout the trip to reduce paper consumption. They also used other applications, such as Worldometer, in which they checked changes in the world’s population and its impact on ecology. The Padlet application, where they created short descriptions of participants, allowed us to get to know each other better. The footprint calculator was useful to calculate the carbon footprint produced by the unit and increase awareness of the impact of humans on the environment. The use of the application was included in the scope of the workshops and was guided by their theme, i.e. ecology and environmental protection.

Our representatives actively participated in debates on renewable energy sources, environmental pollution, and the role of the state, individuals and the world in environmental protection. They also discussed the impact of government, business and society on our planet. Thanks to this, they expanded their debating skills while having a great time!

Our Turkish friends organized a wonderful trip for all participants, during which we visited a large part of Konya. The Science Center was visited, and Kelebeki, i.e. butterflies, were watched, admiring the beautiful fauna and flora. Young people visited the Mevlâna Museum, a museum dedicated to Mevlana – an extremely respected Persian mystic and Islamic theologian. Then they went to the mosque and listened with interest about the history of Islam.

In the following days, equally interesting activities were organized, and the young people got to know Turkish culture more and more. They went to an unusual spectacle of the traditional Turkish dance Mevlana Whirling Dervishes. Participants cleaned the world with a beautiful water reservoir surrounded by forests and mountains. We also visited one of the most traditional towns in Turkey – Sille with characteristic buildings reminiscent of the Mediterranean.

On one of the last days, our team presented Poland during the cultural night. A quiz on knowledge about our country was prepared on Kahoot, and everyone danced a polonaise together and sang traditional Polish songs. Everyone had the opportunity to try Polish delicacies, which quickly disappeared from the table.

This exchange gave the participants a lot to think about. It opened my eyes to the seriousness of our situation. The climate crisis, a polluted planet, digital waste, clumsy state policies – these are just some of the problems we have to deal with on a daily basis. Fortunately, the participants together found many solutions that, gradually implemented, will help save the Earth.

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