VOICES OF THE NEXT GENERATION IN BENICASSIM

 Por Evi Klunder

Within our Erasmus+ KA3 Voices of the Next Generation project (the official number is 101131199), we organized a youth exchange about sustainability, green lifestyle, social inclusion and diversity, and Green Europe. We were 30 young people from 6 countries: Romania, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Italy and Germany. We had a great opportunity to learn how to live in a multicultural community, interact with each other, overcome language barriers, and promote peace. 

From 13/10/2024 to 22/10/2024 we created a programme which was filled with a lot of workshops, energizers and two hikes (Via Verde and Bartolo). The main topics of our activity were environment, Green Deal, biodiversity, ecosystems, circular economy, sustainable consumption, The New European Bauhaus initiative, sustainable urban development, and policy making for sustainability, etc. 

We used non-formal education and intercultural learning approaches in all sessions. And we developed workshops on the topics of sustainable development, understanding the impact of human activities on the environment, proposing solutions for sustainable development, and understanding EU policies about The Green Deal and sustainability.

Every participant and national team had an opportunity to present something about the themes of the youth exchange and share their visions. For example, the interns of ILEWASI Evi and Ezra had made a workshop “Together for a greener future” where we first discussed in groups with from each country one person “What do you do for a greener future?’’. 

Here we could tell what we do in our countries and maybe inspire each other. After that we did an environment bingo in the same groups with things we can do to live greener. Lastly we did some theses. For example, “meat free day makes a big difference for the environment”. Here the participants could raise their hands if they thought it was true. Thus, we also shared different opinions on eco-friendly practices and sustainable lifestyle.

 

“I’ve had the opportunity to be in the youth exchange in Benicassim and totally loved it. We had a lot of fun workshops, intercultural evenings and energizers. The group of students was really nice and we had a good click together which made it even more fun! Also I have learned about living a greener life in a playful way which brings a different perspective to it. I liked that’’, said one of our participants.

 

In ILEWASI we try to create more opportunities for young people to learn new things and in new social and cultural environments. 

We travel, we discover, we learn, and we have fun! Erasmus+ gives a lot of opportunities for everyone