Advocate4Environment Erasmus Project

Project Title

Advocate4Environment

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Environment and climate change; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship

Project Summary

Advocate4Environment project proposes an innovative and engaging framework to contribute for the EU horizontal priorities in terms of environmental and climate objectives, as it raises awareness of environmental challenges – particularly among the younger sections of society. Furthemore, through environmental education and sustainable development, the project intends to foster the civic involvement of young people in these matters through responsible advocacy.
In addition to enhancing the spirit of youth initiative at the environmental level, the project also aims to train youth workers to develop their skills in environmental education, preparation and monitoring of advocacy campaigns, as well as the development of leadership skills.

The Advocate4Environment project goals are:
– Promote participation of young people in environmental protection through advocacy;
-Make young people aware and create a common understanding in the protection of the environment and its related issues and to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and motivation to work individually and collectively to find solutions to current problems and to prevent those which may arise in the future;
-Promote social mobilisation to develop alternative responses to global environmental issues.

Target groups are:
(1) Young people who want to become activists, young volunteers;
(2) Youth workers, volunteer managers, educators, and NGO staff.

The project intends to achieve this goal by developing learning materials that (a) give insight into the history of environmental advocacy, and (b) provides young people and youth workers with sources for inspiration, and the tools to develop new forms of advocacy.

Key actions to achieve the aims of the project are:
-Developing an environmental education and advocacy training curriculum (IO1), which aims to promote the knowledge and understanding of concepts related to the environment and sustainability, and the development of conscious and critical individuals by strengthening advocacy practices;
-Developing an easy-read youth advocacy handbook for youth workers and youngsters who want to become advocates (IO2) which will promote the impact of advocacy to empower youth participation;
– Creating promotional videos to showcase advocacy activities developed by young people throughout Europe (IO3);
– Organise a series of multiplier events in all partner countries to promote and showcase the intellectual outputs developed;
– Organise a short-term training event in Ireland, which will provide a tailored training programme for youth workers of all partner countries. It will not only cover the areas of expertise of the project itself, but also on effective pedagogical methodologies to be applied while working with youth. It will also prepare youth workers to use the materials created by the project in a dynamic and appealing way for young people, in classroom and/or face-to-face environments.

While the initial focus of the project is addressed to young people who want to become advocates for the environment, partners are convinced that the resources developed will be beneficial to any young person who wants to develop an advocacy mindset with social impact.
Apart from the immediate results of the project, the partnership seeks to develop key skills in young people that can be expanded beyond the immediate subject of environmental advocacy. By empowering young people and giving them the tools to become active advocates, we also equip them with the skills to create, and to spread awareness of their creations through effective communications.

The proposed quantitative impacts of the Advocate4Environment project are:
-100 youngsters will complete the Environmental Education and Advocacy curriculum (IO1);
-10 youngsters will be invited to share their journey in advocacy, which will be presented in case studies (IO3):
-10 youth workers will attend the LTTA in Ireland;
-30 representatives of initial and eventual target-groups (youth workers, volunteers, NGO staff, youngsters, stakeholders from youth and environment organisations) will attend the Advocate4Environment Festival held in each partner country, totaling 150 target-group representatives in the project consortium

The project is characterised by an immense potential for long-term sustainability due to the following aspects:
– Our curriculum proposal is flexible and can be easily adapted in other specific contexts and easily implemented in the training offer of the project organisations and/or stakeholders;
– All products and resources produced by the Advocate4Environment consortium will be available as Open Educational Resources to any interest individual and/or organisation who registers in the project website;
– Target-groups, stakeholders and other interested parties will have access to all pedagogical resources created.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 125685 Eur

Project Coordinator

VEJLE KOMMUNE & Country: DK

Project Partners

• Region Örebro län
• Rightchallenge – Associação
• FUTURE IN PERSPECTIVE LIMITED
• DRUSTVO ZA RAZVIJANJE PROSTOVOLJNEGA DELA NOVO MESTO