Youth Green Conference

Youth Green Conference 2019 is an international Austrian-Ukrainian educational project jointly implemented by European Wilderness Society and FORZA.
Overall project objective is to increase awareness among youngsters on the important role that sustainability has for their own and future generations.
Europe is facing bigger environmental challenges than ever before. Therefore, importance of addressing these challenges is also reflected in the EU Youth Strategy. The 6th EU Youth Conference, held in Vienna in September 2018, resulted in defining the 11 Youth Goals and ‘Sustainable Green Europe’ being one of them.
The project aims to offer the youngsters various opportunities to gain experience, by not only obtaining knowledge, but also hands-on exercises to recognize challenges, solution and ways for implementations to promote a Green future.
For the Youth Green Conference 2019, a group of Austrian and Ukrainian youngsters, accompanying persons, experts and decision-makers will meet together in Austria.
During the 3-day Conference, participants will experience a lot of body & brain exercises and a field trip into the natural surroundings. Youngsters, aged 13-18, will learn more about sustainable nature protection, “green” legislation, jobs and volunteering, sustainable travel, ecosystem services, and the European Outdoor Ethics. This will be done through different kind of non-formal educational exercises that motivate participants to learn by doing. Communicating in English, the participants will discuss the common challenges and possible solutions, as well as steps towards sustainable Green Future for Europe.

Project Partners
Partner 1:  European Wilderness Society, https://wilderness-society.org
Partner 2:  Agency for Sustainable Development of the Carpathian Region “FORZA”
Project duration:  February 2019 – October 2019
Project budget: 15 580 EURO

The project is financially supported by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, under the specific Action Type KA 347 Dialogues between young people and decision-makers.

  1. Reaching out to potential participants and visiting educational institutions in Austria and Ukraine to promote the opportunity to participate in the Youth Green Conference 2019.
  2. Selecting the youngsters, aged 13-18, active in environment protection and acting “green” in everyday life,  inviting group leaders and decision makers for the Youth Green Conference 2019.
  3. Preparing of indoor and outdoor activities for the Youth Green Conference 2019
  4. The key project activity is the 3-day conference, where youngsters will learn more about sustainable nature protection, “green” legislation, jobs and volunteering, sustainable travel, ecosystem services, and the European Outdoor Ethics. The participants will also discuss in English the common challenges and possible solutions, as well as steps towards – sustainable Green Future for Europe.

The conference will end with a World Café and big group podium discussion for the youth to engage in dialogues with decision-makers. Especially this will help them to find achievable solutions and formulate action goals. Not only do the youngsters acquire knowledge on complex topics, but they also will learn from experienced professionals. This direct communication and interaction provides the participants with a possibility to search for solutions together.
The Youth Green Conference 2019 will take place in an old castle for youngsters, called Burg Finstergrün from October 7th to 9th, 2019.