Last week was an incredible time for the FECE team and all the attendees of TC Youth 4 Sustain in Sofia, Bulgaria. On April 15th, youth workers from Slovenia, North Macedonia, Romania, and Bulgaria gathered in Sofia to work together on projects and develop their ideas as active citizens with sustainable goals. It was a wonderful opportunity for collaboration and growth. The idea for the training course was inspired by the United Nations definition of sustainability: “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
We asked the young workers what sustainability means to them and what they need in their lives to be sustainable. Through their responses, the participants found motivation for action and developed ideas for direct actions to create change.
During the training course, participants gained a better understanding of the EU Youth Goals, specifically the goal of achieving a sustainable, green Europe. Mariya Rachinska, the trainer, offered a diverse range of approaches to sustainability, covering economic, environmental, and social concepts. After creating their own sustainability projects, participants were introduced to the Canvas Business Model, which helped them understand the stages needed to start a sustainable business, such as customer segment, value proposition, key actions, key resources and partners. Jane Dimitrova, the co-founder of foodObox, gave a presentation on her inspiring journey of starting an app that tackles the global problem of food waste.
Did you know that roughly 1/3 of the food produced in the world for human consumption is lost or wasted? The UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 aims to halve food waste at the retail and consumer level and to reduce food loss across supply chains. FoodObox is one of the successful practices fighting this global problem. “What are some of the other UN Sustainable Development Goals that the participants were able to showcase through non verbal play and the activity ‘Act it out’? The goals are #1 No Poverty, #4 Quality Education, #5 Gender Equality, and #14 Life Below Water. If you would like to learn more about these goals, please visit https://sdgs.un.org/goals.
The specific objectives of the training course are:
- To get a better understanding of the importance of developing sustainable practices in economical, environmental and social terms
- To engage and empower young people and youth workers to be active and responsible citizens.
- To raise skills and competencies to actively contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs)
- To get acquainted with the EU Youth Strategy (2019-2027) and UN 17 SDGs
- To raise critical and green skills to contribute to the sustainable development of societies across Europe
Venue: Sofia, Bulgaria
Duration: 15 – 19 April 2024
The project is funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ program.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.