Dear visitor,
As a team of organizations working of this amazing project we want to share with you some words about our view of sustainability! We view sustainability as a holistic idea that ensures the wellbeing of our communities, its people, and nature. To attain that, we've got a whole plan called the YEPP EUROPE Sustainable Event Concept. It's like a playbook with all the best ideas for making what we do better for the environment and those living in it when we organize project events. You can check it out here: https://yeppeurope.org/our-vision-of-sustainability/.
Now, here's something really cool we're doing. Whenever we have big international events, we're not just thinking about having fun and doing good for the people - we want to make sure we're not leaving a big carbon footprint behind. So, we do two things:
1) We give donations to groups that work to make the world better for people and nature. They fight for things like fairness and taking care of our planet.
2) We also get our hands dirty (sometimes literally) by joining in on activities to help the environment, like planting trees or cleaning up a beach.
Now, you might be wondering, what did the partners from the Don't Worry, Be You project do to help? Well, here's the breakdown of what we calculated as our carbon footprint converted to money and what we did to make our events greener:
- Inception Partners Meeting in Berlin, Germany: 102€
- Training of Trainers in Zagreb, Croatia: 126€
- International Youth Meeting Albenga, Italy: 400 €
- Final Partners Meeting in Berlin, Germany: 146€
Total: 774€ With 6 partners, this amounts to 129€ per partner.
- YEPP EUROPE has made a donation to the organization Una Vision, which champions the co-creation of a better future. Una Vision is dedicated to building self-learning structures within a global network and invites collaboration in developing prototypes for sustainable living that respect the diversity of global society and the biosphere.
- ROES Cooperativa donated the entire amount to Somoud, the Palestinian Center of Athens. Somoud provides a space for Palestinians and their allies, fostering learning, support, and cultural activities. Somoud serves as a space for Palestinians and their allies, fostering learning, support, and cultural activities. The center's diverse offerings, including workshops, talks, film screenings, vegan food bazaars, and language classes, make it a cultural hub inviting all, both locally and internationally, to engage with their important work that is so needed in times when we are witnessing the rise of Islamophobia.
- AlterNetwork chose to support the Meeting Points Association, an NGO based in Sofia that aids refugees and the Roma community. Their donation will assist in renovating a cultural center, providing crucial nonformal education to children in an underserved area. Recognizing the center's pivotal role, especially for kids not attending traditional schools, underscores the importance of the cultural center in the education and development of young people in the area.
- YEPP Italia involved young people during the May 2023 international exchange in two environmentally friendly actions - planting trees and cleaning a beach. Three trees were placed in the park next to a primary school and were donated by Vivai Montina as part of their programme to recover decorative plants typical of our area; the municipality of Albenga and SAT, the company that holds the public hygiene contract, collaborated in cleaning the public beach.
These efforts showcase our commitment to sustainability, not only in environmental aspects but also in supporting initiatives that contribute to the well-being of communities and promote positive social change.