Project name:
E.A.R.TH. (Exchanging Attitudes Rules and Thinkings)
Project number:
HR-11-06-2010-R1
Project duration:
26.06.2010 – 03.07.2010
Coordinating/host organization:
LDA Local Democracy Agency Verteneglio
Partner/sending organization:
LDA Local Democracy Agency Verteneglio, Croatia
NGO “Maison Pur Tous – Centre Social“, France
Participants:
Croatia: 8 volunteers, 1 group leader
France: 8 volunteers, 1 group leader
The Youth Exchange E.A.R.TH. took place in June 2010 in Verteneglio-Brtonigla, Istria, Croatia. During 6 days of activities 18 young people from France and Croatia came together and discussed issues connected with the environment and sustainable development. It aimed to strengthen youth participation in environmental protection whilst fostering mutual understanding, tolerance and solidarity among the youngsters by sharing their experience concerning the situation they are facing in home countries as “environmental citizens”. Another important fact was that the participants were from France, an EU country that has EU standards integrated in their environmental policy since a long ago, and Croatia which was at that time a pre-adhesion country and was still integrating them in its policy. In the exchange the young people improved their knowledge about respective countries and cultures by learning practical examples of environmental protection and European tools for sustainable development. The importance of being young European citizens who are inheriting the environment was discussed for the benefit of the local-home environmental situation of both groups. The participants also created a sculpture with locally collected waste to raise awareness on environmental issues among citizens of the hosting community, thus fostering intercultural dialogue among themselves and between participants and the hosting local community. The activities carried out during the youth exchange have been proposed in a short documentary on the youth exchange E.A.R.TH. with the aim to build opportunities for future partnerships and to enable multiplying effect of this exchange after the end of the project.