Are you concerned about climate change? Do you know how to deal with the widespread rise in temperatures? And what about a water shortage?
Although our water reserves are more than half full, and not empty like they were a year ago,, we don’t know what will happen in the coming years, nor what the weather and climate context will be like. What we do know is that, without being catastrophic, we must be aware of and prepared for various scenarios. The reason why we are organizing this activity: to learn about existing solutions and practices in other countries, especially those more accustomed to water scarcity and high temperatures.
If there’s one issue we can learn from our neighbors in southern Europe and the Mediterranean, it’s how we should manage and prepare for these extreme situations.
For all these reasons, from 7th to 14th Novembre, we will hold the “Learning from Nature – The Sahara Experience” youth exchange in Nafet, Tunisia, on the edge of the Sahara Desert.
This event is coordinated by the NGO Fundació Catalunya Voluntària, hosted by Association Solidarité Echange et Développement-ASED, and result of the partnership with other youth organizations, also from Algeria, Italy, Lebanon, and Portugal, bringing 39 people together.
Although the challenges are different in Oran, Sicily, Alentejo, Beirut, and Catalonia, the situation is equally critical, both in large cities and rural areas, both in terms of rising temperatures and the decline in natural resources essential to life, such as drinking water. While the concerns of a bombed city, a refuge for hundreds of thousands of people fleeing barbarism (and a champion of resilience, like Beirut) do not coincide with those of a city that is a destination for millions of tourists (and a champion of sustainability, like Barcelona), the resources necessary for life are equally expensive and scarce in both Mediterranean cities, for example. Thus, the main objectives of the activity are to understand the environmental and climate challenges and to reflect collectively and find possible solutions from a local and Euro-Mediterranean perspective, paying special attention to desertification.
We plan to organize and enjoy exchange activities, such as workshops, games, excursions, guided tours, presentations, to exchange information and ideas about those decisions, practices and routines that are more environmentally friendly, and dedicate a day to exploring the immensity of the Sahara Desert.
We are glad we received the support of the Erasmus + program of the European Commission, and fortunate to collaborate with organizations with extensive experience organizing youth exchanges: Strauss APS (Italy); the Association Educative et Culturelle ‘Arc en Ciel’ (Algeria); Youth Development Organization (Lebanon), ASED (Tunisia), and the Association for Culture and Sustainable Development ‘Jograis Audazes’ (Portugal).
The activity has a very special value for the FCV, as there are very few opportunities for meeting and exchange among young people from Mediterranean countries, despite their geographical proximity and common cultural identity.
The requirements for participation are: being between 18 and 30 years old, being able to communicate in English, being motivated to participate and learn about the topics, and legal residency in Catalonia.
It’s compulsory to participate in two meetings,, before and after the activity, in order to prepare and evaluate it with the rest of the group (6 people).
The selected participant is responsible for purchasing their flight tickets to Tunisia. Thanks to the community grants, he/she will receive a reimbursement for the ticket price up to €310. Once the activity is completed, the participant pays a one-time participation fee of €50, which will be deducted from the travel reimbursement.
For more information about the activity, you can see this PRESENTATION or send an email to projectes@catalunyavoluntaria.cat (Lluc). If you have already decided to participate, we encourage you to complete the registration form at this LINK (in English) before August 22nd. Due to the limited number of places available, we encourage you to complete it the sooner the better (we reserve the right to complete the selection process before the deadline).