From October 27 to November 2, the international course ‘Ecorasmus 360º’ took place in Vilanova I la Geltrú (Barcelona), coordinated by the Fundació Catalunya Voluntària, with the participation of 22 representatives from 11 NGOs, thanks to the support of the Erasmus + program of the European Commission.
The course is the result of months of collaboration between youth and non-governmental entities from 8 countries, with a very clear common interest: to improve their capacities to organize ecological and environmentally friendly activities and projects.
On this occasion, we have partnered with youth organizations from Eastern Europe, from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine, in response to the political and social difficulties they encounter, with fewer opportunities to participate in training programs on the environmental issue, a priority issue throughout Europe, politically and geographically.
The course is an activity that continues the long-term project with the same title that ended in spring 2024, in which 5 NGOs from 5 countries created a manual that can be consulted on the website www.ecorasmus.eu, along with a good number of useful tools and activities to make educational activities friendly to the natural environment, some of which we share in the course.
Over the course of a week, marked by the tragic floods in Valencia, we carried out a program full of activities, the most highly valued being those taking place outdoors, in the Ortoll forest, in an urban harvest, both on the outskirts of Vilanova, and in the Poblenou district in Barcelona, where we discovered innovative urban sustainability measures, accompanied at all times by the people who best know the respective spaces and whom we would like to thank for their explanations and company: Thank you very much Teresa, Mikhail and Clara!
During the course we had time to play games and activities in which nature was the main protagonist, we presented each organization, learned some of the tools of the ‘ECOrasmus’ project, as well as the aspects to take into account in the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the activities so that they are truly sustainable, based on the experiences and needs of the group.
One day we spent visiting Barcelona (despite the rain warning), another day we spent sharing personal experiences and organizational practices, where we learned something new about really interesting initiatives carried out by partners from Bulgaria, Turkey, Armenia and Italy, and another day we spent thinking about new activities that we can carry out with the support of various programs and institutions, a process that resulted in six initiatives, some of which we hope to carry out as part of an informal network of entities committed to the environment.
The course has met our best expectations and we are very satisfied, both with the results (in the form of new projects, new useful information, new ideas, new motivation) and with having been part of a special group, capable of listening to the contributions of each and every one and learning from each other. That is why we trust that it will serve to make the whole group more aware of and more committed to the environment, by improving our abilities to make the right decisions when organizing activities so that they do not harm the natural environment.
For more information about the course and its results, you can send an email to projectes@catalunyavoluntaria.cat
