Η Youthfully Yours GR φιλοξενεί το 9ο της πρόγραμμα!

Τίτλος : «EcoFriends»

Τόπος : Λεπτομακαρυά, Πιερία, Ελλάδα

Ημερομηνίες : 7 εώς 16 Μαΐου 2019

Συμμετέχοντες : 5 άτομα 18 εώς 25 ετών και 1 άτομο (leader) 18 εώς 35 ετών

Καλύπτεται το 100% των εξόδων μετακίνησης εώς 20 ευρώ! και το 100% διαμονής διατροφής.

Δηλώσεις συμμετοχής εώς την ΠΑΡΑΣΚΕΥΗ 12 ΑΠΡΙΛΙΟΥ

Συμπληρώστε την φόρμα συμμετοχής εδώ

ΠΕΡΙΓΡΑΦΗ ΠΡΟΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΟΣ

Young people today have many concerns regarding environmental problems (Moore, 2003; World Health Organization, 2007). Young people are affected in a negative way from the environmental problems. They are both physically (Kahn, 2002; Pastor, Sadd, & Morello-Frosh, 2002) and psychologically (Lappe & Perkins, 2004) vulnerable to environmental degradation.
Researches in different countries have traced fear and pessimism in young people concerning environmental issues. Students, when asked to depict the earth in 50 years from now, depict a very gloomy future. Students’ drawings all showcase the anxiety and pessimism about deforestation, degradation of water sources, quality of the air we breath, global warming and pollution (Barraza, 1999).
These perceptions are an expression of ecophobia (fear of home or, as used nowadays, a fear of nature). Nowadays there is an increase in ecophobia mainly because we do not pay enough attention to the small manageable and local problems but rather focus on distant ones that we cannot even see directly, such as the melting of the polar ice caps that are so far away from us. Paying attention to distant problems makes us feel overwhelmed by them, scared and helpless.
Of course dealing with the distant problems is also necessary but since we cannot immediately and directly do something drastic about them, we should focus on local action in our immediate environment. Young people are greatly disconnected from the outdoor environment, endangered animals and ecosystems and they run the risk of developing fears related to ecological problems (Sobel, 1999); such fears can lead to a further disconnection from the environment and environmental issues (Kahn, 2002). Therefore, tracing people’s concerns and emotions can help them to take action on environmental issues (Striffe, 2012).
What is more, people are so disconnected from nature and they have forgotten, or they have never even learned and experienced, the direct positive impact of nature to their health. Contact with nature is essential for our well-being (Miller, 2005).

Briefly we can mention that nature can improve:
• physical and mental health (Maas et al., 2006; Fuller et al., 2007)
• stress recovery (Van den Berg et al., 2007)
• social cohesion (Coley et al., 1997)

Through this project we aim at:
• Raising awareness about environmental issues even to the people who were not interested in nature in the first place
• Living more mindfully
• Exchanging ideas and knowledge on the topic from people all over Europe
• Bringing to the surface the concerns of young people about the environment
• Create connections between people and the environment
• Boosting young people’s physical, mental and social life
• Bringing young people in touch with their close environment
• Enhancing their feeling of ecophilia (love for animate and inanimate life)
• Pinpointing the environmental problems (local and broader)
● Brainstorming solutions about these issues (personal and broader level)
• Bringing young people together to learn about and provide ideas for the problems that every country faces
• Giving young people the chance to change their behavior toward the environment, learn and practice active citizenship, disseminate their knowledge to their familial and local environment and put pressure on future policymaking

Through non-formal education methods we will address the following issues:
• environmental problems/ nature/ ecophobia
• physical, mental and social health
• active citizenship
• solution-focused approach on environmental issues
• Erasmus+ Programme

OBJECTIVES
Knowledge
• Information about environment and its relation with human development and health
• Data for exposure to environment for overcoming the fear of environment
• Solution focused techniques as a sign of respect to the person’s needs
• Experiential techniques/ tasks that bring one closer to nature
• Information on how to achieve well-being through a holistic approach
• By cross-cultural interaction, more knowledge about other cultures and countries
• Learn about the way they learn
• Erasmus + Programme and Youthpass Certificate

Skills
• Choose and adapt methods to different learning styles in order to come closer to the environment
• Be able to live mindfully, have more conscious moments and take more thoughtful actions
• Learn how to use a positive way of thinking for planning
• Ability to use experiential, solution focused and exposure techniques
• Practice different ways to come closer to nature
• Create local and international networking for support
• Practice on how to plan activities
• Capacity to use the available natural resources as a means of in vivo exposure to nature
• Practice on reflecting and planning in a solution-focused way
• Expression in foreign language and enhancement of communication with people from different cultures

Attitudes
• Show understanding and empathy to people who wish to avoid natural environment and to people who wish to come closer to it but don’t know yet how to
• Acknowledge the impact of nature on human development and emotional balance
• Prioritize needs and goals and set small but feasible targets
• Self-assessment of improvement using solution focused assessment
• Express the understanding of self-commitment in planning and implementing a personal plan
• Focus on the resources and positive habits that someone has or can grow that will allow him/her to get closer to nature
• Empathize with Network members, participants and broader network
• Adoption of solution focused behavior for coming closer to nature
• Respect diversity in general and the diversity of needs and personalities
• Critical thinking towards personal work and planning
• Quality oriented behavior during the whole programme
• Make individual and group decisions according to the aims and context
• Development of opinions, judgments or decisions in a logical way – do what you say, say what you think.
• Respect the timelines of the project

Participating countries: Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Estonia, Turkey

Venue: Great Alexander Hotel