Events

Castle Lukov Festival (Czech Republic)

On 7 September the YEE office travelled to Castle Lukov in the Czech Republic for a special festival hosted by Hnutí Brontosaurus. The festival brought young people together to volunteer on maintenance projects around the castle and in the local environment. There was also a workshop space for volunteers to share music, food and skills.

YEE used this opportunity to give away the campaign's materials and promote new ways to volunteer for the environment. Upcycling workshops were offered to inspire young people to rethink the concept of 'waste'. The team spoke with festival goers about how they can volunteer for the environment through YEE. Joining the network allows members to participate in educational youth exchanges, trainings and campaigns that work towards a more sustainable world.

Public Workshop in Tirana (Albania)

On 19 September 2013, Eden center volunteers sat by a lake in Tirana to speak with the public. They used the materials YEE created to inspire and motivate people to act on environmental issues. They demonstrated how to assemble the leaflet pot and plant the attached seeds. People were enthusiastic about this activity and asked a lot of questions. It succeeded in raising awareness of the need for environmental protection and understanding.

People seemed willing to take care of the seeds and bring them home. Some people noted that the seeds represent the future and recognised the importance of teaching new generations about sustainability.

Karkonosze Mountains (Poland)

The Scout Patrol 'Knieja' took part in Poland's National Rally 'Granica' this year. For three days, they followed a trail about water preservation, completing 12 activities along the way. The team captain Jarosław Zasacki says:

''The tasks, which focused on environment protection, triggered strong reflections in us. We realized that having running water does not mean it is like this in every corner of the world. A large number of people must fight for water, and there are places where it is more valuable than oil or gold. Many thanks to YEE for the materials we got. Alongside the rally, we will also use them in our scouting events to teach our scouts how to take good care of nature, starting from the seed we got along with the folders.''

Route in Horcajuelo de la Sierra (Spain)

During 12th October 2013, a young Spanish group did a interpretative route in Horcajuelo de la Sierra, in Sierra del Rincon, Madrid, Spain. This activity was integrated into the YEE campaign '30 years of volunteering for environment' and the participants were invited to pick up rubbish during the route in the forest.

To do so, they were given the promotional bags with the slogan: WILL YOU GREEN UP WITH ME? The participants even used the plastic bags from their sandwiches to pick up even more rubbish. In the end, 4 big plastic bags were filled. At the end of the activity, stickers and leaflets were given as a presents. A big surprise happened when they realized the leaflet could be upcycled as a seeding pots to grow lettuce seeds!

Young Greens meeting (UK)

Young people from across Europe are busy promoting volunteering for the environment. In England, a group of green students have been recruiting new members from the University of Cambridge to help protect our planet. Here they are at one of their official meetings with YEE's campaign materials, sharing knowledge and ideas.

Volunteers' trip to the ecological farm (Russia)

Volunteer Centre AYA organised a trip to the ecological farm in Kaluga Region, Russia. They wanted to help with the harvest and preparations for the next season. This farm is really new and volunteers of AYA already visited it in spring and helped with planting the potatoes, cabbage and other vegetables. This volunteer trip brought together people who have very different lifestyles and sometimes are not so connected with nature. But these two days helped the young people to get more inspired and energized and some of them got very interested in ecological projects.

This trip also included the meeting of AYA volunteers, local residents and workers of the farm and the nearby village. They talked about the possibilities of the international volunteering, about ecological projects which young people can organize themselves. The participants also learned about YEE and some of our campaigns. They talked about the campaign "30 years of volunteering for environment" but also watched the videos from the Upcycling campaign. Meeting other environmentally-friendly young people and the big interest to working on the farm created the friendly and warm atmosphere of their trip.