Training course on Transforming Environmental Conflicts
Share tools, build solidarity and learn how to transform conflicts rather than be worn down by them.
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Contact the project lead Ena at ena@yeenet.eu
Youth and Environment Europe (YEE), in collaboration with “Yeghvard” Youth Ecological NGO, invites young activists and youth workers to join a fully funded international training course in Armenia as the first activity of our program on Transforming Environmental Conflicts: Youth for Dialogue and Rights.
It is the first of three interconnected activities in a project that will continue through youth-led activities in participants’ own communities, including a mentoring process throughout the implementation, and a wellbeing retreat in late October 2026. Participants must participate in all three activities of the project.
Why is this topic important?
Across Europe and beyond, many communities are living through ongoing conflicts, political tensions and environmental destruction. If you are working on environmental issues right now, you are probably feeling the sense that the conflicts around us are multiplying faster than our capacity to respond. That is exactly why coming together right now is crucial: to share tools, build solidarity and learn how to transform conflicts rather than be worn down by them.
What is this training course about
Environmental conflicts are not only happening far away or in the future. They are present in many communities, from disputes over water and land, pollution affecting rural areas, mistrust between youth and local authorities, and the internal tensions that arise inside movements trying to change things under pressure. Young people are often at the centre of these conflicts, and they are rarely given the tools to engage with them constructively.
The training course equips participants with practical skills in nonviolent communication, conflict analysis, intercultural dialogue, negotiation and advocacy. It also creates space to explore the inner dimension of this work: the eco-anxiety that comes with caring about the environment at this moment in time.
What to Expect?
The training course is built on non-formal education methods: no lectures, no passive learning – everything is experiential, participatory and grounded in participants’ own realities.
The programme includes:
- Conflict analysis workshops using mapping tools and the iceberg model to understand what drives environmental disputes at different levels, from the personal to the systemic.
- Non-Violent Communication (NVC) practice and communication skills.
- Intercultural dialogue sessions designed to build genuine solidarity across the different political and environmental realities that participants come from.
- Negotiation and multi-stakeholder simulations, including role plays with diverse stakeholders.
- Advocacy tools to develop concrete youth-led actions.
- Sessions on eco-anxiety and collective care, exploring how to sustain long-term engagement without burning out.
- Co-creation of a Youth Declaration on Environmental Conflicts, as a shared output and advocacy tool for the group.
- A field visit in the Tsaghkadzor area to connect the training to live local environmental situations.
Who should apply?
You do not need to have previous experience with conflict transformation or formal advocacy training. You need to be genuinely engaged with environmental issues in your community and genuinely committed to the full scope of this project.
Specifically:
- Youth workers and youth leaders affiliated with YEE member organisations.
- Young people from rural areas who are working on or affected by local environmental conflicts.
- Young activists from minority communities or from regions where environmental activism is particularly difficult or politically charged.
- Young people who are prepared to organise and implement a local dialogue, workshop or campaign in their own community in the months following the training.
We particularly encourage applications from young people in countries that are living close to environmental conflict: where communities are fighting against extractive industries, where the consequences of armed conflict are visible in the landscape, where the climate crisis is already disrupting livelihoods, or where the space to organise is restricted.
Eligibility
- You are between 18 and 30 years old.
- You are based in one of the following countries: Armenia, Albania, Türkiye, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Georgia, Germany, the Republic of Moldova, the Netherlands, or Kosovo.
- You have a good working level of English, the language of the training.
- You are prepared to organise and implement a local dialogue, workshop or campaign in their own community in the months following the training.
- You are available for the full training week in Armenia and committed to participating in the local campaign phase (Activity 2) and the retreat in late October 2026 (location to be announced).
Costs and funding
This training course is fully funded by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe. Accommodation and meals are covered for the full duration. Travel costs will be reimbursed according to YEE travel policy. Further details will be provided to selected participants. There is no participation fee.
How to apply
Applications are submitted through an online form. The form asks you to describe the environmental conflict or challenge you are working on in your community, your motivation for joining this project, and your idea for the local action you would implement after the training.
Please note that the use of AI tools to fill in the application is discouraged, as we are interested in your personal reflections and original input.
Note on safety
The training course is organised in Tsaghkadzor, a small northern mountain town in Armenia, and while we are aware that Armenia is a country close to regional conflict, it is safe, calm and far from any area of tension. YEE’s member organisation and project partner, “Yeghvard” Youth Ecological NGO, is rooted in this region and is experienced in conflict situations.
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Our mission
YEE aims to unite environmental youth non-profit organisations in Europe in order to enhance international cooperation, increase knowledge about the climate crisis, raise awareness of environmental problems and to strengthen participation of youth in environmental decision-making.
Financially supported by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Council of Europe.
