The objectives were learning about sustainability and the importance of it with a focus on environmental sustainability & recycling economy, sustainable food & food waste; sharing experiences and good practices of sustainability and green economic policies and initiatives; increasing the interest of young people in sustainability and their involvement in promoting and living and ethical life and their awareness about the positive impact of sustainability compared with the consequences of unsustainable economics; exploring the best ways of using social media for social campaigns which promotes sustainability, green economy and ethical living, learning tips and tricks to build up an efficient social media campaign; analysing each partner country’s experience in sustainability, different problems faces and solutions founded, laws and regulations imposed by Governments, initiatives and future views on sustainability; fostering collaboration at European level witin the Erasmus+ Framework between NGOs active in promoting the importance of sustainability.
The young people who took part in the Two Thousand & GREEN YE became aware of their power as consumers and individuals and, more important, they acknowledged that they could contribute to sustainability in many different ways and that the future of our planet doesn’t just lie in the hands of big companies, even though it’s them making the big difference, but since it’s too late it’s time for everybody to act on living a sustainable, ethical lifestyle.
Participants also had the opportunity to visit the Heating Plant of Spittelau in Vienna, having insights on more sustainable ways of energy production – the Spittelau Heating Plant produces energy out of Viennese, Austrian and European trash. Here, they also had an interactive experience in the museum of energy, where the different exhibitions and implantations exposed gave them a deep understanding of the impact of their daily actions on the planet. Secondly, they had a session with a slow fashion blogger and designer who founded her own ethical fashion brand and explained participants the cycle and impact of their pieces of clothes. Lastly, the founder of wurmkiste.at was invited to run a building session with the participants. Wurmkiste.at is a social initiative aimed at promoting a zero waste lifestyle even in the city, where it might get harder and to do so, it produces worm boxes used as a piece of design furniture – they actually look as a seat – where people can compost their food.
