10 young people and their leader represented Desert Bloomin a Youth Exchange under the project “PEACE: Psychological and Eco-social Aspects of Climate Change”, hosted by Permacultura Cantabria in Penagos, Cantabria – Spain, from 18-25 Oct. 2022.
The youth Exchange tackled many good practices and techniques regarding the environmental actions and local initiatives. Participants have become aware of key concepts relevant to Climate Change and its implications. They acquired many adaptation and mitigation practices to fight against climate change on individual and community levels. Additionally, we visited an ecological farm and learned about ecological farming and sustainability practices including biobuilding.
The Desert Bloom’s Day focused on the social and community side of Climate Change. Participants learned about the importance of Biodiversity for our survival. On an individual level, they gained useful insights on how to make their lives more environmentally friendly by greening their Lives toward “Zero Waste” lifestyle. Each participant did an Ecological Footprint test to learn how many Planets it takes to sustain their lifestyle.
Some participants were shocked to know that they need more than 5 plants to sustain their lifestyle. Participants learn how to practice the 5 principles of Zero Waste (The 5 Rs; Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot). Moreover, they were able to share their most successful stories on their greener adaptations’ activities.
On a community level, Desert Bloom shared many good practices to reduce the environmental harm together. To share local context, each national team was asked to present the most environmentally harmful practice in their country in acting by applying Theatre of the Oppressed technique. Afterward, participants were divided into groups and asked to generate innovative ideas for an environment-friendly society applying SCAMPER technique. Then present their ideas on Climate change Advocacy posters.
The project “PEACE: Psychological and Ecosocial Aspects of Climate Change” (project No. 101051323 ERASMUS-YOUTH-2021-CB), is co-funded by the European Union. Enjoy the video summary of the Youth Exchange: