This project empowers young people between 15 and 25 years so that they can develop actions related to environmental conservation in Portugal, giving them the knowledge, skills, contacts and motivations necessary to bring their ideas to life; provide tools and knowledge necessary for decision making; promote peer-to-peer exchanges; promote environmental initiatives that increase public participation in actions of environmental preservation and promote awareness about sustainability issues.
National
Portugal
GE strives to gather participants from all over the country, bearing special concern towards geographical representativity and the inclusion of participants from the interior and island regions, typically less sensitive towards environmental issues.
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Associação Natureza Portugal in association with WWF Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Cátia Last name of representative: Nunes Gender: Female Nationality: Portugal Function: Environmental Education Coordinator Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: R. Adriano Correia de Oliveira 4A Town: Lisbon Postal code: 1600-312 Country: Portugal Direct Tel:+351 966 561 254 E-mail:cnunes@natureza-portugal.org Website:https://www.instagram.com/generationearthpt/
Young people up to the age of 30 will experience some of the most devastating effects of climate change and biodiversity loss. European surveys (e.g. the Eurobarometer) and movements such as the climate strike identify that today's younger generation are more aware, more informed and more stimulated by environmental issues. These generations are also key in future environmental activism: young people are globally connected, are great innovators, and have the power to generate multi-level positive change when given the opportunity.
This project implements in Portugal the concept of the Generation Earth (GE), which is a WWF initiative that started in 2010, a program inspired by the Alaska Youth for Environment Action. The programme, counting with several editions already, aims to support personal transformation - to turn participants into active young citizens and to reinforce the vision and mission of GE and supporting partner ANP|WWF - multiplying sustainable behaviours and driving behaviour change. This project, led and designed by youth, for youth, presents itself as a straightforward solution for engaging younger generations, from a young - yet already conscious - age, to become more aware, educated and subsequently take action against environmental issues. The community impact of this initiative is therefore notoriously valuable, as young people progressively become drivers of change and direct actors in awareness-raising for reconnecting people and nature.
In this context, this project empowers a group of 20 young people between 15 and 25 years so that they can develop actions related to environmental conservation in Portugal, giving them the knowledge, skills, contacts and motivations necessary to bring their ideas to life; provide tools and knowledge necessary for decision making; promote peer-to-peer exchanges; and promote environmental initiatives that increase public participation in actions of environmental preservation.
Active citizenship
Nature conservation
Participatory approaches
Environmental cause
Youth
The entire project was designed to strengthen the social participation of young people, namely their involvement in (and potential to act as multipliers for) their community, in order to promote their active participation in decision-making processes, bringing them closer to nature. GE’s target group is thus young people who: 1) want to be part of a group and network of young people with an interest in environmental issues; 2) want to contribute to new solutions for environmental environmental protection and change awareness about the effects of our society's ecological footprint; 3) want to develop their leadership skills, contributing to their personal and professional development. The project thus contributes to the strengthening of democratic culture and civic awareness about environmental issues. As such, environmentally-related content delivered by the programme’s communication activities, but above all through the participation of the stakeholders in its 3-day capacity-building workshop, are key aspects of the project’s sustainability approach. The project therefore aims to give voice to young people and provide them with the necessary tools to put innovative ideas into practice in favour of an environmental cause, by empowering young people to become first-line actors against environmental and climatic degradation. In this context, GE fosters activism and mobilisation activities by facilitating and providing tools for the development of at least two environmental actions on the ground. Overarchingly, the project is marked by environmental and sustainability concerns - the genesis of the project is precisely the empowerment of youth to act for the protection of the environment. To that extent, clear measures are taken to ensure reduced environmental impact, namely by prioritising online working methods and public transportation, while promoting compensation activities through the implementation of the environmental actions.
Besides promoting active citizenship through the involvement of participants in a co-creation and participatory process, GE, as a pedagogical methodology, promotes affective citizenship, by empowering the target group to conceptualise concrete actions for the preservation of the environment, while strengthening and expanding their emotional connection to the specific topic determined to be worked. To that extent, the project fosters awareness and information-sharing by young citizens about the importance of active participation in the community, while allowing participants to develop competencies such as autonomy, critical thinking and creativity. Moreover, through GE, participants benefit from an improved understanding of project management, leadership and environmental issues, while fighting the prevalent anthropocentric view of life, for the promotion of a “life-centred perspective”, taking into account local cultural traditions and heritage, as well as local needs, educational needs and objectives, and bringing about behaviour change. The GE approach is determined to establish and catalyse a safe environment for all participants involved: from the start of the programme’s edition, participants gather, discuss and decide on a set of “group norms” (e.g., not interrupting each other; holding healthy dialogues; respecting each others’ cultural differences; reaching decisions by consensus), thereby promoting the creation of positive feelings of inclusion and collaboration among them. Still in this regard, the Final Council of each edition fosters active listening (without judgement, or opinionating), while deconstructing the often-shared discomfort felt around silence, through practical and creative methodologies. Due to these characteristics, and by integrating valuable enduring cultural and social values, GE also becomes a flagship safe space for participants to share any mental health concerns they may have, notably in what concerns eco-anxiety.
Portugal,and especially the interior and island regions, suffer from an exacerbated school abandonment phenomenon by youth, who become subsequently further disadvantaged. Simultaneously, the few opportunities arising from the still untapped green economy in the litoral area of the country are oftentimes precarious. Leading capacity-building, empowerment and awareness-raising actions, GE is an initiative allowing youth the possibility of developing a better understanding of environmental issues and their own capacities to act, expanding networks and intentions to directly impact urgent climatic and environmental issues. From an accessibility perspective, Generation Earth aims to get outside the “green bubble” reaching to diversified audiences, communities and groups of youth, namely from the most underprivileged regions in the country. From the 2nd to the 3rd edition, the evaluation report noted the increasing diversity and inclusion of the selected participants, and the initiative is working on its own recruitment process to guarantee cross-sectoral representation. While past editions led recruitment through online and school channels, future editions of the programme intend to work directly with local associations working on social issues within the community, all over the country. Moreover, this allows recruitment to encompass also those youngsters who would not otherwise feel comfortable in applying through writing, but feel more at ease face-to-face. Additionally, GE is currently piloting a remunerated trainer’s pool, for promoting green employment within the initiative itself. Finally, the genesis of the project is that it is built from the ground up by youth and for youth, further expanding its inclusivity in terms of the programme’s governing system. In this regard, it is important to highlight that GE benefits from the establishment of a Steering Committee, made up of young people with experience of involvement in environmental causes and ANP|WWF staff.
The entire project was designed to strengthen the social and environmental participation of young people, namely their involvement in the community, in order to promote their active participation in decision-making processes, with a specific focus on nature preservation and biodiversity protection. As previously noted, each edition of the Generation Earth programme is built from the ground up with the direct input and participation of the project’s target group, with the support of ANP|WWF. To that extent, participants are fully involved in the design and concretisation of the initiative, from the determination of the environmental issue to be tackled, to the creation of environmental action ideas, and especially when it comes to the selected actions to be implemented through GE’s funding, by youth members. Moreover, the fact that the initiative’s Steering Committee (GE’s decision-making and guidance body) encompasses young leaders with previous environmental activism experience further enlarges the sense of ownership from selected youngsters regarding the project. The project thus contributes to the following already achieved, yet expandable outcomes:
- Citizenship education and training at formal and non-formal level - through a model already internationally tested model with a training program at three levels: project management, leadership and an environmental theme;
- Awareness, information and involvement of citizens about the importance of active participation in the community - the project will follow a bottom-up approach, i.e. it will be developed by the young people from the beginning, participating in the Steering Committee that will be responsible for the development of the entire program.
- The program promotes civic activism and mobilisation activities by facilitating and providing tools for the development of at least two environmental actions on the ground - which can be communication, advocacy, or volunteering.
Based on the experience gained from the Austrian Generation Earth editions, WWF has prepared an implementation manual for the program (Action Leader Handbook: Guide to developing and forming of action teams & projects), whose approach is used as the basis for the Portuguese programme. The methodology applied in Portugal is precisely based on the training delivered by WWF Austria, and GE, in partnership with ANP|WWF, strives to involve other WWF offices whenever possible and relevant. The association to WWF's international network allows knowledge sharing with youth leadership programmes around the world, and supports WWF's mission in achieving its global conservation goals. Moreover, the multidisciplinary team of ANP|WWF allows it to advise young people both in the development of environmental issues and in the creation and development of actions/projects. ANP|WWF therefore sees the youth members through the determination of the environmental theme for the GE edition, as well as through the participatory development of environmental projects from their part. Last but certainly not least, youth, at the centre of the program, is present in all the programme’s phases, as previously noted, namely in GE’s Steering Committee. The programme starts with an assessment of the participant’s concerns and needs, and proceeds accordingly throughout the progression of the edition. The involved target group therefore co-creates the environmental leadership programme, and has a direct say in the design of the action projects and consequently in their implementation. All in all, ANP|WWF and GE are engaged in empowering youth and supporting youth-led projects that can target other beneficiaries, such as children, other youth, companies, politicians, teachers, and other relevant audiences.
GE is inherently multidisciplinary, as it entails a set of different capacity-building approaches - both formal and non-formal - cutting across several knowledge fields, depending on the goals and environmental concerns of the target group. In partnership with ANP|WWF, each GE programme edition is conceptualised and implemented taking into account the concrete goals and needs of the participants. First of all, it is worth highlighting the crucial citizenship education and training component of the programme, which is then declined into three different levels: management (e.g., project management, how to get financial support to a project focusing on the environment, partnership, target groups, advocacy & politics); leadership (e.g., what is a leader, what type of leadership models exist, what kind of roles can someone take within environmental work/projects); and environmental topics (e.g., food, oceans, freshwater, forests, wildlife). In what concerns the latter, the ANP|WWF conservation team (including conservation, communications and environmental education) is directly involved with GE, offering technical expertise to guide the process of co-creation of the environmental actions. These actions may take on different formats, from communication, advocacy or volunteering initiatives. Moreover, the close connection between ANP|WWF and GE enables participants to develop important activities in the field of nature conservation, having been involved in the design of the Eat4Change (https://www.eat4change.pt) project’s Portuguese outreach campaign, on the importance of sustainable diets for the protection of the planet against climate change. On the other hand, through their work with ANP|WWF, past edition’s GE’s youth was also an important stakeholder in engaging with the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic at the time of the 2020 United Nations’ Biodiversity Summit, therefore developing important lobbying and advocacy skills at several social and political instance.
Having conducted an overview on the current approaches regarding environmental education in Portugal, ANP|WWF - GE’s main implementing partner - concluded that the dominant choice among stakeholders engaged in these matters tends to be focused on a traditional school methodology. Alternatively, GE is developed specifically outside the school community, taking advantage of all this strategy offers. In fact, GE’s process recognises the importance of participation from stakeholders in the construction of a successful capacity-building project, acknowledging the relevance of a needs-based, consultative approach. GE distinguishes itself from mainstream actions in this field by privileging a bottom-up outlook on the design and delivery of the planned actions. From an organisational perspective - i.e., through the joint determination of the “group norms”, but also considering the composition of the already described Steering Committee body, which includes youth as well - GE benefits from a multistakeholder composition. It is, moreover, inherently multidisciplinary, bringing extraordinary added value to the initiative as it allows participants to develop a variety of actions, from beginning to end, on an environmental topic they are already engaged with and that responds to their own concerns, needs, personal and even professional interests. From an emotional standpoint, GE offers a safe space for sharing concerns, not only related to environmental issues, but in connection to other aspects of the youngster’s lives, while promoting inclusivity and cross-sectoral representation. Individually speaking, GE promotes active citizenship, coupled with environmental education, awareness-raising, and action. Lastly, collectively and socially, GE is particularly innovative as well, as it relies on its young members to directly impact their community, as the target group of their own environmental actions are their own peers, family and wider social (as well as professional) network.
By becoming active citizens and working towards the preservation of the planet, GE’s youth take on an involved role which then subsequently impacts their surroundings and community. In this context, GE’s chosen environmental actions are selected on a set of predetermined criteria, including the action’s replicability potential, and greater impact on the community and the environment. To this extent, characteristically, GE’s results and values are directly transferable, holding the potential to be adopted by other stakeholders, expanding their outreach. For example, being centred around the topic of sustainable consumption, GE’s first edition launched a challenge among highschool students for the design and implementation of their own initiative. Moreover, GE’s youth has co-created a major national advocacy and communications campaign, in the context of the Eat4Change project, related to raising awareness on sustainable diets. To this extent, GE promotes citizen mobilisation through a snowball model - enabling youth to become active citizens who in turn influence their peers and community. Other winning project that reflects the flexible, adaptable and transferable nature of GE was the organisation of a sustainable fair with different companies, NGO and startups focusing on sustainable processes and circular economy or the creation of online exhibitions for biodiversity loss.
GE is itself a replica of a pre-existing project, originally idealised in the United States of America, then applied by WWF since 2010. In fact, the global network of WWF enables information sharing and knowledge exchange between different partners, therefore facilitating the potential methodological and process transfers. As such, on a wider level and structure-wise, the project’s replicability potential is evident from the get go, as its accessible nature and flexible elements allow it to be easily exported to different parts of the world.
The core of the project is the promotion of environmental project design and implementation, allowing participants to gain effective experience in the development and execution of environmental initiatives, and to make a positive impact on environmental conservation and/or public awareness, as described below (and in the annexed agenda):
1. Project management: control and monitoring of the compliance with the defined schedule and budget, and financial execution of the project;
2. Communication: development of a campaign of dissemination on social networks (Instagram and Facebook) and involvement of the environmental leaders;
3. Leadership program: starting with the recruitment of young "leaders'' and the development of a 3-day workshop, including training at 3 levels: leadership, management of projects and the environmental theme chosen by the Steering Committee. The competition for the development of the environmental project (application form and regulation) is then launched. GE’s youth then develops the environmental project proposals, with the support of the Steering Committee (through mentorship in person or online). These young people can apply with one project proposal (up to 300 euros), to which follows the presentation and selection of projects to be developed by the Steering Committee. Then, chosen actions are developed (by the young people) with the support of the project team for the operationalization of the projects at all levels (logistical, financial, etc.). This process involves also communication of the actions to the media and social networks, as well as presentation sessions of the project results. Results are then assessed and recommendations are issued for future editions, as two young people are selected from this edition to be part of the new Steering Committee Steering Committee, to help implement a future edition of the program.
GE’s main topics have been focusing on sustainable consumption (1st edition) and sustainable diets (2nd and 3rd editions).
For the topic of sustainable consumption, the youth developed 4 action projects focusing on: biodiversity loss; lack of information and education within society and schools; and approaching the market chain by bringing consumers and producers together.
Tackling biodiversity loss, GE’s group of youth promoted various sessions with municipalities and schools within their regions, aimed to raise awareness on the topic of sustainable consumption and active citizenship, as high school students were challenged to create ideas within their community or school. 1 project was chosen and developed, allowing students from a countryside region to implement a compostable station within their school, that can be used by the community. GE youth also created an online exhibition and an instagram page and website to raise awareness for the topic of biodiversity loss, presenting solutions and behaviour change examples within the audience. Additionally, a group of youth developed a sustainable fair with different companies, NGO and startups focusing on sustainable processes and circular economy. This fair hosted 102 and allowed the consumers to connect with producers that focus on innovative circular economic approaches. Youth also co-created a communications campaign to raise awareness for the topic of sustainable diets, connecting them with a youth network (i-eat4change) that aims to develop action projects, participate and youth summits and meetings with MPs and also, allowing these youth to connect and develop different challenges like the ‘holiday dinner’. They also develop a round table with different experts within a biomarker in Portugal, raising awareness within the consumers that do their groceries within this space. The 3rd edition is also working on the production of a podcast, a sustainable diets guide and showcookings within elder people.
Quantitatively, GE has already capacitated and empowered 66 young leaders, 6 action projects have been developed and 3 more are being created (within the 3rd edition). One youth from GE is working for WWF Austria, doing content creation for a youth network platform (the project was able to create opportunities of green jobs for youth) and another youth is part of an international youth group facilitated by WWF Finland. The action projects developed by this youth have impacted, directly, approximately 500 people and indirectly more than 10,000 people, mainly, through social media interactions (in Portugal).
Qualitatively, through the mentoring sessions it was obvious that youth gained a lot of competencies and personal and professional growth. Also, the project had more than 150 applications within the last 2 years, demonstrating youth's interest towards it. Also, while the program was co-coordinated by ANP|WWF and youth for the 1st and 2nd edition, these youth are progressively taking on the main role, developing the structure, recruitment phase, training methodologies and all other aspects and details connected to the program. GE is now being designed, implemented and coordinated by youth, with support from ANP|WWF, when needed and asked for by them. This was one of the major goals of the program that has been achieved in the last 2 years: really empowering young people, creating a common vision and a safe space to develop and implement their ideas.
The vision and mission of the program are reflected by a GE structure document created by the youth (in attachment). GE aims to keep recruiting and empowering at least 25 young leaders per year, promoting a safe space, active citizenship and tools to support youth within their journey of empowerment. Also, a train-the-trainer program is in place, where ANP|WWF staff train this youth and integrate them in a team of trainers, paying them (by hour) to develop education sessions with different target groups.
GE allows youth to develop competencies in the different areas identified by the European competence framework on sustainability. Concerning ‘embodying sustainability values’ and ‘embracing complexity in sustainability’, within the trainings, youth are asked to share their experiences and interest in sustainability. Based on this sharing, the training guides them trough the value of sustainability for the planet and also for people (social issues and inequalities are one of the main focus debated by youth during the trainings). By developing a safe space within the trainings, the youth have the opportunity to be heard without judgment, which allows them to connect to different opinions and ideas, developing their critical thinking. Also, when developing the action projects, they use the ‘theory of change’ methodology, starting with the problem framing and working on possible solutions and specific activities that allows them to be part of those solutions. These planning of action projects allow to develop competencies in ‘acting for sustainability’, identifying different stakeholders and target groups, and working as a group to create a collective action, that can focus in individual ideas and initiatives that are debated within the group. The action projects they work on and create within a safe space that allows them to fail and build on those failures promotes the development of competencies in ‘envisioning sustainable futures’. The methodology they use for the projects, has different phases of evaluation and monitoring and focus on adaptive management, fomenting adaptability and exploratory thinking skills. They have the liberty to try and adapt if they are not getting the results they are targeting for. Also, failure and winnings are celebrated, in a way to train a ‘leading by example’ role, which works soft skills such as active listening, empathy, solidarity and respect for diversity and differences.
