RESOURCES Intercultural cycling trip to question our society and our way of life

Given the social, economic and environmental challenges we face, it is more than ever necessary to envourage consumers to consume differently. Children and young people are being dwn into a consumption spiral, where critical thinking is replaced by impulse reactions and the immediate satisfactionof desires. This runs counter to the objectives of education, which aims to train people to make criticaljudgements and choices, and to receive messages in a thoughtful and rational way. 

Through this seminar, we aim to strenghten the skills of youth workers so that they turn can provide relevant support to the target groups in the areas in which they are active. We want to cross our views, share our experiences, develop our knowledgeof the issues and mechanisms at work and equip ourselves with new skills to strenghten people's capacities for social and ecological transition, the promotion of diversity, living together,and active citizenship in each countries.

Consumer education needs to be part of a more global approach to education. It's part of a broader model of society, which includes a look at waste. 

How can we get away from over -consumption and consume in a much more thoughtful way? New behaviours are emerging as alternative consumers who are adopting the new consumption. Small gestures feed a whole network of thoughtful, ethical, sustainable and responsible consumption. More and more organisations support and facilitate a range of initiatives designed to promote dynamic citizenship.

For 15 days: 

• We'll get around by bike, as slower and green mode of transport. (This training course is available to everyone, if you know cycling!) There are very few kilometres between each partner.
• We'll reduce our ecological footprint - with our eco-camp (dry toilets, outdoor showers ...)
• We 'll mainly adopt a vegetarian diet - Food'll be local and seasonal as much as possible.
• We'll be host in differents collective places and we'll take part in eco-construction site.
• We'll learn pratical know-hows with a diversity of workshop as making natural products for the collective, taking part of bike mechanics, artistic workshop.
• We'll visit others locals initiatives as social center, solidarity garden, material recycling centre 

The course has been designed in order to provide you with new perspectives on the social-ecological transition. We hope you will have made a step forward in your perception of the topics we addressed and gain knowledge and inspiration to define ways to act accordingly with your beliefs and values.

In practice, the training course will be held in a rural area in South-west France and will gather 30 participants, coming from France, Spain, Greece, Italy, Romania.

Switching between theory and practice and using a diverse range of methods, we will invite you to put your own life-path, beliefs and behaviors into perspective, compare and contrast your points of view, go through a critical analysis of different concepts, field-test some ideas introduced during the course, learn from the experience of others and investigate practical ways to work towards a more inclusive and sustainable society.