Upcyclart: the art of Upcycling

THE COURSE IS ALREADY AVAILABLE. WHOEVER FITS THE DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTICIPANTS PROFILE CAN APPLY AND ATTEND THE COURSE ANYTIME! THE COURSE DOESN'T HAVE AN END DATE AND IT'S INTENDED TO REMAIN AVAILABLE INDEFINITELY.

This course is a self-paced, interactive, practical course for Youth Workers to learn how to support young people with fewer opportunities in developing upcycling businesses that address local waste challenges while contributing to the green transition of Europe.

You are going to learn about:

- how to identify upcycling opportunities in your community;
- how to approach and engage young people from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds;
- how to support them in planning and launching a business venture;
- how to calculate the environmental impact of upcycling initiatives;
- how to inspire, mentor, and empower them throughout the entrepreneurial process.

About this course:

In this course, you have a chance to learn about supporting young people with fewer opportunities who come from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds in the context of youth work. More specifically, you can learn how to mentor a group of young people in a non-formal learning programme based on upcycling entrepreneurship.

The above-mentioned topics are explored by sharing and expanding field-tested practices of working with upcycling businesses from around the world – including best practices from Brazil, Thailand, USA, Venezuela, Ecuador, Japan, and Europe. The course brings together 12 case studies researched by the partnership to create a world-leading mentoring programme.

Aims and objectives of the course:

The course aims to build the capacity and mentoring skills of youth workers to promote upcycling entrepreneurship to young people with fewer opportunities. By doing so, we would like to share what we have found useful in supporting youth-led business initiatives that contribute to the circular economy.

Besides our learnings, we also share the resources and approaches connected to European policies and strategies. More concretely, you will have a short glimpse into:

- Design thinking and creative methodologies
- Environmental impact and the benefits of upcycling
- Social inclusion and diversity in youth work
- Youth entrepreneurship and business model development
- EU policies such as the Green Deal, Farm to Fork strategy, and Youth Goals

Timeline and framework of the course:

The modules of the course are self-paced, so you can go through them in a more intense manner, or stretch them out in time. You can use it as a source of inspiration if you are new to the field of upcycling or environmental education.

If you are already active in the field of youth work and sustainability, we recommend you take your time and try to implement what's useful from this course in your work. The additional materials provide you with a chance to dive deeper into design thinking, environmental impact calculation, and inclusive entrepreneurship approaches that might help you adapt the learnings from this course to your context.

Participants profile:

The course was designed for youth workers, educators, and facilitators who are working with or plan to work with young people with fewer opportunities, particularly those from poorer socioeconomic areas.

If you are supporting young people in developing entrepreneurial skills, environmental projects, or creative initiatives, we think this course might be a good source of inspiration for you.

We really hope that you find this learning journey useful and that it empowers you to support young people in becoming agents of change in their communities!