TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Athanasia Karamerou
Our main aim was to give youth workers the skills and information and support them to raise awareness about
sustainability, to help others to become more sustainable, to give them the space to make their projects more sustainable
and create initiatives in and outside the programme to promote sustainability.
live and experience a sustainable community setting
enhance your knowledge in sustainability and systems innovation approach
get the chance to try sustainability in practice in Hopeland
get your idea ready to put into practice
learn how to make your project more sustainable in practice
be trained to support youth to become more sustainable and support others to create sustainable change
learn to use different methodologies (design for wiser action, climate negotiations game, climate collage, sustainable business canvas, systemic approach, community setting, hands-on activities etc)
learn to pitch and communicate your idea and project
This programme target group
18+ years old from Greece, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Latvia, Romania, UK, Lithuania
a youth worker/ youth leader with an idea to innovate in sustainability
have a calling, idea, burning impact you want to make
want to live and experience a sustainable community setting for 9 days
- eager to start creating change for sustainability
- don’t have a clue about sustainability but eager to learn more so they can support others
- want to learn how to support youth to become more sustainable
2 trainers: Athansia Karamerou, Atanas Genkov
Our working methods are based on non-formal, learning by doing and are highly participatory.
There were:
- learning by doing mostly developed in the video tutorials,
- project design and trial with the use of different canvases (design for wiser action etc)
- everyday self-reflection learning of participants according to their own learning goals and the YouthPass process: goal setting, daily reflection on progress in the so-called reflection groups, mid-term and final evaluation
- feedback sessions, debates and discussions in plenary and in small groups
- role-playing and simulation game about climate negotiations
- Experience and goal-oriented activities
- Participant-led workshops, presentations and activities
- community dissemination part (clean up in the village)
Results
The results once more were really moving and remarkable. Not only what we have lived all together during the TC but also afterwards what they have created and shared back to their communities. There is a glimpse of these results here.
Tangible
32 youth workers learned, developed and disseminated the project
9 videos (6 videos were created by the participants during the project, 1 video recap and 2 after the project) were created
1 article written by a Latvian participant
4 workshops in places around Europe
1 presentation created by a Greek participant to support their workshop
1 participant went to Climathon Venice to present the project she started working on during the project, The Library of Things for Venice
57,1 % have started working with their projects
50% think that is very confident to start their own project, 7 on a scale of 10
1 community clean up in Maladreni to disseminate the project and give back to the community
6 they have already started making their first steps on their projects
1 started the own NGO
All of them shared their thoughts, results and outcomes of the project in their work, family and friends disseminated the project to more than 500 people.
3 trees were planted in Hopeland during the project
80% of them would return to Hopeland again either for a new project, to volunteer, facilitate
1 thank you event from the village on the last night of the project
1 started created a garden in their house back home
2 people stayed in the following projects of Hopeland until November
32 new pitches and new projects were presented during the last days of the project
32 people lived, experienced and engaged in a sustainable community
Intangible
There were lifestyle changes for at least 20 people, eating less meat and be more zero waste and climate-friendly
became keener to talk about sustainability and provide solutions to their friends, family and people around them
be more inspired, motivated and open to start their own project (at least 6 of them)
have the skills to start their own project now and in the future
keep talking about climate change and sustainability around them and in their communities
Of the ones that have already committed on the last day of the project to start a project 95% made the first steps to see their vision happening
I was one of the trainers, managing the team and Riverview of the whole project.