Green Skills Academy for Youth Leadership
STRATEGIC EVS PROJECT

Green Skills Academy for Youth Leadership is a Strategic EVS project allowing to combine European Volunteering Service (EVS) with additional events: national youth meetings, international seminars for capacity building, practices exchange and building connection between different organisations in order to make a strategic use of EVS activities. The new project capitalises on the 8-year experience of EVS programme "Green Skills" empowering young people to take an active and responsible position in their own life and the society. and providing an opportunity to immerse in ecological living, learn practical and organisational skills, develop social and community-building competences, system thinking, leadership and green attitude. While the Green Skills programme was discretely running successfully for 8 years as a series of EVS projects in Sweden we will now transform it through the Strategic EVS project into a full cycle of activities both for youth and youth organisations, and include other locations and countries of a broader geography to achieve not only individual and .local results but a transnational implementation of proven practices.

Green Skill Academy provides the full array of EVS-related activities both for young people and youth organisations:
a) promoting the EVS among young people nationally in different countries together with partner organisations and helping youth to get enrolled in EVS projects in sustainable communities, social and environmental projects;
b) providing EVS possibilities of different durations in places focusing on ecological lifestyle and social sustainability with hosts providing practical and organisational skills. social competences and green development experience;
c) supporting a capacity building of organisations and the exchange of experience and expertise within the field of green youth work, also in the context of changes in the guidelines for EVS in 2018 (European Solidarity Corps);
c) training organisations working in an inclusive and horizontal manner of hosting volunteers, increasing the quality of EVS projects in eco-communities and organisations;
c) informing organisations which potentially could work with EVS about the programme, its value and the accreditation process;
d) strengthening cooperation between green youth organisations, particularly in the Baltic Sea Region.  
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Therefore "Green Skills Academy" is a long-term 2,5-year project containing the following elements:

National
​youth events
2 days

National youth events in different countries will be organised for youth to learn more about local and global challenges, regenerative development, sustainable communities, and about EVS possibilities around Europe. Youth are to learn about change-making initiatives, ecological lifestyle and green skills through which they can contribute to social and environmental sustainable development. 
Countries for youth events: 
  • Sweden @ Suderbyn Ecovillage
  • Russia @ Forest School
  • Estonia @ Small Footprint 
  • Germany @ Sloss Tondorf
  • Latvia @ Youth Folks
  • ​Ireland @Cloughjordan
  • Ukraine @ Point Camp
  • Slovenia @ Sunny Hill (Istra)​​

A series of EVS
​of different lengths
short-term: 2 weeks-2 months
long-term: up to a year 

Hosting young people in ecological communities in different countries where youth can learn organisational and practical skills, social competencies and be engaged in ecological lifestyle and responsible citizenship, and integrate in environmental and social movements and organisations. ​
Short-term EVS hosts:
  • Suderbyn Ecovillage, Sweden
  • Small Footprint Ecovillage, Estonia
  • Forest School, Russia
  • Smiltenei un Latvijai, Latvia
  • Sunny Hill Association, Slovenia
  • Metaversity educational system, Russia
  • Young Folks, Latvia
  • Annanda Gaorii, Denmark
​​EVS sending organisations: Sweden, Russia, Italy,
Ukraine, Latvia, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Denmark, Finalnd

International forums
​for organisations
4 days

Organising 3 international forums for organisations working with youth. Two forums will be capacity building seminars to exchange knowledge and tools for youth work in Erasmus+ projects. One last forum will be for building bridges with various change agents to strengthen the role on non-formal education, volunteering and EVS.
Hosts for international forums
of organisations working with
youth, non-formal learning and formal education: 
  • Suderbyn Ecovillage, Sweden
  • Sieben Linden, Germany
  • ​Cloughjordan, Ireland

Organisations improve competences to work with youth and Erasmus+, to host EVS
and help young people to become active agents of their own life and the society. 
Young people learn about green movement, inspiring sustainable communities
and EVS possibilities there. And together they make a step forward!

Partnership

The project's partners' profiles include NGOs and intentional communities focusing on environmental and social sustainability and youth education, youth NGOs, and educational initiatives working with ecology, ecosystem regeneration, permaculture, low-carbon food and energy production, social inclusion, youth empowerment and social activism. 

Associated partners include larger umbrella organisations or networks as hubs of knowledge, practices and experience (e.g. ECOLISE – European network of community-led initiative for climate change and sustainability, Global Ecovillage Network), and formal and informal educational organisations and initiatives in partners' countries.  
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Activities

See the timetable
​Project duration: Feb 2018 – Aug 2020
The project is to be funded by a sub-category of Erasmus+ funding programme Strategic EVS.
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Contact

If you have any questions or would like to join the project please send an email to info@suderbyn.se