Title: School of Climate

Funder: Education Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) – Youth in Action

Years: 2012-2013

The project aimed at:

(1) Educating young people with fewer opportunities on global environmental challenges and climate change both Romania and Lithuania by developing and applying a non-formal education framework for schools.

(2) Strengthening the capacities of the organisations and the youth workers involved in addressing more effectively the non-formal education activities on global environmental challenges and climate change.

Trainings for youth workers equipped them with the awareness, knowledge, competences and tools required to promote and include the principles underlying ESD in their youth work.

The project focused on EU’s 2013 priorities in the following ways:

(1) “School of Climate” mainly focused on the annual priority of Global environmental challenges and climate change, developing and applying innovative non-formal experiential education practices and activities in secondary schools in the regions of Romania. Later the good experience was shared in Lithuania by training Lithuanian youth workers.

(2) Furthermore, the project also addressed another important annual priority of the Youth in Action program – Youth unemployment, poverty and marginalization. By involving schools from economically challenged and remote rural regions in Romania, the project addressed the education and inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities;

(3) Spirit of initiative, creativity and entrepreneurship, employability was promoted by raising awareness about green jobs among young people and inflaming their concern for sustainable development, thus opening new ideas for future career choices of young people.

Furthermore, the project aimed at achieving the following objectives:

  1. To improve the professional, intercultural and language competences of the participating youth workers.
  2. By developing the human resources of the organisations involved strengthen their capacities in better addressing the topic of global environmental challenges and climate change in their youth work.
  3. To develop and apply in practice creative youth non-formal environmental education activities fostering youth concerns for global environmental challenges and climate change both in Romania and Lithuania.
  4. To empower young people, especially those with fewer opportunities, to actively raise questions about global environmental challenges and climate change, to equip them with journalistic tools and critical thinking skills that would (1) empower them to participate in environmental public discussions (2) improve their employment possibilities.
  5. To promote the participation of Lithuanian and Romanian youth in European mobility programme (YiA, other lifelong learning programmes) enhancing their spirit for initiative, creativity and professional competences.