About the EcoStep Youth Project

Running dates: February 2017 – January 2019
Programme: Erasmus+ KA2 Strategic Partnerships in the field of Youth
ID number: 2016-3-FR02-KA205-012367
Project website: ecostep-youth.eu

Europe faces a double challenge:

Environmental: waste generation, depletion of resources, record ecological footprint. The population is over-consuming and there is a lack of awareness of waste prevention as well as the benefits of re-using bulky waste and waste materials resulting from economic activity.

Social: economic crisis, increasing unemployment, increasingly marked inequalities with some young people at risk of exclusion. These young people are searching for meaning and have fewer opportunities for a social, civic or a professional education. They live in a «throwaway» society paradoxically based on over-consumption which gives them a false idea of “abundance”. Facing these challenges, we must come up with activities and projects with the aim of instilling values in young people. This can be done within the framework of the social economy.

Awareness can be raised through innovative pedagogical paths to change consumption patterns and to involve young people in this new approach. There is a strong demand from educators in specialized institutions to offer young people in difficulty a valuable and innovative pedagogical program, enabling them to regain self confidence, open to the world and broaden their career prospects.

To restore confidence for these groups with new social and professional perspectives.

To help them become citizens who are aware and committed to environmental issues.

The creative use of waste can rekindle the potential of the disadvantaged youngsters by creating new opportunities.

Recycling and re-use are growing sectors, contributing to the emergence of new green trades. Society is changing, the world of work too, young people are in search of meaning. Setting up such a project with teenagers, who will be the “consumers” of tomorrow, allows them to be immersed in an innovative waste management model that deserves to be shared with as many people as possible.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Young people in academic, social or professional difficulty

Reuse organisations / professionals / networks

Supervisors within specialized institutions

Socio-educational leaders, social workers

Local councils – artisans, designers, artists.

The transnational working context with multidisciplinary and intercultural teams provides a great opportunity for these young people to emerge from their context of failure. They will engage in a new dynamic and new collaborative networks, where they will enrich themselves and discover new horizons. The project aims to capitalize on the experience gained by the consortium to create socio-educational actions around the creative recycling of waste.

Objectives

Capitalize on the opportunities offered by creative up-cycling and promote a transnational dynamic of groups of young people in difficulty through the re-use of “waste”.
Allow participants to regain a positive image of themselves through creativity, involvement in a collaborative project with other young people from different backgrounds.
To open to new economic sectors in the field of crafts, handicrafts, decoration, design, etc.
Promote equity, effectiveness of education and active citizenship in raising awareness on environmental issues.
Improve the creative, organizational and numerical skills of the young participants but also provide them with a good knowledge of their local and regional context, including contacts with companies.
To enable young people to acquire eco-skills by teaching them how to act on their waste production in an appropriate way, while becoming actors to sensitize others around them.