Groups of 4 between 18 and 30 years old (participants) + one group leader from 7 countries with very different backgrounds meet in the Ukrainian Carpathian mountains for an 8 day lasting youth exchange in summer 2016. The organisations involved decided to organize this project during a partnership building activity that took place in Ukraine in June 2015. The venue is chosen due to its beautiful countryside and peacefulness. An APV will take place about 1,5 month before the exchange. The main objective of the project is to give the opportunity to build up friendships between the participating countries in order to strengthen tolerance and mutual understanding among participants and their social circles back home. The themes environmental protection and sustainability are used as vehicles to bring about intercultural understanding. The participants will realize a landart project together and do some upcycling. Both activities are designed to give space for creative expression, put into practice project management skills and strengthen group cohesiveness. To get in touch with the local community an intercultural dinner will be organized and locals invited to the hostel in which the participants stay during the exchange. Several activities for disseminating the project results will be realized by all project partners in order to secure a positive impact in all partner countries and at several societal levels.

"SCI's vision is a world of peace, social justice and sustainable development, where all people live together with mutual respect and without recourse to any form of violence to solve conflict. SCI's mission is to promote a culture of peace by organising international volunteering projects with local and global impact. The No-More-War group was formed in 2010 to recall and reinforce SCI's orginal commitment to help build a peaceful, anti-militarist and pacifist world, and a peaceful, worldwide volunteer movement as an alternative to military service. SCI deeply believes that all conflicts can be solved peacefully without resort to violence and this is the message that we try to convey and put into practice in our daily work.By implementing the project ""Think, Learn & Transform - The role of international voluntary service in promoting peaceful transition & solidarity in Europe"" we wanted to create a platform which provided a space for European peace activists who work in the area of international volunteering and education to develop their understanding of different aspects of the current security crisis in Europe. as well as to further educate, train and empower each other with methods how to plan, organise and implement initiatives dedicated to peace. The seminar also provided the opportunity to exchange views on current challenges which organizations face in their peace work and get new inspiration to work together as a network of likeminded peace activists.The specific aims were:- To gather together active staff & volunteers of the international voluntary service movement & equip/empower them with further knowledge, methods & comptences to deliver high-quality volunteer projects- Identify and determine the main challenges & obstacles to be addressed, as well as the particular problems & needs of the voluntary organizations & civil society actors active in the region;- Elaborate together non-violent & alternative and/or complimentary grass-root solutions to those traditionally practiced- Develop new, innovative projects in the voluntary service sector to promote real peace, sustainable development, social inclusion, active citizenship etc., as well as cross-border cooperation;- Support concrete actions in solidarity with the victims of war & violence & those suffering from discrimination & social exclusion. . The project was implemented in three stages:a) An opening thematic seminar from 17.01 - 24.01 in Berlin, Germany: ""Peace and Solidarity - Make It, Don't Break It""b) Implementation of a series of actions/activities elaborated & planned at the opening seminar (March-Sept.)c) ""Trade Fair"" from 25.09 - 02.10 in Poznan, Poland - Presentation & evaluation of the activities, new ideas for extending & enhancing the future quality of cooperationWhat mainly prompted us to take action, was the deepening military conflict in Ukraine and growing estrangement or even hostility between Russia and the European Union, increasing antagonisms within the EU as well as the growth of extreme right-wing movements & populist authoritarian governments in response to the increased influx of refugees caused by wars, human rights' violations & poverty elsewhere in the world, In the course of the project the following topics were addressed both in the trainings & the resulting activities:- Peace concepts - creating a common understanding- Culture of peace and non-violence- Peace activism – best/worst practices; aims/targets and challenges in peace work today- National identity, stereotyping, prejudice & discrimination- History, memory and reconcilliation.- Hate speach and propaganda techniques, role of propaganda in past and current international conflicts.- Peace building – current issues: conflict between Ukraine and Russia, „refugee crises”, situation in Balkans (current tensions), Brexit and EU crisis, right wing extremism in Europe, situation in the Middle East, USA elections- How to create a culture of peace and non-violence transversal to different perspectives- Implementation of gained knowlegde and experience, planning follow-up activities- Workcamps and long-term volunteering as major tools for HR & Peace work- Presentation of carried out local and international follow-up activities and exchange of practical experienceMany of the participants were personally involved in situations related to the main themes of the project, which led to vivid and emotional discussions. The confrontation of different perspectives induced deep reflection and, often, a change of mind about some controversial issues. The reflection and evaluation of these experiences became a starting point to plan future events, which took or will place next year in Poland, Germany, Finland, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Kosovo, Belgium, Georgia, Italy and Hungary. These local initiatives will try to propose a positive solution to the challenges facing Europe today as the tensions and conflicts in Europe are still growing,"

The training course “Be(e) the Change” will be held in the ecological center Kapraluv Mlyn in Czech Republic. The activity will take place on 6-13 November 2016 and it will involve 30 participants coming from 16 partners.The project idea comes from YEE’s campaign “The Right to be(e)” that is ongoing for three years now. With this training course we would like to learn and develop more tools of creating successful environmental educational campaigns, as well as share experience among the organisations who took part in campaigns such as “The Right to Be(e)”. The project’s activities will help to improve YEE’s and its member organisations’ campaigning skills by learning about what an educational campaign is, how to plan it or how to motivate young people to participate.The participants will be chosen based on their previous experience with campaigns, especially with ones carried out by YEE. They will be asked in advance to prepare examples of their previous campaigning. Also, they will be involved in creating the follow-up.The activities are related to learnings and overviews about organising an educational campaign. The objectives of the planned activities fit the objectives of the project because they will be designed to developing general campaigning skills, especially ones regarding international campaigns. The sessions will be developed using the principles of the non-formal and intercultural education and will reflect the needs and expectations of the participants. The working methods of the youth exchange will involve: team building, working in groups, discussion in groups, research, giving/receiving feedback, brainstorming, presentation, etc.After the training course we will create a publication gathering the knowledge and ideas developed throughout the activity, together with other promotional materials. Participants will organise local activities in their communities, after working on their campaign ideas in the training course.Moreover, the training course will shape a quality strategy and action plan for The Right to Be(e) campaign in 2017 and it will lead to higher participation of young people in YEE’s campaigns. The project will help participating organisations create successful environmental campaigns - based on the experience they shared, new knowledge and skills that were developed.

"<< Objectives >>International peace, voluntary and youth work lives from the getting together and cultural exchange of people from different regions and backgrounds. Trainings, seminars and camps for exchange form the basis for the peace work of SCI and other international voluntary organisations. SCI and its partner networks implement around 1000 international youth camps a year. Many of our projects work directly on ecological issues. Through the “Climate for Peace Campaign” we have managed to show the connection of climate and peace work in many ways. However, we still face the dilemma that our mobility projects come with a high need for traveling and transportation. In times of intensification of the global climate crisis and discourses around it, this project addresses the various problems that come with air travelling – CO2 emissions and global warming, resource use and related conflicts, social inequalities (e.g. access to transport, working conditions in the aviation sector, impacts on health), etc. During two international activites, we intended to study the embeddedness of global mobility in a broader global economy in order to debate on how much and what kind of international mobility within peace and voluntary work is inclusively accessible and necessary considering its negative side effects. By raising awareness for the social and ecological consequences of mobility choices and thinking about new innovative ways for peace and volunteering projects, we intended to develop ideas on how mobility in an international context can be made more sustainable in the social and ecological dimension, taking also experience from the COVID-19 travel restrictions into account. By spreading the outcomes of this process across the network of international peace and youth work, we intended to create structures for enhanced sustainability in our projects. The objectives of the project were the following: - Increase awareness among youth workers about the impacts of mobility on basic values (human/social rights, healthy environment, solidarity) and of the link between (global) mobility and climate change and political/economic/societal responses, - Provide youth workers with the tools and abilities to raise sustainability of our projects and of projects from our partner organisations, and promote innovative ways of sustainable mobility, e.g. by considering different means of transportation or running NFE workshops, - Develop ideas for innovative, inclusive and climate-friendly volunteering and peace work projects, - Develop travel guidelines to make the activities of the hosting and partner organisations as well as the international peace network more sustainable, - Create a toolkit for voluntary work including guidelines to reduce carbon emissions and other climate impacts, non-formal education (NFE) methods addressing voluntary work mobility and its impacts, and ideas for other ways of climate friendly volunteer activities and international meetings.<< Implementation >>The project consisted of four parts: 1. ""Ready for Take-off"" - Training about connections of global mobility with peace, climate justice, the environment and human rights. We looked at the structures behind current mobility and at possible solutions with special focus on the role of peace and volunteering movements. Participants were prepared for the implementation period. The training took place from 12.-19.09.2021 in Nürnberg with 23 participants from organisations in Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Russia, Kosovo, Albania, Ukraine, Serbia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Switzerland, and Turkey.Participants were staff or volunteers in volunteering and youth organisations in the above mentioned countries as well as climate and peace activists. They came from organisations that have expressed a need or interest in having intense discussions around sustainable mobility in their organisational structures. 2. During the implementation period, some participants carried out half-day workshops with their sending organisations and local climate and volunteering groups, or other follow up activities. They discussed the content of the ""Ready for Take-off"" training and shared opinions and developed ideas for innovative climate-friendly projects and for travel guidelines for volunteering projects. Participants were encouraged to offer more workshops in their local communities. 3. The ""Spreading & Landing"" seminar summarised the learning content of the project so far to develop two outputs, - a toolkit on sustainable mobility in peace work and - travel guidelines for volunteering projects. The seminar also discussed some more content related to the projects topic, e.g. Ggnder and sustainale mobility or social injustice and sustainable mobility. There was also space for discussion and planning of new related projects. The seminar took place from 06.-13.03.2022 in Innsbruck (Austria) with 31 participants from organisations in Germany, Albania, Ukraine, Austria, Belgium, France, Kosovo, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Catalunya, Greece and Turkey. 4. During the follow-up period, participants finished the work on the outputs and started implementing their own new project ideas.<< Results >>The results of the project are collected in a manual for youth, climate and volunteering organisations, sharing best practices and giving guidance on how to talk about and design a more sustainable mobility structure in organisations, volunteer camps, NFE projects, etc. The manual was co-created by the participants and is widely shared both in the organisations and networks involved in this project as well as in the tool database on SALTO. Local workshops about sustainable mobility and its connection to peace work took place in the implantation period and as follow-up to the project in the climate movement of the participating countries and sending organisations. Follow Up Activities took place for example in Belgium, Italy, Slovakia, Sweden and Serbia. Through this project, we strengthened the visibility of sustainable mobility and its connection to peace in the European volunteering and climate movement. Participants left the projects with the skills to critically reflect both their own and their organisation‘s mobility practices and they will be able to be more sustainable and just in their mobility."

Youth and Environment Europe (YEE) is a network of over 40 youth organisations which are, among other things, active in environmental protection. Members address environmental issues on different levels (local, regional, national, international) with different approaches, such as campaigning, research and education. During the 2016 Annual Meeting several member organisations expressed their interest in exploring the topic of ecotourism. Some members even pointed out the need to further develop this type of tourism in their countries. Moreover, ecotourism was identified as a current topic and a good way to promote active citizenship among young people. We believe that ecotourism can connect different parts of communities and could therefore be an innovative approach for promoting youth participation. The aim of this training course was to strengthen youth participation and active citizenship through ecotourism and related projects. Objectives: - To define the role and importance of ecotourism in local communities. - To create the common understanding about youth participation in local communities through ecotourism. - To provide space for partners to share the experience of organising ecotourism projects with young people. - To expand the knowledge and skills needed for organising ecotourism related projects in local communities. - To create space for networking and building new partnerships among environmental youth organisations. The training course “Uniting Youth for Ecotourism” took place on 6-13 November 2017 in the ecological center Kapraluv Mlyn, Ochoz u Brna, Czech Republic. It was organised by Youth and Environment Europe. 31 participants from 13 countries took part in this training course. Most of the objectives have been achieved thanks to a balanced combination of formal, non-formal and informal education strategies.In particular:- The role and importance of ecotourism in local communities were defined both through sharing sessions where participants expressed their ideas, impressions and even personal experiences and through visits to five different ecotourism realities in the area around Kapraluv Mlyn.- The common understanding (both theoretical and practical) about youth participation in local communities through ecotourism was established through a teamwork project where participants had to develop a product or service targeting young ecotourists and meeting ecotourism standards. Moreover, during an intercultural evening, participants had the possibility to present an object, food or drink related to ecotourism practices in their country or region.- A large space was provided to participants willing to share ecotourism practices in their countries. Two participants from Italy, two from Hungary, one from Russia and the two trainers (from Spain and Czech Republic) provided concrete examples of ecotourism projects involving young people. - The knowledge and skills needed for organising ecotourism projects were expanded through the session “Ecotourism and heritage interpretation” where the topics of marketing strategies, ecotourism practices and youth participation were interconnected with each other.- A large space for networking was provided to each participant. They had the possibility to present their organisation, their role within the organisation and latest projects. In the light of the genuine interests that participants showed for others` activities and the emergence of common grounds, new partnerships are likely to be built.- Additionally, several other activities (Service and Care, bonfires, movie night, visit to caves) have supported participants in their quest to know each other, build a great team, exchange ideas and even make new friends. Project results were shared among participants, partner organisations and other members via email correspondence and YEE online media. In addition, all materials created before, during and after the training course were uploaded on YEE website. As a follow-up, a publication will be published which will contain project results and useful information on how to plan successful eco-tourism projects.