Youth Exchange "Eco-Together" - Cyprus, 01-07 September 2022

The youth exchange was held in Cyprus and saw the participation of young people coming from 7 nations besides Italy: Cyprus, Croatia, Austria, Spain, Spain, Serbia and Ukraine. “Eco-Together” was coordinated by YEU Cyprus (Youth for Exchange and Understanding Cyprus), a non-political and non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Nicosia, whose aim is to foster closer cooperation and better understanding among youngsters through the exchange of experiences and ideas.

The main topic of the youth exchange was environmental sustainability and, more specifically, the 4 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover. Further topics addressed during this experience included prevention of conflicts, post-conflict rehabilitation, European identity and citizenship. More specific themes addressed during the experience were:

• The UN SDGs, focusing mainly on the 13th SDG: Climate Action
• Green-Entrepreneurship as a way to fight climate change
• Interculturality, diversity and unity among cultures: enhance a common human identity going beyond differences, cultural misunderstanding and stereotypes and prejudices

As in all youth exchanges projects, the main aim was that of having participants sharing experiences and ideas (as well as best practices in the field of environmental sustainability) to spot similarities and differences between cultures, and developing non-formal educational activities in order to  provide young people with the knowledge and information to:

• understand the challenge of reaching a sustainable Europe
• raising awareness about the global crisis of climate change 
• empower young people to become active change makers in our societies

What did not lack during this youth exchange were also fun and informal moments, such as intercultural dinners and movie nights, when participants had the chance to know each other better, to share their cultures, to spend fun time together and have an even more positive experience.