GreenGen: EcoShaping Mindsets

Creative Youth Information Award category

GreenGen: EcoShaping Mindsets

Organisation

VIHASOO MTÜ

Country

Estonia

WEBSITE

https://izum.ee/youthclub

Project link

https://www.instagram.com/greengen_ecoshaping_mindsets/

General Overview

In the project, we focused on five main objectives:

raising awareness among youth about environmental issues and the importance of sustainability;
fostering a sense of responsibility and empowerment among participants to take action and drive positive change in their communities;
enhancing participants’ knowledge and understanding of climate change, pollution, deforestation, and other environmental challenges;
promoting the development of key competencies and skills, including socialisation, entrepreneurship, and intercultural communication;
facilitating the exchange of best practices and eco-friendly solutions among participants, encouraging them to implement sustainable habits and lifestyles both during and after the project.

We aimed to keep our timetable filled with various activities, ensuring the participants’ interest would not fade away; we had lectures with special guests, games, workshops, reflections, and other fascinating activities. Moreover, during the project, an activity was organised to explore the opportunities that young people across Europe have but may not be aware of. It included a presentation on Eurodesk and its significance.

The project included participants from Italy, Austria, Portugal, Spain, and Estonia, with the aim of bringing together individuals from different parts of Europe. It is well-known that people from diverse regions have different habits, sustainability practices, and varying levels of awareness about environmental issues. By involving participants from these countries, we created an opportunity for them to share sustainable practices, discuss environmental challenges, and raise awareness in areas where ecological concerns might not be as widely recognised. The requirements for the selected participants were that they were aged between 15 and 19, active, open-minded, and interested in the topic of the environment and finding solutions to ecological problems.

Thematic Category Correspondence

(50 points max)

How does this initiative (project, event, material) correspond to the thematic category

Our project, GreenGen: EcoShaping Mindsets, aligns with the thematic category of Creative Youth Information by using innovative, interactive, and gamified methods to educate young people about sustainability. Instead of relying on traditional learning, we transformed environmental education into an engaging experience that encouraged creativity, critical thinking, and active participation. Teams from Italy, Austria, Portugal, Spain, and Estonia collaborated to develop innovative sustainability solutions through hands-on workshops. Each session was designed to provide practical knowledge in a creative way. For example, the Estonian leader’s workshop on fashion industry pollution introduced upcycling and clothing swaps as sustainable alternatives, encouraging participants to think outside the box. Other workshops, such as an escape-room challenge on environmental awareness, a nature map of a national park, and the creation of a book on climate issues, made complex topics more accessible and engaging. By turning sustainability education into a participatory experience, we empowered young people to absorb and share knowledge in a dynamic way.

The project also emphasised peer-to-peer education. After returning home, participants organised educational sessions in their communities, using interactive formats to spread awareness. This directly supported our goal of making sustainability information more engaging and widely accessible. Additionally, guest speakers, such as the founder of Estonia’s first zero-waste shop, used collaborative games to demonstrate sustainable habits, while a business management teacher and founder of Pakistan’s first menstrual cup company discussed sustainable entrepreneurship. By incorporating gamification, creative storytelling, and international collaboration, GreenGen: EcoShaping Mindsets effectively turned youth into active changemakers, demonstrating how creative approaches to information-sharing can inspire real-world action. This initiative proves that when education is engaging and interactive, it becomes a powerful tool for social change.

Impact

(30 points max)

How did your project impact young people / your community?

Due to the present existence of environmental challenges, the project aimed to inspire young people to embrace a more sustainable lifestyle and become more environmentally conscious. This included educating them about sustainable practices and raising awareness of environmental issues while acknowledging the existing ecological challenges. Therefore, the participants became more aware of current environmental issues (e.g. climate change, deforestation, pollution, etc.). Youngsters were also provided with skills and strategies to live in an environmentally friendly way and inspire others in their communities to take action to save the planet. They developed practical, target-driven skills and English proficiency, as well as digital literacy using Google Forms, Canva, and Mentimeter. Through participation in this project, many have formed eco-friendly habits in daily life (e.g. using reusable bags, reducing carbon footprints, practising mindful consumption, etc.). Moreover, the active involvement of experts in the sustainability field showed the participants the importance of eco-friendly practices in businesses, both big and small.

We, as organisers, placed a strong emphasis on fostering a sense of responsibility among the participants, encouraging them to make meaningful contributions and drive positive change in their local areas. The project provided a platform for participants to share and learn from each other’s best practices and eco-friendly solutions, fostering collaboration and collective problem-solving. We encouraged them to adopt and maintain sustainable habits and lifestyles, both throughout the project and beyond, ensuring the impact of their learning extends into their everyday lives. The project also included activities covering all 8 Erasmus+ key competences (e.g. multilingual, entrepreneurial, etc.).

Green Focus

(10 points max)

Did your project have any green focus and/or did you implement any eco-friendly measures when organising it?

As the project was aimed at raising awareness of the current environmental situation, we tried to make the implementation of the project as eco-friendly as possible. Some of the practices that we used included minimising waste and reusing materials (we used old clothes for workshops, as well as used paper/waste paper for the posters), minimising printing, educating the participants about eco-friendly habits, minimising single-use plastics (e.g. we avoided using plastic utensils), setting sustainability goals at the beginning, considering outdoor venues (most of the activities took place outdoors), rubbish sorting, promoting green travelling, and reducing food waste (there were two projects at the venue at the same time, so practically all the food prepared was eaten).

Creative Youth Information Award category