Objectives and priorities
The Fourth Assessment Report from IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), in which it is possible to notice that there is an evident connection between the consumption of fossil fuels (in antropic activities), greenhouse gases increase and increase of the average global temperature, was presented in 2007, during the Conference of the Parties (COP-13), in Bali. The first Conference of the Parties was organized in Berlin 2009 in Copenhagen and the next will be in Mexico City
The Conference in Bali involved the representatives from 190 countries with the aim of pointing out on the one hand, common international ways and procedures for mitigating the greenhouse gases emissions (including a revision of the Kyoto Protocol), on the other hand, useful tools to help the “adaptation” of the Third World Countries, the most vulnerable ones to the effects of the Climate Change.
Local Authorities, refering to the European Union aims within 2020 (reducing by 20% greenhouse gases emission, increasing by 20% energetic efficiency, achieving by 20% of the alternative energetic sources), have the chance of acting in a concrete and significant way through the involvement of their citizens. Everybody's actions and lifestyle can contribute to win the ambitious challenge that European Union proposes to its citizens.
The Conference of the Parties can be considered a positive example of a democratic process, which generates a useful debate between scientific and political representatives to face a common problem.
The project forecasts a non-formal educational course and the simulation of the Conference of the Parties: the participants are supposed to formulate some Action Plans with the collaboration of political representatives, other young people, specialists and facilitators, to promote and put into practice more sustainable and achievable lifestyles.
Agenda21 methodology offers the possibility to organize round tables about subjects estabilished in concert by participants, in which the exchange of ideas is open and free from istitutional hierarchy. As Amartya Sen, Nobel Prize for Economy, asserts, Democracy is based on the ability for promoting a real debate about political decisions and on the debates between different subjects and identities, in the mutual respect for everyone’s opinion.
Preparation and implementation
The Project schedules an International Organizational Meeting (Action 1) - at the end of Sepetember 2010 - for partners and representatives from the youth groups to define the guidelines of the project, a common methodology, activities timetable, the subjects to be dealed with during the local training meetings and the logistic for the Conference. Furthermore, participants will define the criteria and the indicators for the monitoring and the evaluation.
The meeting will take place in Milan
After the first international meeting, every Country will organize a meeting for discussing and planning a program: every group will define precisely the activities and the timetable of the Training Course for the selected young people, following the shared guidelines and preserving the peculiar characteristics about youth gathering, cultural models and local motivations. After that, youth associations and local groups involved will select the participants among their contacts. Participants: 20 from each country.
The Local In-depht Preparation Course (Action 2) for the selected youth will be developed from October 2010 to June 2011.
In this step some ice-breaking laboratories will prepare the participants for the first and the following intercultural meetings. English will be the project’s language, therefore every partner undertakes to create the best conditions for overcoming the linguistic hurdles, by the organization of some non-formal laboratories.
This preparation step is supposed to include also the first attempts for creating good relationships with local administrations, factories and associations working on the territory according to the belief that environment is a cultural opportunity and a peculiar characteristic of the local identity.
An On-line Forum (Action 3), will be realized and activate for every step of the project, to permit the first contacts between participants. In that way, the youth from the three involved Countries will get in contact with different cultures and lifestyle and will start the intercultural dialogue useful to face in the best way the international meeting organized for the simulation of the Conference.
Conference of the Parties - Youth (COP-Y) - Action 4
The project forecasts a week in July 2011 in which the 60 participants from the three UE Countries, will have the chance of exchange points of view about the global challenges the world has to face: climate change and sustainable development.
The event counts advanced seminars about the interested subjects, interactive courses where participants will be involved directly by experts from FLA
Action Plans will be born out of a collaboration between all the actors of the Conference, who will commit themeselves to promote and realize the Best Practices and the engagements for their territories.
During the COP-Y week there will be many chances for intercultural exchanges and socialization between the participants.
There will be 60 participants from the 3 countries, from 15 to 25 years old.
As a consequence of the Conference, partners will apply themselves in the diffusion of the achieved results (Action 5) at a local level. On the basis of their relationships on the territory, partners will organize some meetings with other local entities to promote the results of the project and to involve them in the accomplishment of the Action Plans come out of the Conference.
Action Plans Realization (Action 6) will be carried out from the youth taking part in the project, with the involvement of all the different local youth groups. The Action Plans are supposed to be activated from about 50 local young people. Action Plans’ objective is to modify citizens’ lifestyle to face the challenge coming from Climate Change and Sustainable Development by promoting individuals’ acting.
In the Final International Meeting (Action 7) - October 2011, participants will discuss about the results achieved in the project with a particular stress to the Action Plans locally developed. Furthermore, that represents the chance to present the project to new possible partners invited at the event, in order to create new relationships at a European level.
