Zelena akcija/Friends of the Earth Croatia is happy to invite you to apply for the regional event Balkan Youth Climate Movement camp, to be held from July 25th until July 31st 2016 in the Solar Academy on the Island of Šolta, near Split, in Croatia.
The event will be held in the Regional Educational Center for Sustainable Energy, which we are developing in an ex-military facility “Vela straža” on the Island of Šolta, and the level of comfort is similar to hostel accommodation (more information will be sent to selected participants). Food will be vegetarian. Participants’ attendance will be fully funded by the event organizers (transport, accommodation and food from July 25th to July 31st 2016).
*Purpose of the event*
In July 2014, we organised a big youth gathering on Šotla Island to educate and mobilise young people in South-East Europe (SEE) for climate justice, and to prepare activities related to climate change prior to the UN climate negotiations in Paris (COP21) in 2015. In the following period, in 2015, we organised a smaller meeting of 10 people on Šolta to prepare another big gathering for 2016, and to plan for COP21. As a result, we organised a bus with around 20 activists from Western Balkans who went to Paris to participate in the civil society mobilisations at the end of COP21, in order to put pressure on governments.
This year, we are organising a 7-day camp for 45 young people in Western Balkans and Turkey to educate and build the capacity of young leaders in the region to be able to understand the results of COP21 and to advocate for climate justice.
Education and capacity building is needed because the SEE region is facing many problems – from dirty coal fired projects and oil drilling to climate change impacts like floods or drought. Furthermore, we are witnessing a humanitarian crisis – people are fleeing to Europe because they are running from war, political persecution, economic distress, famine, environmental degradation, climate change. Migration is one of the most visible manifestations of environmental and climate injustice, because many people lost their homes due to the unwillingness of some rich countries to acknowledge and act according to their (historical) responsibilities.
The youth in this region are a huge part of all these struggles and can be the drivers of real change. We need a cross-border connection between young people and youth groups to strengthen our capacities and increase public pressure for action on climate change.
Therefore, Zelena akcija/Friends of the Earth Croatia is organising a regional event named Balkan Youth Climate Movement camp on Šotla Island.
