For Polona Zakrajšek, the forest is a personal resource in her commitment to greater sustainability: “Only when I know and love something do I want to protect it”, she says. As a Slovenian, she feels particularly connected to the forest, as it makes up around 60 per cent of the country’s land area. For the 24-year-old student, participation in the Re.sources project also meant personal enrichment: “It was about exchanging different perspectives and practices. This is additional knowledge for me that I can’t learn in a classroom.” Click here for the full interview.

Excursion, conference, hike, theatre workshop, writing workshop or family camp: in diverse and creative ways, the Re.sources project partners addressed Alpine resources such as mountain forests, soil, land, quality of life, visions for the future and protected areas: meanwhile, “job shadowing” gave 24 participants the opportunity to work for one of the partner organisations in the Alps for three to seven days. In this way, the project strengthened exchanges and learning between the organisations. Young people gained an insight into the working world of an NGO and expanded their professional network.

Recycled furniture and a green music festival

No poverty, while practising responsible consumption and production: young people from Idrija/Sl focused on these two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations and opened a “Library of Things”. In a workshop with architecture students, the students from Tolmin/Sl designed furniture from recycled materials for their school library. The participants from Belluno/I made short video clips about the SDGs. In the Alps2030 project, young people from the Alps developed their own ideas on the SDGs and implemented them in their communities. Participants experimented with sustainable lifestyles and brought about change.

Vegetarian food; a waste concept; and an electric shuttle service: the young people from the Open Youth Work Planken, Eschen-Nendeln and Schaan/LI organised the open-air festival “PlankenRockt” in a more sustainable manner. They summarised their tips for organising events in an environmentally friendly way in the “Green Events Guide”. In the summer, WWF Ostschweiz awarded them the youth environmental prize “Der Grüne Zweig”.

Further information:

www.cipra.org/en/alps2030

www.cipra.org/en/re.sources