The River Of Hope (14 May)

The opening ceremony of the conference "Let's Take Care Of The Planet- Europe"

Hopeful young people at the formal start of this adventure which must lead to changes if we want a bright future here at our sensitive planet. The atmosphere summed of hope, and light were in everybody's eyes already when the very first word at this special conference was spoken. Now it really begins...

Reported by Sidsel Sofie Poulsen and Maria Louise Jensen, Denmark

 

The opening ceremony the 14^th of May was the great start of the conference: “Let’s take care of the planet” for young students aged 13 to 16 from all over Europe. After the bus drive from the hostel to the committee of regions and a security check we all went into a great room. It was like a parliament. Seats placed in a semicircle with a microphone and a screen for each. Everybody was excited about the special conditions, and prepared for the grand opening. You could see that everyone felt special and important in this room and in this situation. 

First of all Lydia Nicollet, the main runner of this conference opened the ceremony by saying hello and thank you.
This conference was inspired by a conference very alike in Brazil in 1992, so they started by introducing the conference in Brazil and the results they got out of it. In Brazil 1992 they made a plan for the entire Brazil of how to get more sustainable. They wrote the responsibilities people have and how they should fulfill it as actions. Then we knew how the event should turn out and it was nice to have a plan.
Then they started to introduce the big environmental problems we really have to deal with soon. It was like a peptalk so we would know how important this conference is and everyone would be "ready to fight" for the environment.
So they invited a lot of specialists to inform us. At first Michael Collins from the CoR (Committee of the regions, where we were sitting) spoke about the CoR, and what they do for the environment through the local communities. His speech was very interesting, as he focused on the local level instead of international levels, as most others do. He showed how we as young people can do a lot for the local environment and that it actually is local we need to do most.
As young people we should put pressure on the politicians and show the way to a better environment and greener cities all over Europe.

The next speaker really made an impression on everyone, her name is Edith Sizoo and she works with culture exchanging and has experienced all the way that led to this conference . She told us down-to-earth stories about how this conference was made and about climate issues. She had a lot of catchy sayings which made us think a lot and which hopefully will make you think.
She kept saying: "What can we do?", because it is very often we just inform people about environmental issues, but is that enough? No, we have to do something about it.
So she started talking about the river of hope. The river of hope is a river led from Brazil to all parts of the world where young people raise awareness about the environment.
She had a way to really let us into her world and tell us secrets, which made this feel very special.
So now we will share the secret with you. She told us that the secret of hope is young people responding to the problems, so that is what we have to do!
Nathalie Broux took this further, she transmitted the message into, what we as young people can do at the different schools all over the world to educate each other and also the adults.
The last points belongs to Ivan Pascaud, who told that we have to move away from economy, because we have to focus on well being instead of growth.
Ivan Pascaud: "Be aware, be responsible and be free."