Young people educate young people

A meeting to discuss and generate commitment for a sustainable planet. This is the target of the second Let's Take Care of the Planet European Conference. From 19 to 22 May, in Brussels, this event will bring together about 90 people, including students, teachers and researchers from 15 countries. Achieving the main goal of the conference it takes a lot of organizational and educational preparation. That's why a team of 15 young facilitators are already working, two days before the event. They are coordinated by the team of Monde Pluriel, a French organization which has been promoting the initiative since 2010, along with dozens of other organizations.

Nacho Sànchez, 18 years old, for instance, comes from Spain, which this time brings its largest delegation to Brussels: 16 students and teachers, representing around 150 schools. During this school year, the schools have conducted discussions and promoted awareness on climate change and on other major environmental issues like renewable energies, air pollution, water use, energy use and soil use. “I feel responsible and I’m happy to be part of the project with a different role. This is the continuation of a process began when I was only 12”, says the student of Philosophy, Politics and Economy at the Pompeo Fabra University in Barcelona.

For the Dutch Mariska Bos, 26 years old, instead is the first time at the conference. “In these two days we’ve worked a lot, and we’ve managed a lot of information in such a little time. But it’s worth because I think it’s a moment to exchange experiences and knowledge and also an opportunity to grow personally. We can learn a lot from the children we are going to manage, the majority of them are in the last years of the middle school.”

To Lydia Nicollet, Monde Pluriel's co-coordinator, having young facilitators throughout the conference process is important because "this is one of the pillars of Pedagogy: young people learn from young people. The alliance between them is much stronger, because young people understand each other and can develop issues more easily."

The facilitators of the Let's Take Care of the Planet European Conference, thus, propose educational activities aimed also at reinforcing, along with young people, the knowledge, the attitudes and the skills that allow us to make more responsible and environmental aware choices.

It's also really important to share the project to the great number, so this year, a platform has been created, gathering link to Facebook, Tweeter, to a Webstreaming, Instagram and a blog edited by the Youth Reporter Agency. All the communication process turn around a hashtag #careplanet2015 which will be used has a signature.