Call for participants: “Leadership in Regenerative Learning Communities»

[Update from 10th March 2023: all places have been covered. You can still apply if you want to enter the waiting list.]

Biodiversa is offering 4 places for the training course «Leadership in Regenerative Learning Communities», which will take place in the Educational Hub of Vale da Lama Farm (www.valedalama.net), a Regenerative Organic Farm located in the Algarve, South Portugal, from 19th to 26th April 2023.

LRLC is an educational project directed at youth workers from rural and semi-urban areas. It aims to deepen solutions and practices within the scope of environmental education/action, coming from a regenerative development paradigm.

The project is coordinated by Projecto Novas Descobertas (www.projectonovasdescobertas.org), and Biodiversa is one of the partner organisations, together with Keti Keta (PT), Boodville (ES), Palma Nana (IT) and Kalistratia (IT). There will be a total of 26 participants.

About you

Are you?

 – A youth worker with fewer opportunities*;
– Over 18 years old;
– Officially living in Spain;
– Fluent in English;
– Interested or with experience in Education/Action for Regeneration;
– Developing work in rural and/or semi-rural areas (this is preferable, but not compulsory).

About the place and learning opportunities

The facilities include camping area, indoor showers and toilets, indoor/ outdoor classroom/multipurpose space and indoor/ outdoor dining area. WiFi, charging stations, tools and didactic materials are also available. 

It’s close to the sea and Ria do Alvor nature reserve, an amazing estuary where a lot of our Ecosystem Regeneration Learning activities take place.

The spaces, practices and routines of Vale da Lama Farm offer the possibility for practical examples of Regenerative Agriculture and Permaculture solutions.

Costs

The project is funded by the Erasmus + program of the European Commission.

All project-related costs (accommodation, food, course materials, etc) will be provided to you free of charge.

Your travel costs will be refunded, up to 275 EUR. To be coherent with our values, we will ask you to find the most environmentally friendly means of transportation possible (avoid or minimize air travel) and to offset the CO2 emissions of your trip at your own cost if you do take a plane.

How to apply

If you got excited when reading this project description and you fit the profile, write us an email at asociacionbiodiversa@gmail.com explaining briefly how you meet the selection criteria, what excites you about this project and what you intend to get out of it.

Please state your full name and the title of this project in the email subject, and remember to tell us where you live (it must be somewhere in Spain). Your phone number can also be useful, as we may be calling some of you during the selection process.

The selection will be made on a rolling basis, so if you’re interested, apply as soon as possible!

Preference will be given to Biodiversa members, those of you who already cooperated with us somehow, and those of you living in or close to us here in Asturias.

* People with fewer opportunities means people who, for economic, social, cultural, geographical or health reasons, a migrant background, or for reasons such as disability and educational difficulties or for any other reasons, including those that can give rise to discrimination under article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental rights of the European Union, face obstacles that prevent them from having effective access to opportunities under the Erasmus + programme)

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Live Sustainably II: results

The second edition of “Live Sustainably” took place in Máriahalom, Hungary, from 9th to 17th August 2022.

The training course lasted 8 intense days in which 23 participants from 10 different countries discovered, explored and discussed ways to lead a more sustainable lifestyle.

We deep-dived into topics and concepts such as the three divides, the transformative learning model, critical thinking, systems thinking, eco-anxiety, eco-competences, greenwashing…

We experienced forest bathing, becoming animal, deep listening, speaking from the heart, intention-setting, connecting with nature…

We used Deep Ecology, the Work that Reconnects, the Way of Council, the learning tribes, journalling… as ways to guide and aid our shared learning experience.

Evaluation results:

We asked participants to give a score out of 10 to different aspects of the training, and these are the average scores that we got:

How useful was this training course for you?: 8,7

How much were the objectives of this course achieved?

• To provide participants with the possibility to understand more the current environmental situation locally and globally. 7,3
• To improve competences (knowledge, attitudes and abilities) to be able to choose a more respectful life with the planetary boundaries and to facilitate effectively a change of habits towards sustainability among the young people you work with. 8,6
• To equip educators/youth workers with methods and practices to be able to facilitate group processes with young people on sustainability-related issues. 8,6
• To encourage critical thinking to learn to unmask frequent phenomena such as “greenwashing” (fake sustainability). 9
• To share resources and tools to inform and raise awareness of young people about the importance of caring for the environment, inspire and motivate them to modify their lifestyles towards more sustainable ones. 9,1
• To join an international group of youth workers interested in promoting sustainability among the youth they work with. 9,4

How did the methods and tools that we used on this training course support your learning process? 8,5

How satisfied are you with the work of the trainers? 9,2

We, the trainers team, are humbled and overjoyed by the fantastic evaluation results that we’ve got!!

We thank the participants for their trust and involvement and we already look forward to a third edition of “Live Sustainably”!.

From left to right: Erika Karman, Ági Berecz and Esther Vallado, the 3 trainers in «Live Sustainably» second edition.

CLIMATE2020 – a free, worldwide online climate conference

Article by Caroline Paul Kanjookaran, member of Biodiversa and former participant in our training course «Live Sustainably: how to live the present without compromising the future»
(Email: communications@dl4sd.org)

Hello everyone, my name is Caroline Paul Kanjookaran and I am currently working as the Communications Manager for CLIMATE2020, a worldwide online climate conference aimed at integrating mitigation and adaptation initiatives for a better management of climate change and its impacts. CLIMATE2020 is organized by the Research and Transfer Centre «Sustainability and Climate Change Management» of Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (https://www.haw-hamburg.de/en/ftz-nk/about-us.html). The event takes place from 23 – 30 March 2020 and participants can sign up for free here: www.dl4sd.org

As a journalist who is training to specialize in climate communications, I am very pleased to be able to handle the communications aspect of this conference, ranging from drafting press releases to identifying potential media opportunities to mentoring the first cohort of CLIMATE2020 Global Ambassadors, a group of volunteers who are working hard to combat climate change in their communities and who are helping us spread the word about this conference across the world.

I am particularly loving the free, open access format of this conference and also the fact that it is climate-neutral as all CO2 emissions will be offset! Not only does the CLIMATE2020 offer unrestricted, free access to high-quality scientific articles, climate projects and online courses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the virtual event also offers a unique opportunity for worldwide dialogue and exchange of ideas with scientists, experts from politics, business, education and other spheres of the society! All this is just a mouse click away – participants can easily log in via the Internet, whether in the office, at school, at university, from home or on the move. One can register for free at https://dl4sd.org/ to access the conference platform, take a brief look inside and receive regular updates until the virtual doors of the conference finally open on 23 March 2020.

The national patronage of CLIMATE2020 is held by Dr Gerd Müller, Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development and the local patronage of the online conference is held by Dr Peter Tschentscher, First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. As a run up to the CLIMATE2020 Conference, the Research and Transfer Centre «Sustainability and Climate Change Management» is launching a podcast series, where experts from different sectors will be featured. The podcast series can be accessed here: https://climatechats.podigee.io/archive

In particular, young scientists from all over the world are offered an opportunity to present their own research on a worldwide stage. The conference will also provide information on numerous concrete projects and initiatives that are currently being implemented, presenting good examples of global activities to protect the climate. A separate section informs the participants about funding and collaboration opportunities. Finally, a parallel program consisting of live webinars and the dedicated podcast series “Climate Chats” is also part of this unique virtual conference. By its comprehensive open access offer, this conference therefore contributes to closing the knowledge gap in the fields of climate protection (mitigation) and adaptation.

The CLIMATE2020 conference is supported by: European School of Sustainability Science and Research, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Hamburg Open Online University (HOOU), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Sahel and Sahara Observatory (IOSS), KlimaInvest Green Concepts GmbH, Ecological Society for Eastern Africa (ESEA), Impact Human, Independent Evaluation Unit, Green Climate Fund, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, the greenwerk and Climate Advisory Network.

// Contact CLIMATE2020 Organizers:

Franziska Wolf, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Research and Transfer Centre Sustainability and Climate Change Management, Ulmenliet 20, D-21033 Hamburg/Germany, www.haw-hamburg.de/ftz-nk.html, franziska.wolf(at)haw-hamburg.de

// Media inquiries:

Please contact the CLIMATE2020 Team via social media channels below or write an email to Caroline Paul Kanjookaran, Communications Manager – CLIMATE2020 at communications@dl4sd.org:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CLIMATE2020Conference

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CLIMATE2020_FTZ

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13796753/

Live Sustainably – Call for participants

What: a training course to learn about practical sustainability

Where: In the beautiful valley of Valdediós (“valley of Gods”), in Asturias, Spain

When: 2nd-8th Sept 2019

Why: Every day we make decisions about how we live our present, which affect directly or indirectly the health of the planet, of other living beings and of ourselves, and which are compromising the capacity of future generations to satisfy their own basic needs.

With “Live Sustainably: how to live the present without compromising the future” we aim at raising awareness of the importance of caring for our environment and most of all to develop the competences needed to live a sustainable life and to inspire and motivate others.

How: Apply here now

 

The objectives of  this training are as follows:

– To provide you with competences to live a life which is more respectful with the planetary boundaries (more sustainable) and to promote and facilitate effectively a change of habits towards sustainability among the young people you work with;

– To encourage you to think critically, so you can unmask frequent phenomena such as “greenwashing” (or fake sustainability), fake perceptions of certain commodities as “cheap”, etc;

– To share resources and tools to inform and raise awareness about the importance of caring for the environment, inspire and motivate to live a more sustainable lifestyle;

– To create an international network for promoting sustainability among young people.

With this project we want to contribute to more young people knowing, practising and promoting environmental sustainability, and this way improve the capacity of our planet to satisfy the needs of the future generations.

Conditions for participation:

Please only apply if you fulfil the following conditions:

• You work with/for young people and you are interested in promoting and facilitating environmental sustainability practices among them,
• You are over 18 years old at the time of the training course,
• You are currently living (and will travel from) any of the 11 partner countries: Armenia, Croatia, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Greece, UK, Germany, Czech Republic, The Netherlands or Spain,
• You speak English fluently,
• You are willing to be fully present and participative during the whole duration of the training course (2-8 September);
• You are happy to spend a week in all comfort but rather isolated and surrounded by nature.

Costs:

• Your travel costs to Spain will be refunded after your participation in the training course¹;
• Comfortable accommodation in a big traditional rural house and tasty sustainable meals will be provided during the training course by the organizers at no extra cost for you;
• Participation fee²: We have set a participation fee on a sliding scale from 50 to 150€.  You will be free to choose your contribution according to your own personal financial possibilities and the value you see in this 6 days training programme;
• CO2 offset fee: You will be required to offset the CO2 emissions produced by your air travel through the following site: http://www.atmosfair.de/en/. This amounts to 15 EUR per person for the round trip³.

¹ Provided all the original tickets and receipts are presented. Maximum reimbursement: 820 EUR for Armenia, 360 EUR for Greece, 275 EUR for Croatia, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, UK, Germany, Czech Republic and The Netherlands, and 180 EUR for Spain (only if you travel from more than 100 km away)

² In order to make this training possible to the quality standard that we usually deliver, we need some extra income aside from the European grant that we got.

³ We have calculated the total emissions of your flights in 22 tons of CO2 and shared the compensation costs among all of you.

More information:

You can have a look at the preliminary programme of the course:

How to apply:

Fill in the application form here.

Applications will be reviewed frequently, and places allocated immediately if the application is considered good enough. For this reason, we recommend that you send your application as soon as possible. All applicants will be informed of the results of the selection process in due time.

This training opportunity is open to everyone, but we will give preference to existing members of Biodiversa and the other partner organisations, provided that they fulfil the above-mentioned «conditions for participation».

Our partner organisations in this project are: Associação Animam Viventem and Associação Spin (Portugal), Argonauta (Croatia), Amici della Natura (Italy), Naturfreundejugend Deutschlands (Germany), Youth Exchange Service (The Netherlands), Gyermek (Hungary), Cia Cekija (Czech Republic), Natura Humana (Greece), Viaje a la Sostenibilidad (Spain), Coyote Initiatives (UK), Colors of Green (Armenia).

Do you believe in your dreams?

Do you want to know the secrets behind successful and sustainable projects?

Biodiversa will be sending 3 lucky participants to Slovakia to take part in this life-changing experience with John Croft himself, the founder of the Dragon Dreaming project management methodology.

This methodology comes from the aboriginals in Australia and is currently used by Airbus and other leading international companies as the most effective project management methodology known to date.

Apply here before 31st March.

 

Call for participants: «Connecting Roots» partnership building seminar

Biodiversa is offering 1 place for a Spanish resident to participate in the fully funded partnership building seminar «Connecting Roots», organised by our partners Art Kruh. The event is taking place from 19th to 26th of September in the charming village of Prenčov, in the Slovak countryside.

The aim of this seminar is to deepen existing partnerships or to develop new ones, with the aim to create future projects and cooperation (youth exchanges, training courses or other educational projects) somehow connected to youth and rural areas.

If you are looking for people to develop an international educational project with,
under the topics of youth and rural areas,
this is your chance! 

Objectives of the seminar:

 to share ideas, tips and good practices concerning youth work in rural areas;
 supporting entrepreneurship and creative industry among young people, specifically focused on the connection between urban and rural areas;
 to develop future projects and cooperation (youth exchanges, trainings, KA2 or other projects);
 to strengthen the network of organizations.

Working method:

Dragon Dreaming: a specific participatory project development methodology, which is non-hierarchical and non-centred. We do our best to create an inspirational, trustworthy and productive social environment.

Participants requirements:

– Spanish resident;
– Over 18 years of age by 19th September 2018;
– Able to communicate fluently in the English language (the whole seminar will be in English);
– Available to participate in the whole duration of the seminar;
– Belonging to an organisation which organises projects within the Erasmus + programme of the European Commission (ask your organisation to find out);
– Willing to co-organize an educational project.

There will be 3 Spanish participants, and a total of 32 participants coming from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Portugal and Slovenia.

Financial conditions and travel costs:

This seminar will be implemented in the frame of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission. The accommodation, food, tuition and materials will be covered fully by the grant, so they will be free for you. Insurance is mandatory and should be arranged and covered by each participant (just make sure you have a valid European Health Insurance card: Tarjeta Sanitaria Europea).

Your travel expenses will be covered up to 360€. Travel costs will be reimbursed to all participants after submitting necessary travel documents (original tickets/invoices + boarding passes) and after filling in the form in the Mobility tool (you will receive precise instructions about this after your return).

If you are selected, you will be required to contribute to Biodiversa with 20 EUR towards the management costs of your participation. This will be your only real cost.

How to apply:

Send a short (no more than 300 words) motivation email to asociacionbiodiversa@gmail.com with the subject line “NAME SURNAME Application to Connecting Roots”, introducing yourself (who you are, what you do…), explaining why you are interested in participating in this seminar, what you expect to gain from taking part in it, if you have any vision of a project you would like to develop (please give some details) and why you should be selected. Include also your personal data: name, age, city or village of residence, Autonomous Community and contact telephone number.

Deadline to apply: Open until we find a suitable candidate. Hurry up!

We look forward to receiving your expressions of interest.

Call for participants for «Save Our Seas» training course in Croatia

Biodiversa is selecting 4 spanish participants for this fantastic international training course in Murter, Croatia, from 1st to 9th September 2017.

The aim of the training course is to connect marine topics with non-formal methods and develop new workshops. The specific objectives of this training are for participants to:

• Understand the relationships between pressures from human activities and climate influences and their effects on marine ecosystems worldwide;

• Be encouraged to use the latest scientific facts in developing new non-formal environmental education methods and tools;

• Develop 8 new educational workshops, which will be disseminated worldwide in an e-booklet. 

PARTICIPANTS PROFILE

You are welcome to apply if:

• You are Spanish or currently having official residence in Spain,

• You are a youth trainer with a passion for environment, aiming to build your competencies in marine environmental education and usage of non-formal learning methods; or you have the potential and need to develop training competencies and act after the course as a trainer for Erasmus+ projects;

• You show initiative and willingness to self-direct your own learning process;

• You are prepared to reflect on and question your own beliefs and approaches;

• As a youth trainer you are motivated to learn about and make use of the Erasmus+ Programme for creating or strengthening international partnerships.

Fill in the application form before Wednesday May 24th. DEADLINE EXTENDED UNTIL 7th JUNE.

Biodiversa ofrece oportunidad de voluntariado

Biodiversa busca voluntarios que quieran traducir las «guidelines» de la campaña «The Right to Be(e)» al Español. Se trata de una campaña que estamos haciendo voluntariamente junto con «Youth and Environment Europe».

Si te animas a participar escríbenos a asociacionbiodiversa@gmail.com diciéndonos de qué ficha te quieres encargar. Te pasaremos entonces el texto para que lo traduzcas. Las fichas a traducir están aquí:

http://yeenet.eu/index.php/campaigns/the-right-to-bee/1277-activities-guidelines

Tu nombre aparecerá en los créditos y conseguirás una membresía en Biodiversa durante 2016 como «socio/a de tiempo» (pagas tu cuota con tu tiempo).

Esperamos vuestros correos.

¡Gracias!

Una plaza para el curso de formación «How e-mazing is your organisation?»

Biodiversa tiene reservada una plaza para uno de sus socios, amigos o simpatizantes en este curso de formación organizado en Bélgica por nuestros amigos de International Young Nature-Friends:

http://www.iynf.org/events/international-activity-how-e-mazing-is-your-organization/

Para ser considerado/a para dicha plaza, deberás escribirnos un correo electrónico a: asociacionbiodiversa@gmail.com, presentándote y explicando tu motivación para participar en el curso.

Fecha límite: 13 de Marzo. 

Training course «Connecting Cultures» – Call for participants

Biodiversa offers two places for Spanish residents to participate in the training course «Connecting Cultures», which will take place in Kandersteg, Switzerland from 23rd to 29th November 2015. 

A non-formal, creative and interactive 6-day residential training approach to explore and develop new community-based intercultural activities.

Participants will explore intercultural practice, define their needs, share experiences and inspire each other to develop intercultural strategies and actions for their work in the youth field.

More information and instructions on how to apply can be found in the following document:

http://ow.ly/SrqaT

Deadline to apply: 5th October 2015. Hurry up!