International Seminar “Environmental consequences of war: Monitoring and Overcoming”: calls
We are excited to announce the opening of the call for the Prep Team Members and Participants for our International Activity “Environmental Consequences of War: Monitoring and Overcoming”, that will take place from 26th – 30th of August 2025 in West of Ukraine*.
(Please note that the arrival date for the participants is 25th of August and departure date is 31th of August. For Prep-Team is 23th of August)
*Volyn or Lviv regions. Detailed information will be provided to participants after confirmation.
With this activity, we aim to empower and mobilise 25 young people for cross-border cooperation in spreading the awareness of the environmental consequences of Russian aggression on Ukraine, and its cross-border effects on youth, democracy and human rights by providing them with space, theoretical knowledge and skills necessary to advocate for their rights related to the environment on the local, national and European level. The Objectives of this activity are:
Enhancing the understanding of 25 young people about the environmental consequences of war in Ukraine, the environmental protection during the times of war, and its connections with the energy sector, democracy and human rights.
Providing 25 young people with the knowledge and skills related to campaigning and awareness raising of the Russian aggression of Ukraine and its impact on young people and environment.
Providing 25 young people with the skills necessary to participate in the political process regarding environment protection, energy transition and resilience at the local, national and international levels.
Strengthening the cross-border and international cooperation of young people in dissemination of the knowledge about them among their peers.
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The project tackles the issue of low social awareness of environmental damage caused by Russian aggression of Ukraine and the low level of youth knowledge skills to advocate for the protection of the environment caused by war and its consequences in the whole of Europe.
As of April 2024, over 2000 cases of potential environmental damage were recorded since the beginning of the war by the Center for Environmental Initiatives Ecoaction. Only in 2024, 35 cases of severe environmental damage were documented. Moreover, additional greenhouse gas emissions caused by warfare, reconstruction, damage to environment and infrastructure in three years of war reached 230 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, about 8% of EU-27 emissions in 2024. The environment is thus the silent victim of the war.
Youth are most affected by environmental damage as they will bear the long-term consequences of polluted ecosystems that will threaten their health, livelihoods, and future opportunities even after achieving sustainable peace. Moreover, the problem is for youth in the whole of Europe: the environmental consequences of the war are often cross-border and need to be tackled at the European level. These are direct consequences, as pollution in the Danube and the Black Sea, to less and more indirect, as neighbouring countries withdrawing from the Ottawa convention, potentially mining the naturally valuable border areas.
With this activity, a 5-days international seminar, the youth activists will learn to mainstream and spread the knowledge about environmental consequences of war and need to counteract them, and to participate in the political process regarding the protection and resilience of environment.
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We are looking for 2 additional Prep-Team Members to support CDN in implementing the activity.
Prep Team members should:
be a young person aged 16-35 from a Member State of the Council of Europe plus Belarus, Holy See, and Kosovo*. We especially strongly encourage Ukrainian youth to apply, as your perspective is of the most importance.
have a working level knowledge of English,
be familiar with non-formal education methods and session facilitation,
have some experience with international events, either as participants or organisers,
have some experience in creating and disseminating digital campaigns, or knowledge in the topic of environment security,
be active in their local communities
be available during the preparation and realisation period (July-August, plus occasional follow-ups in September-November),
be responsible about fulfilling their tasks,
have good organisational skills,
be a team players,
be committed to the aims of the project and CDN, and CoE values
We especially encourage young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and communities to apply to be a part of our Prep Team.
Main responsibilities of the prep-team include:
Participation in a two-day live prep team meeting before the activity on 24 and 25 August (2 full working days), with arrival day as 23,
Active participation in the regular (weekly or bi-weekly) online meetings prior to the event (July-August, 2-3 hours a week);
Preparation and facilitation of the program of the event; designing and preparing sessions based on non-formal education methodology, invitation and communication with speakers, experts, and partners in accordance with the event aims (4-6 h a week);
Preparation of participants for the event and providing them with all the necessary information regarding the program;
Helping with the promotion of the event and ensuring social media visibility;
Taking care of practicalities and of the general well-being of the participants during the event;
Full participation during the entire event and prep team meeting before and evaluation meeting after the event,
Ensuring the proper follow-up of the event (implementation of the participants’ digital campaign plans created at the event) by advicing and supporting participants.
Being a prep-team member at this event would offer you:
Working in a lively and youthful international environment;
Experience in managing international activities – preparation, implementation and reporting;
Getting familiar with Green values, the work of CDN, and the work of Council of Europe;
Getting to know activists and young politicians from Ukraine and different European contexts;
A possibility to develop your leadership and group work skills;
A lot of work and a lot of fun!
NOTE: The applicants for Prep-Team who are not selected, can be offered a spot as a participant - there is no need to fill both forms.
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We are looking for 25 participants of the event. Apply if:
You are young person aged 16-35 from a Member State of the Council of Europe plus Belarus, Holy See, and Kosovo. We especially strongly encourage Ukrainian youth to apply, as your perspective is of the most importance.
You want to implement follow-up digital campaign created at the event.
Participants who are active in their local communities and youth organisations, as well as those interested in beginning their activist or political journeys are highly encouraged to apply.
We encourage applications reflecting diversity in all forms; therefore, we welcome applications from those who identify as women, LGBT+ people, people of colour, with migration background, with a different ability, or with any other disadvantaged backgrounds.
Practicalities:
The main language of this activity will be English. Nonetheless, not being comfortable interacting in English should not prevent you from applying, majority of us at the event will be non-native speakers and the group will be able to help out if there is some term you might not know!
The full cost of working materials, travel costs up to a defined limit, visa and lodging (accommodation, insurance, food, and refreshments) during the event will be covered by the CDN.
For selection of travel means we encourage participants to combine the most economic and environmentally friendly way (lowest price + travel time + CO2 emissions). Upon acceptance, you will receive our Financial and travel guide.
For Participants travelling outside of Ukraine, there is possibility to organise group transport from Poland (Warsaw or Lublin), depending on the participants’ arrivals.
DEADLINE for submitting online applications is 30th June at 23:59 PM CET .
You will be informed about the results of the selection latest by 10th of July.
Note that you will have 2 days to confirm your participation by replying to the email, so be sure to check for emails! Should we not receive confirmation from your side, your participation will be automatically canceled.
Please add office@cdnee.org to your contacts, so that you do not receive our reply in spam folder.
Application process:
Below are the links to the Application Forms. Please read the instructions on the form carefully!
NOTE: The applicants for Prep-Team who are not selected, can be offered a spot as a participant - there is no need to fill both forms.
There is an option for you to answer some questions in the video format, so make sure to check the application some time before you plan to submit responses. Note that the applicants who send a video will have an advantage in the selection process.
Note on AI use:
If you plan to use AI to assist your application writing, we strongly encourage you NOT to generate the text that you will copy and paste into the application or read out while filming. We don’t oppose the use of AI as a supportive tool, but we do advocate for fair and smart use of AI, as per our Keeping Green Values in the Age of AI Resolution.
*All references to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.
This activity is carried out with funding from the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe via the Special call to support young people from Ukraine.
