Open call for Participants: Study Session “Green Perspectives on European Security”

Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe (CDN) and Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG) are announcing a call for participants for the Study Session “Green Perspectives on European Security”.

The event will take place during 23rd-28th October in the European Youth Center Budapest (EYCB), Hungary. Travel dates to and from Budapest are 22nd and 29th October.

With this activity, we aim to empower 35 young Europeans in accessing rights via human rights education, by providing participants with a holistic understanding of security not solely in terms of physical security (i.e. safety) but nutrition, housing, stability, etc.

The aim of the Study Session is to rethink and build a common understanding of security in the context of new global challenges and their intersection, guided by the values of democracy, the rule of law, self-determination, human rights and fundamental freedoms.
 We will achieve this through meeting the following objectives:

  1. Creating intercultural dialogue between youth from different European countries by providing a space to discuss the concept of security and ways to ensure it;

  2. Deepening the participants’ understanding of the current state of affairs of security in Europe;

  3. Analysing the concept of security at the intersection of diverse societal factors, exploring their interrelationships, and effects of the policy decisions on public security;

  4. Assessing the existing approaches to the concept of security and their strengths and weaknesses.

Who should apply?

We are looking for 35 young people, not older than 35, residing in one of the Council of Europe member states, Belarus or Kosovo*.

We encourage applications reflecting diversity in all forms; therefore, we welcome applications from those who identify as women, LGBT+ people, people of color, with migration background or with a different ability.

Participants who have activism experience in working on the security issues and policy making, as well as those interested in starting working on the topic and having high motivation to learn about the content of the Study Session are highly encouraged to apply.

! We strongly discourage the use of ChatGPT and other AI tool while filling out the application. We want your applications to reflect your experience, opinions, and motivation, and the use of AI tools will be taken as a disadvantage when choosing participants. !

Practicalities: 

Language: 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!

Costs: The full cost of working materials, visa and lodging (accommodation, food and refreshments) during the event will be covered by the EYCB. The participation fee is 50 EUR. Travel expenses will also be reimbursed, and for selection of travel means we encourage participants to combine the most economic and environmentally friendly way (lowest price + travel time + CO2 emissions).

DEADLINE for submitting online applications: 20th of August 23:59 CEST. You will be informed about the results of the selection within two weeks after the deadline. Please add project.coordinator@cdnee.org to your contacts, so that you do not receive our reply in spam folder.

*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.

 

Call for the Applications for the Eastern European Climate Campaigns

We are opening the call for the applications for the second activity within our annual work plan “Bring your tote-bag, but smash the system!”. The call for the applications for climate campaigns is an opportunity for the youth organisations or a group of young people that participated in the previous stage of the project (but not only!) to submit the applications consisting of the Climate Campaigns Application and Draft Budget.

The 2nd part of the annual work plan aims to empower young people from the Eastern Europe to bring the systemic change in their local communities and regions. This will be achieved by reaching the following objectives:

1. providing the young activists with an opportunity to practically apply gained knowledge.
2. providing the young activists with an opportunity to influence relevant stakeholders and climate crisis related processes across Eastern European countries.
3. showcasing different practices of fighting for climate justice in countries of the Eastern Europe with different levels of shrinking space for the civil society.

We will provide funding for climate campaigns in 10 different countries through a 5-month period of preparation, implementation and reporting. In this period, CC organisers will create an activity which will contribute to project aims and raise awareness on climate crisis issues or tackle the problems related to climate crisis, all on local, regional or cross-regional levels.

The Climate campaigns should:


• Deal with the specific issues related to climate crisis;
• Focus on concrete problems and concrete solutions tied to the countries or regions they are being implemented;
• Be connected to the topic of the Work Plan;
• Have clear Aim and Objectives;
• Answer the needs of the local youth;
• Have clearly defined climate, youth, and gender perspectives;
• Involve young people of different backgrounds in the activity;
• Have a clear Outcome.

The Secretariat and EC responsible people for the project will decide on the grants to be allocated for each campaign. CDN offers maximum of 2200 EUR as a grant per country involved in the campaign. Applicants can focus on one country and apply individually OR can apply jointly with activists from one or more countries (up to 4 countries involved!) and conduct the joint campaign. NOTE that the grant is PER COUNTRY meaning that if two countries apply the maximum grant is 4400 EUR and so on.

The decision on the grants will be brought according to the feasibility of the action plan as well as the realistic assessment of the budget.

Local/regional/cross-regional teams will be fully responsible for executing the project along with people they select as team members, activists, and participants, who are required to match all criteria of CDN activities. We strongly encourage representation and participation of all social groups, especially women and queer people. Local teams are encouraged to hire additional experts on skills or topics, and we are striving for NFE tools and methodologies, as well as the safe space policy to be used during the preparation and implementation of the whole project. CDN will be eager to provide expertise as well as contextual or project-related assistance if required by the local teams.

In addition responsibilities of the applicant in case the grant is awarded are:

• Kicking off the preparations for the LA in mid-August 2023 and participating in the Kick off Zoom meeting;
• Implementing the activity based on the sent application and recommendations of CDN Secretariat and EC;
• Finalising the implementation of the activity by end of November 2023;
• Finalise the financial and content reporting to CDN by mid December 2023;
• Saving, organising and sending all the bills, invoices and other proofs of payments connected to the project and reported in the financial report;
• Sending both digital (scanned version in Nextcloud folder) and original bills (paper to CDN’s office in Belgrade);
• Using only Nextcloud folder and collaborative (doc, xls, ptt, etc.) files for the project for security reasons;
• Participating in the dissemination of the project;
• Ensuring the visibility of the project, CDN and EYF. Namely using hashtags #cdnee and #eyfcoe, as well as adding the logos of both organisations, as well as the Council of Europe logo on any material that will be produced at the local actions;
• Making and sending to CDN pictures and videos from the action with all the logos visible.

To apply for the grant, fill in the Climate Campaigns Application form and Draft Budget for the activities (you can find a Budget example here, and all funds can differ within lines, except Coordinator’s fees). We will be accepting the applications starting from 27th of June 2023. Deadline for submitting the applications is 31th of July 2023 23:59 CET. Please, consider, that any application sent after this date will be disqualified.

Filled in files must be sent to project.coordinator@cdnee.org with Climate Campaigns Application in the subject of the email. In case of questions, do not hesitate to contact Nikola, CDN’s project coordinator at the above-mentioned email.

«To facilitate the space where you can develop your ideas, get inspired from others, get answers to all your questions, and possibly find partners for cooperation, we will be hosting an Info Session on Zoom on the 25th of July, at 13pm CET. Please express your interest in participating by filling out this form, after which you will receive an email with the link and the agenda for the Session.»

Only full applications (Application and budget proposals) will be considered.

You will get the result and feedback approximately in 10 days after the deadline.

Please add the above-mentioned e-mail in your contact list to avoid our mails ending up in spam.

Application for the Participants for the Eastern European Climate Summer Camp

Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe (CDN) is announcing a call for participants for the Eastern European Climate Summer Camp.

More on the Summer Camp

More on the Annual Work Plan

Call for the Participants for the Eastern European Climate Summer Camp 

Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe (CDN) is announcing a call for participants for the Eastern European Climate Summer Camp.

The summer camp will take place from 5th of June until 11th of June in Montenegro. The arrival date for the participants is 4th of June and departure date is 12th of June.

With this activity we aim to equip 45 young Eastern Europeans with better understanding of climate crisis and skills for mobilizing the youth around the issue, in order to empower them to bring systemic change in their local communities and regions.  

This will be done by meeting the following objectives:

  • To equip the participants with the knowledge on climate crisis, its history and outcomes

  • To explore the causes and effects of the climate crisis on the Eastern European level

  • To empower the participants to fight for better climate, in order to sustain the society, culture and the world we live in

  • To equip the participants with skills and tools for mobilizing around climate crisis

You can read more about the project on this page. 

Who should apply?

We are looking for 45 young people under 30 (15% of participants can be between ages 30 and 35), from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina,  Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo*, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Serbia, Turkey or Ukraine.

We encourage applications reflecting diversity in all forms; therefore, we welcome applications from those who identify as women, LGBT+ people, people of color, with migration background, with a different ability or with any other disadvantaged backgrounds.

Participants who have activism experience in working on climate crisis, as well as those interested in starting working on the topics, and having high motivation to learn about the content of the Summer Camp, are highly encouraged to apply.

Practicalities: 

Language: 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!

Costs: The full cost of working materials, travel costs, visa and lodging (accommodation in double rooms, 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).

The participation fee for the event is from 10 EUR to 50 EUR. It is up to participants to choose by their abilities.

Please, make sure to take a look at this PROVISIONAL AGENDA before applying.

DEADLINE for submitting online applications: 18th of April. The Deadline is way in advance before the event, so that the participants that need visa have enough time to obtain it. You will be informed about the results of the selection latest within two weeks after the deadline. Please add project.coordinator@cdnee.org and project.assistant@cdnee.org to your contacts, so that you do not receive our reply in spam folder.

APPLY HERE

*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.

Call for Prep Team: Eastern European Climate Summer Camp

Cooperation and Development Network (CDN) is announcing an open call for members of the preparatory team (prep-team) for the Eastern European Climate Summer Camp. The summer camp will take place from 5 – 11th of June 2023 in the Montenegro. More information on the project you can find here

With this activity we aim to equip 45 young Eastern Europeans with better understanding of climate crisis and skills for mobilising the youth around the issue, in order to empower them to bring systemic change in their local communities and regions.  

This will be done by meeting the following objectives:

  1. To equip the participants with the knowledge on climate crisis, its history and outcomes;
  2. To explore the causes and effects of the climate crisis on the Eastern European level;
  3. To empower the participants to fight for better climate, in order to sustain the society, culture and the world we live in;
  4. To equip the participants with skills and tools for mobilizing around climate crisis. 

 

If you are young person from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,  Bosnia and Herzegovina,  Bulgaria,  Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic,  Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo*, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Serbia, Turkey or Ukraine and if you are interested in the topic of the event, you are more than welcome to apply to volunteer as a member of this preparatory team. 

Prep-team members should speak English, be available during the preparation period, be responsible about fulfilling their tasks, have good organisational skills, be good  team players, committed to the aims of the project and CDN’s values and be familiar with non-formal education methods. We encourage young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to apply for the Prep-team.

 

Main responsibilities of the prep-team:

  1. Active participation in the regular online meetings prior to the event (January-June / 2-3 h a week);
  2. Participation in two-day live prep team meeting on 18-19th of February (2 full working days), arrival day 17th, departure on 20th;
  3. Other meetings scheduled weekly or bi-weekly;
  4. Dissemination of the call and selection of participants, preparation of participants  for the event and providing them with all the necessary information  regarding the program;
  5. 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 project aims (4-6 h  a week);
  6. Helping with the promotion of the event and ensuring media visibility;
  7. Taking care of practicalities and of the general well-being of the participants;
  8. Full participation during the entire event and prep team meeting before and after: Arrival 2nd of June, departure 13th of June;
  9. Supporting the finalisation of the outputs;
  10. Helping with the reporting of the event.

 

Being a prep-team member at this event would offer you:

  1. Working in a lively international environment;
  2. Experience in managing youth projects – preparation, implementation and reporting;
  3. Getting familiar with Green values and the work of CDN;
  4. Getting to know activists from different European contexts and their work;
  5. A possibility to develop your leadership and group work skills;
  6. A lot of work and a lot of fun!

Here you can find provisional agenda.
 

 

Practicalities: 

Accommodation, food, working space, travel and visa costs for the preparatory team will be fully covered. For selection of travel means the condition is to combine the most economic and environmentally friendly way (lowest price + travel time + CO2 emissions).

DEADLINE for submitting online applications is 15th of January, 23:59 CET. You will be informed by email approximately 2 weeks after the deadline. Please add project.coordinator@cdnee.org to your contacts, so that you do not receive our reply in the spam folder.

 

APPLY HERE

 

*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.

Work Plan “Bring your tote-bag, but smash the system!”


Project background

Tackling climate crisis comes as a priority for Eastern European Green youth, as shown by the outputs of the Strategic Planning Meeting 2020 of CDN and not without a cause. Contrary to popular perception, Eastern Europe faces significant threats from climate change, with a number of the most serious risks already in evidence. The climate is changing, and the Eastern European region is vulnerable to the consequences, as many other places on Earth. This issue is local and global at the same time. Many of the region’s countries are facing warmer temperatures, a changing humidity, and more extreme weather conditions, droughts, floods, heat waves, wind storms, and forest fires. As it is the case worldwide, climate crisis is disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups, forcing them into climate migrations, deteriorating the work conditions and constantly changing the job and economic markets, creating a hostile environment for these groups. Vulnerability over the next 10 to 20 years is likely to be dominated by these socio-economic factors and legacy issues. Nevertheless, even countries and sectors that stand to benefit from climate change are poorly positioned to do so, while the next decade offers a window of opportunity for these actors in EE countries to make their development more resilient to climate change while reaping numerous co-benefits. We have seen efforts and changes being implemented in Eastern European countries – participations in the international climate movement Fridays for Future and the rise of local climate activism. However, the steps taken currently are not nearly enough for sustaining the life on this planet as we know it and in order to lead a sustainable change, a push for systemic change and mobilisation of Eastern European Climate Resistance movements is undeniably a regional priority. Only by practicing grassroot, youth, informed mobilisation on climate issues we will be able to build resilient, just and Green Eastern Europe, where the human rights and the environment are respected. 

To achieve this, our project aims to equip the young people from the Eastern Europe with better understanding of climate crisis and skills for mobilising the youth around the issue, in order to empower them to bring systemic change in their local communities and regions

This will be done by reaching the following objectives:

    1. Equip young people from the Eastern Europe with better understanding of climate crisis;
    2. Empower young people from the Eastern Europe to bring systemic change in their local communities and regions.

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Project summary:

The project will incorporate two phases: an Eastern European Climate Summer Camp which will be followed by Local, Regional and Cross-Country Actions across Eastern European countries. Both activities aim to bring a greater understanding and mobilisation on topics of climate rights and the climate crisis, as well as expand on the long term consequences of the climate crisis. These activities will help raise awareness among young people from the Eastern Europe on the importance of addressing the issues and actively campaigning for change.

 

1st phase –  Eastern European Climate Summer Camp

The first event of the Work plan is a nine days long Summer Camp with the aim to equip the young people from the Eastern Europe with better understanding of climate crisis and skills for mobilising the youth around the issue. This will be achieved by reaching the following objectives:

    1. Equip the participants with the knowledge on climate crisis, its history and outcomes;
    2. Explore the causes and effects of the climate crisis on the Eastern European level;
    3. Empower the participants to fight for better climate, in order to sustain the society, culture and the world we live in;
    4. Equipping the participants with skills and tools for mobilising around climate crisis.

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Date: 5-11 June 2023
Location: Montenegro

Call for Prep-team

Call for Participants (coming soon) 

Provisional agenda

 

2nd phase   Eastern European Climate Campaigns

The second phase of the work plan is the direct outcome of the first phase –  participants will apply in organising local, cross regional or regional (maximum 4 countries) activities in order to kickstart context-specific discussions and campaigns on climate activism. The aim of this activity will be to empower young people from the Eastern Europe to bring the systemic change in their local communities and regionsThis will be achieved by reaching the following objectives:

    1. To provide the participants with an opportunity to practically apply gained knowledge;
    2. To provide the participants with an opportunity to influence relevant stakeholders and climate crisis related processes across Eastern European countries;
    3. To showcase different practices of fighting for climate in countries of the Eastern Europe with different levels of shrinking space for the civil society.

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Funding will be provided for Climate Campaign related activities for participants from 10 countries throughout a 4 month period of preparation, implementation and reporting. In this period, campaign  organisers will create an activity which will contribute to project aims and build the capacity of organisations in implementing local and regional events.

Date: September-November 2023

Duration: Optional 

Location: Participating countries

Call for Climate Campaigns 

 

Methodology

The program of the International Activityies will be based on the principles of non-formal education and intercultural learning. We strive for active, inclusive and direct communication and transfer and sharing of knowledge. Sessions of the International Activityies will be balanced between theoretical inputs, training, workshops, discussions, reflection, planning, brainstorming and other interactive methods of learning.

 

 

 

*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

Open call for Participants: Study Session “Green Cities for Sustainable Planet” 

Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe (CDN) is announcing a call for participants for the Study SessionGreen Cities for Sustainable Planet.

The event will take place from 7th to 12th of November 2022 in the European Youth Centre in Budapest, Hungary. The arrival date for the participants is 6th and departure date is 13th.

With this activity we aim to empower 35 young Eastern Europeans in tackling climate change through exploring the intersectionality of globalisation, capitalism and environmental issues – this event will provide a holistic approach towards climate change by focusing on communities, economy, human rights and urbanism and support the participants in developing new attitudes towards climate change, through exploring how governments, businesses and citizens can enable the urban and economic shift to a greener transition. 

This will be done by meeting the following objectives:

  • To deepen participants’ understanding of climate change by exploring the role that cities should play in fighting climate crisis and how latter is connected to urbanization and post-growth economics;
  • To equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to practice and advocate for city-level climate, economic and social justice;
  • To provide the participants with the space to create a practical guide on transitioning one’s lifestyle and living environment into a more green and environmentally friendly one. 

You can read more about the project on this page.

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Study Session  “Green Cities for Sustainable Planet”

Climate change is the most serious threat to humanity in the 21st century. According to UN Habitat, cities consume 78% of the world’s energy and produce the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions. As urbanisation is expected to accelerate even more, cities will have even bigger impact on the environment and climate. Many of them are also the first to experience number of consequences of the changing climate – rising sea levels, extreme heat, water scarcity and air pollution among others. Interestingly, the entities with the most ambitious climate goals are rarely countries – usually, they are cities. 

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Call for trainers “Skills for massive youth activisation”

CDN is opening the call for trainers for the 2nd phase of this year’s Annual Work Plan, Skills for massive youth activisation, which is a 5-day international training course that is going to take place in Riga, Latvia between the 8th and 12th of June 2022.

Working time: Session length – 1,5 hours; online work before the event (~10 hours per session).

Remuneration: EUR 150 per session

We are looking for someone with the following profile: 

  1. Comprehensive understanding and respect of Green values;

  2. Excellent written and spoken English;

  3. Excellent organisational skills;

  4. Efficient communication skills (in online and offline settings);

  5. Experience in non-formal education and moderation;

  6. Ability to take initiative and work in an international environment;

  7. Experience in activism is an asset;

  8. Preferably younger than 30 years of age and not older than 35 at the moment of applying.

We are looking for trainers for the following sessions:

1. Creative campaigning module:

1.1 Developing art campaign (3 sessions)

In these sessions, we expect the trainer to shortly walk the participants through the process of developing an art campaign and than mentor them through making an imaginary art campaign that is related to activism. We want the trainer to help the participants think outside the box and provide support if they get stuck. We also want the sessions to be as interactive as possible. The participants will already be introduced to some basic creative campaigning concepts and will have had sessions on visual and audiovisual creative campaigning and urban intervention examples. We need an experienced trainer to help them with practical advice on what steps need to be taken to successfully develop an art campaign and to mentor them through the common challenges.

2. Debates and public speaking module:

2.1 Debating (1 session) 

For this session, the trainer is expected to introduce the participants to the basics of debating and public speaking. The trainer should help the participants to take their debating skills to the next level, by focusing on both the content and structure of high-quality debates.
 The trainer should have experience with both debating and non-formal education.

2.2. Developing speeches and polishing (3 sessions)

In these sessions, we expect the trainer to work with the participants and do the practical exercises developing their speeches for the Local Actions. Participants should learn about how to adapt to different audiences, how to involve the audience and how to match non-verbal and verbal communication in order to deliver the message successfully. The trainer should have experience in empowering young people and enabling them to make their voices heard through captivating speeches with both meaningful content and rhetorical effects.

3. Movement organising skills

3.1 Recruiting new members in the movements/organisations (1 session)

For this very important and complex topic for all activists and organisations, we would like to attract a trainer with practical experience. In this session, we expect the trainer to cover the following topics:

– Tools to recruit new members;

– How to communicate with new members and how to involve them in current actions;

– How to motivate them;

– The practical task for the participants on this topic.

3.2 External communications – positioning of the movement (1 session)

– Definition

– Types of external communication

– Goals and strategies

– Benefits (with specific examples)

– Practical part – working with participants on press releases, positioning on the social media, networking in the name of their organisation with the partners and so on.

4. NFE methodologies

4.1 NFE methodologies in-depth and Developing the NFE elements of LAs (2 sessions)

In this session, we expect the trainer first to deliver a presentation on out of the box methodologies for NFE events. Participants will be already familiar with the methodologies such as fish bowls, role plays, world cafe, etc. We would like to hire a trainer with experience in NFE methodologies that are most useful for involving the apolitical youth in the life of society. This training aims to equip the young people implementing the local actions with NFE skills that they will use in their LA, aiming to mobilise youth for participation in the political life of the society.

You can see the updated agenda of the event with dates HERE.

Practicalities

Accommodation, food, working space, travel and visa costs for the preparatory team will be fully covered. For the selection of travel means the condition is to combine the most economic and environmentally friendly way (lowest price + travel time + CO2 emissions).

We encourage Eastern Europeans, Women, queer people and people from other marginalised groups to apply. Payment for the service will be done in cash for trainers that do not have an EU bank account and via bank transfer to those that have it within 2 weeks’ time after the end of the event.

The interested candidates are invited to send their CV, short (0,5-page bio/presentation of their experience and skills and filled out session outline to project.coordinator@cdnee.org by 23rd of May 23:59 CET. 

The selected trainers will be contacted within a week after the Deadline and invited for a call with the members of the preparatory team of the event to continue working on the session together. Please add project.coordinator@cdnee.org to your contacts, so that you do not receive our reply in the spam folder.

 

Call for the PT of “Green Cities for Sustainable Planet”

Cooperation and Development Network (CDN) is announcing an open call for members of the preparatory team (prep-team) for the study session “Green Cities for Sustainable Planet”  which will take place from 7th to 12th  of November 2022 in the European Youth Centre in Budapest, Hungary. The arrival date for the participants is 6th and departure date is 13th. More information on the project you can find here.

With this activity we aim to empower 35 young Eastern Europeans in tackling climate change through exploring the intersectionality of globalisation, capitalism and environmental issues – this event will provide a holistic approach towards climate change by focusing on communities, economy, human rights and urbanism and support the participants in developing new attitudes towards climate change, through exploring how governments, businesses and citizens can enable the urban and economic shift to a greener transition. 

Continue reading