By ALDA
Over the summer, the ALDA office in Strasbourg carried out a special intensive project in the city: “ECO-CHANGE – Active Youth for Global Change”. With climate change being not just a major environmental and development-related challenge, but also a key factor affecting people’s decision to migrate and their ability to do it safely, the project aimed to promote inclusiveness and solidarity among young people with different cultural backgrounds and to raise their awareness on the existing link between migration and climate change.
In cooperation with the Stamtish Association, ALDA set up two different kinds of activities for the youth involved: a waste collection in various places of Strasbourg; and eco-responsible cooking workshops. On August 22nd and 29th, hence, around 20 motivated young people took care of the ecosystem of Heyritz Park and Citadelle Park, collecting hundreds of cigarette stubs and several bags of waste – while on August 23rd and 30th they met at La Petite Cantine to cook multicultural food together.
It was a great experience of intercultural promotion, collective caring for common issues, and an important occasion to stimulate young people’s active citizenship in Strasbourg. As it insisted on the fundamental role of youth in becoming “actors of change”, in addition, the project contributed to the achievement of some of the Sustainable Development Goals, namely SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities; SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities; SDG 12 – Sustainable Consumption and Production; and SDG 13 – Measures relating to the fight against climate change.
Funded by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs through FONJEP, ECO-CHANGE was coordinated by ALDA together with Stamtish, a Strasbourg-based NGO whose mission is to promote the integration of people with migrant background through culinary and eco-responsible events.