Study visit “Future Starts Today”

The study visit Future Starts Today, took place in Lisbon from 27th-30th May, gathering a group of participants from different organisations in Croatia such as Gimnazija AGM Zabok, Srednja škola Pregrada, Srednja škola Bedekovčina, Srednja škola Zlatar , Zelena Akcija / Foe Croatia and the county of Krapinsko-zagorske.

This study visit was organized by LAG Zagorje – Sutla, and Mreža udruga Zagor, supported by DYPALL Network.

During the study visit, the participants had the chance to see a variety of projects and activities directed to young people, namely high school students, in the areas of environmental sustainability and promotion of volunteer work, as well as mechanisms and structures that support such practices, in order to transfer this experience into their own local reality. The aim of the visit was to provide participants with skills and knowledge to support young people’s awareness on the topic of environmental sustainability.

The first day of the study visit was spent in Lisbon Youth Centre, talking about the approaches of the centre on local policies towards youth participation. On the 28th May, the group went to Sintra, to learn more about the municipality work towards sustainable development and environmental awareness on the local community. The afternoon was spent visiting a local school (Escola da Terrugem- Sintra), where the Eco-Schools project has been very active in young people’s lives.

The third day of the visit took place in Cascais, in the morning the group joined the project “Cascais Jovem” (Young Cascais) and DNA – Cascais, being the main topic, how to work with young people, captivating them for volunteer programs as well as social entrepreneurship and environmental sustainability.

In the afternoon, the group experienced one of the volunteer projects, with a walking tour in the center of Cascais. Followed by this tour, there was a presentation by the municipality of Cascais regarding the municipality’s participatory budget and on how to involve young people in this process as well as the new approaches towards environmental consciousness.

The last day of the visit, had the centre of Lisbon as the destination, visiting a zero-waste project in the morning, named Maria Granel, and at the afternoon a new social approach to entrepreneurship by the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, named TecLabs.

For the closing of the visit, there was a farewell dinner organized, with a taste of Fado, one of Lisbon’s most antique heritage.

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