The S.W.I.T.C.H. (Sustainability and Waste: Innovation, Training and Community Hub) is a social and ecological entrepreneurship project for young project leaders and young NEETs. It combines creativity with social innovation to meet the environmental challenges of our time. This project is led by a consortium of European actors with the aim of bringing together cultures and varied skills around two contextual axes: - An environmental crisis: production of waste, depletion of resources, record ecological footprint. The population is in excess of consumption and does not have the right reflexes, in particular, the possible use or reuse of bulky waste and waste resulting from economic activity. - A social crisis: economic crisis, growing unemployment, increasingly marked inequalities, loss of meaning for certain young audiences at risk of exclusion. These young people are in search of meaning and have fewer opportunities for social, civic and professional education, in a society paradoxically based on overconsumption and a "throw-away” culture. Social and professional insecurity makes it necessary to offer activities and projects linked to themes that create values for young people, relative to the social economy. That is why SWITCH aims to reconcile these vulnerable categories through participation in this social and environmental entrepreneurship project as part of transnational cooperation in order to aggregate our different perspectives. The European and intercultural context is fundamental because it fits in with the borderless economic model on the one hand, and the transcultural model on the other. Nowadays, no economic innovation can be thought of without taking into account the European and especially the global context. We want to develop “glocal” work. Think global, transnational cooperation and act local, integrate eco-projects into a local dynamic. At the end of this experience, young people will develop skills in terms of project management, innovation, creation and communication while participating in European citizenship. 3 intellectual productions will be carried out: • A module for the creation of an online MOOC-type platform highlighting the positive externalities of upcycling, intended to be a reference site for reuse centers and the general public. It will centralize information for both partners and the general public. Ultimately, it will be a regularly updated resource space with dynamic and digital data so that each visitor has access to information that may be useful to them. • A action-training module for social and environmental entrepreneurship: supported by professionals in the creation of eco-projects in the form of dynamic learning. It aims to train young project leaders in the spirit and realization of social entrepreneurship. The economy and creation around waste will be used as a working medium. Following the example of the values carried by the partners, the matrix of this module will highlight new forms of ethical and collaborative management. • A project marathon where young NEETs and young project leaders will work together to present their projects or the result of their work to a jury of professionals, officials, and the public. This intellectual production aims to train young people in verbal and non-verbal language. At the end, the young people will be able to express themselves orally, pitch a project and "sell" themselves like in a professional interview. The consortium will aim to improve the creative, organizational and digital skills of the young people targeted through eco-citizen approaches allowing them to act directly on their own waste consumption, within a sustainable development approach. The main objectives will be to: - understand the structural issues of our consumer society, in particular the modes of production at the origin of overconsumption and the notion of externalities - support the eco-entrepreneurial spirit of young people - raise awareness of new green employment sectors and the range of trades relating to crafts, decoration, design, etc. - foster a transnational dynamic of young people, taking "waste" as a medium present to all societies. - allow participants to rediscover a positive image of themselves through creativity, involvement in an open and collaborative project with other young people from different backgrounds. Project promoter : ATELIER D’éco SOLIDAIRE, France https://atelierdecosolidaire.com/ Partners : IFRASS, France https://www.ifrass.fr/ TRINIJOVE, Spain http://trinijove.org/ YOUTH AND ENVIRONMENT EUROPE, Czech Republic https://yeenet.eu/
This project main objectives were the following: - Understanding the structural challenges of our consumer society, in particular the production methods' social and environmental impacts, overconsumption mecanisms and the notion of externalities - Promoting a transnational dynamic for young people, considering "waste" as an inherent medium in all societies - Allowing the participants to have a positive image of themselves through creativity, involvement in an open and collaborative project with other young people with different backgrounds and from all over the world - Developping skills in terms of innovation, social and environmental entrepreneurship - Develop new educational paths around the themes of social entrepreneurship and sustainable development. - Raising awareness about the circular economy field and the range of trades related professional sectors linked to crafts, decoration, design - Bringing together multidisciplinary organizations and provide shared solutions on common issues, beyond cultural contexts and specificities, using creativity as a vehicle to raise awareness and build self-confidence.
The last decades put in relief the need to find accurate solutions to deal with the climate crisis. Young generations, the first concerned by this ecological and socio-economical model's externalities, need to acquire tools to developp innovative solutions to face those challenges. Even if the general public is becoming more aware of these issues and is looking for solutions, there is a lack of simple, concrete and efficient information for everyone to make their choices wisely. Changing models depend directly on the young people who will be the actors and creators of these changes. Consequently, new educational paths must be found to help young people promote a change in consumer and professional attitudes. Social and professional insecurity also requires offering activities and projects related to themes that create values for young people, to support the creative entrepreneurial dynamics of these young people in the context of social and circular economy. One of the first challenges we aimed to provide solutions with the SWITCH project was to give an access to inclusive, user-friendly and well-documented pedagogical supports in open-source for youngsters with different educational, social and economical backgrounds.