In addition to the overarching goal of intercultural exchange, the project had three main objectives: Learning about environmental protection and sustainability. Organizing and implementing a reforestation campaign. Imparting relevant professional skills, especially for disadvantaged and remote locations within the EU. The project achieved its objectives by teaching its participants the principles of sustainability and environmental protection while allowing them to experience their own effectiveness. In short, the participants carried out a sustainable reforestation campaign on the Maltese island of Gozo, supported by an online course that had previously provided them with the necessary knowledge and enabled them to organize the event together. With the hands-on reforestation event we also wanted to give the young participants the opportunity to gain international experience, connect with each other and explore EU values, as is normal with international youth exchanges. Although we had a focus on environmental protection, we also encouraged discussions and exchanges on such topics as education, culture, democracy and human rights.
With this project we wanted to try a practical approach to combatting climate change and, more importantly, empower young people to take the initiative and gain the confidence that they can do something against climate change. The main idea was to do a reforestation project in order to contribute to affecting the climate in a local environment. Although the forest area in the EU has increased over the past 30 years, the condition of forests is deteriorating. At the same time, sustainable forest management was key to protecting biodiversity and mitigating the consequences of climate change in forests. Especially considering the frustration of young people who felt their efforts against the climate crisis had been relatively ineffective, this project aimed to provide positive and constructive experiences of their own effectiveness—in short, youth empowerment. Additionally, PlantingOurFuture supported the EU's self-imposed goal of promoting afforestation. (New EU Forest Strategy for 2030, 2021, p.3: "Other priorities of the strategy are sustainable afforestation and reforestation. The strategy is also accompanied by a roadmap for the planting of at least 3 billion new trees in the EU by 2030.”)