The project aimed to improve capacities and exchange good practices in youth work, especially those related to environmental issues, among European organizations with diverse experiences and expertise; to include new actors in the international European network in order to enhance their local impact; to improve digital skills of the partners to increase quality and innovation in their youth work practice; to help young people develop green skills and adopt more sustainable practices in their everyday lives; to enhance the sense of European citizenship in young people by raising their participation in civic topics related to environmental protection, and to improve the competencies of the involved partners to work internationally. By pursuing these goals, we directly addressed the European priorities such as the fight against climate change, increasing the quality of youth work, and promoting common civic values.
The implemetation of the project GreenTech Youth Catalyst was driven by two main motivators; Firstly, there is still a clear need for environmental action highlighted by regional statistics in all partner countries: The Czech Republic and France recently dropped in the Climate Change Performance Index, Serbia's recycling rate is far behind the EU average and a great majority of Portuguese citizens view environmental preservation as an urgent problem. We therefore created this project to address the need to empower young people and youth workers in partner countries (and beyond) with green and digital skills required to take action, and at the same time, to directly support Goal #10 (Sustainable Green Europe) of the European Youth Strategy. Secondly, we addressed the need for transnational exchange among the partner organizations and the inclusion of newcomers in the European network. By connecting organisations from four countries with diverse perspectives, we created a unique opportunity to innovate youth work and bring a European dimension to the local level, especially in the case of the Serbian partner, who was new to the program as well as to the international network.