Ready to Take Off” Training in Nuremberg 12 – 19th September 2021
On September 12th, young volunteers from across Europe arrived in Nuremberg to embark on a new adventure co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
Eighteen youth workers and volunteers participated in this first training session organized by SCI Germany and learned a lot about the impact flying across the world has.
The point of project M.O.V.E. is to make mobility a priority peace issue. This first exchange experience enabled the participants to discover the subject and to see the acute need to raise knowledge about the impact of flying. They also talked about the current mobility choices made for international volunteer projects.
It was made clear that flying to get to this project was not the best choice. The participants were able to see and experiment traveling in an eco-friendly way. They witnessed firsthand how hard it is and pointed out how time-consuming and uncomfortable taking the bus or the train can be. Some volunteers explained that when organizing their trip, they had trouble finding options that did not include flights. Though some participants pointed out how nice it was to see the countrysides during their bus travel.
Different activities were held to talk about the different issues linked with flying, such as silent exhibitions, simulation games, theatre, etc.
The participants were asked to write a letter as a young volunteer from 2035 and describe the world they lived in and how they traveled. Some letters were very positive and looked back negatively at the “Old Days” when people did not care about the environment. Others were less joyful and presented a darker future with an even more declining environment.
During their free day, the volunteers visited the Nuremberg Climate Camp where activists have been fighting for more efficient environmental rights since September 2020. They were able to exchange with one of the representatives that answered all of their questions.
On Sunday 19th, everyone went back to their everyday lives with a more open mind and with ideas on how to increase awareness around eco-friendly mobility. Volunteers are now “On the Move” Implementation Period and will organize workshops or information campaigns in their home countries.
Landing and Spreading. Seminar in Innsbruck 6th-13th March 2022
Thirty two volunteers and youth workers met in Mutters near Innsbruck on March 6th, 2022 and embarked on a very intense week organised by SCI Germany and SCI Austria.
After a few rounds of whose name is whose and energizers, the third part of the MOVE project was launched. After meeting in September to learn more about climate change and mobility issues, the time had come to create the toolkit and go into more details.
The goals of the week were to enhance the knowledge of young people on global mobility and find solutions for the mobility of international volunteers.The days were filled with activities of all kinds: debates, human libraries, readings, games, movies, etc.
Spending a week under the sun of Austria next to the mountains brought everyone a sense of peace. I can still feel the sun burning my skin while listening to a podcast on the limits of mobility for women* in Germany. We were lucky enough to have organisers that provided us with different materials to always keep us interested.
Tuesday, March 8th was International Women’s day. After talking about gender inequalities and discrimination we all headed to the center of Innsbruck. Armed with our signs and our determination, we marched for hours and listened to amazing people that expressed their everyday fights.
We were lucky enough to have a free afternoon in Innsbruck on Thursday. We all went in different directions, but most of us found each other again in the city centre. We would gather around by screaming our new battle cry learned on Tuesday, “Alerta, Alerta, Feminista!”.
On Friday, we had a lovely open space, where the participants became “teachers”. We got to talk of speciesism, permaculture and how mobility works in our countries.
This experience enabled us to learn more about climate and global mobility and start writing a new toolkit for SCI. Moreover, we learned from each other. Whether by playing Ligretto, debating on different topics, cooking together and learning typical dances from our home countries.
Thank you to our long-term volunteer Anaick for this article and pictures!
