More than 100 kilos of garbage were collected from the popular beach of Agioi Apostoloi in Chania by high school students from Greece, Lithuania, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Portugal, wanting to give a direct meaning to the message "We are taking action for the future now" , which they analyzed in their work on renewable energy sources, the impact of the tourism industry on the environment and the relevant national and European legislation. 

For Panagiotis, Katerina, Thanos, Alkistis and Anna, the research they did on renewable energy sources, but also their participation in voluntary environmental activities was not just the necessary work for the presentation of the 56 pages they prepared with texts , charts and maps, but were a source of concern for collective and individual responsibility.

Speaking at the Athenian - Macedonian News Agency, the students conveyed their own vision and perception of what is happening on the planet and will determine their future and that of future generations.

"This program has made us realize that our planet still needs a lot of work to do to save it," they said, expressing confidence that European education programs bringing together students from across Europe could help "create a pan-European generation of conscientious objectors." and active citizens ", judging by the fact that" this program has helped us a lot to expand our horizons and to become even more and more aware to take action for recycling and energy saving ".

"What we learned by doing research for our presentation was anything but reassuring, as we realized that in our own years a wide range of all environmental problems will be judged, which are growing every day," they noted, emphasizing the value of individual responsibility. "An organized action, such as the cleaning of the beach of Chania, which we implemented within the framework of the program, was quite effective, but the movement of each person to collect garbage is a much simpler process and certainly if all citizens thought this way would we observe impressive results ", they explained.

But are teenagers in five European countries in the same way taking the risk of climate change for the planet? Spending four days together, discussing with their peers what concerns them in their daily lives, the students from Thessaloniki concluded: "We differ in some problems, but we have even more problems in common and this is evidence that climate change and "Environmental pollution affects us all, regardless of origin and age."

"The parallel focus on both the academic approach of the topics and the experiential cultivation of empathy in environmental issues has been very effective", said to AMNA the professor of the 7th Lykeio, Theodoros Hampidis, noting that "the children had the opportunity to principles of collectivity under the umbrella of our wider community, Europe ". "They had the opportunity to feel the pulse of Europe, to form a perception based on the claim of a clean environment and a better perspective", added Professor Katerina Efraimidou, noting that "a clean environment means a dynamic claim of the new generation for what belongs to it".

"The development of communication skills, interaction and the formation of a spirit of mutual support have contributed to the practical experience of empathy and a culture of cooperation. Besides, the aim was to shape the perspective of a common future, based on respect for the environment ", pointed out the school principal, Grigoris Mavrokostidis.

Dissemination of the 2nd mobility Chania.docx

Άρθρο διάχυσης 2ης κινητικότητας (1).pdf