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In times of environmental crisis and climate change, the need for progressive approaches to sustainable solutions is bigger than ever. Between 1st and 8th of November, 2024, 32 youth workers from Greece, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Hungary, Poland and Germany participated in Building a Future for Sustainability, a training course with the aim of developing sustainable and impactful projects. Through the innovative method LEGO Serious Play (LSP), the participants got to build with LEGO bricks fostering creative thinking, teamwork, reflection and creating sustainable youth projects. Additionally, all the projects created during the training course were based on GreenComp – a reference framework that provides a common ground on what sustainability competence implies, allowing the participants to truly embrace sustainability values. 

The comprehensive schedule consisted of a mix of teamwork activities, discussions, LSP workshops,  project management, hands-on workshops of creating sustainable projects, presentations, and much more. The projects that were created during the training course addressed planting trees, solar power, circular fashion, litter-collecting, reducing food waste, mental health and youth camps for sustainability. In other words, a broad range of innovative projects offered creative solutions to a diversity of sustainability issues. 

The training course was overall very successful and many of the participants felt that it exceeded their expectations:

It was a really nice week which exceeded every expectation I had. I also met amazing people and learned something new.

The training course was amazing. It exceeded my expectations.

My expectations were completely overpassed. 

The participants got to leave the training course with new memories, skills and knowledge, which was highly appreciated:

I feel so grateful for the opportunity of seeing you work and I’m bringing home so many new memories and skills. 

I believe the program was generally a great learning opportunity incorporating various tools in the process. What stood out for me was the focused approach on team building and group coordinating as this was a great opportunity to really interact as much as possible with others. I also felt heard as there was room for everyone to share a thing or two.

There were really interesting approaches and work methods.

I enjoyed all the Lego workshops and warm-ups. Perhaps the best one was the one with Go-carts and working together on Food projects. I liked that it pushed me to think differently, and to not be afraid to fantasise, create and involve imagination. This project helped me to look at usual routines from a different perspective

The participants not only gained new skills but also developed on a personal level:

It was  a new experience for me and a huge step for my personal development.

It was my first project and I was really happy to participate in the activities, in which I managed to find myself a little bit more and to gain a little bit more confidence

Building a Future for Sustainability is co-funded by the European and the Youth and Lifelong Learning Foundation