Borders separate – Nature unites: The youth connects with the European Green Belt

10/02/2021

The European Green Belt brings together people from 24 countries from both sides of the former Iron Curtain, from town and country side, young and old, talking about their histories and cooperating for a peaceful and environmentally friendly future. See, how we connect with the youth.

Youth workcamp on the European Green Belt © Karin Kowol

In 2019, BUND Thuringia started with the first international European Green Belt work camp in the beautiful region of the Thuringian Schist Mountains, Germany. More than twenty participants from Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, South Korea and India met in an outdoor camp at the German Green Belt, cutting succession from dry grassland habitats, mapping butterflies, talking to contemporary witnesses at the campfire and having lots of fun.

In, 2020 we planned the second international youth camp funded by the „Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship“ and „Heinrich Böll Foundation Thuringia“. The pandemic caused us to change the concept. Instead of live meetings and joint actions we decided to combine local actions of the partners with international networking via web meetings. Several partners adapted their own actions to pandemic rules. We collected video and photo material and produced one joint image film for future youth encounters.

Now in 2021, we applied for the new project „Lost places and lost species – Searching for traces along the Green Belt“. We hope to be able to bring together more young people dealing with nature and history and jointly engaging in a better future. If approved, there can be joint actions between 2021 and 2023.