More information
Description
The project is implemented in Navodari, the locality in the Constanta metropolitan area with the highest share of young people from the total population (34%), but where statistics show the lowest degree of their involvement in local environmental decisions. ECOvocacy represents the vision of the Constanta Red Cross and consortium partners for involvement of young citizens in community life and the decisions which impact them, in a system of partnership and open collaboration: civil society – citizens - local authority. The project will take action through a staged system of empowerment of young people, following the proposed activities: Awareness, Knowledge and Involvement. ECOvocacy responds to the component of civic involvement of citizens in the field of environment strategies at European level - Green Deal Action Plan, national - National Environmental Strategy 2030, local - Navodari Sustainable Development Strategy 2015-2020. The project aims to achieve a functional model at local level for consulting citizens on policies and decisions concerning environment and sustainable development of small/medium sized localities, simultaneously with training and information actions for them. The developed model will be incorporated at the departmental level by civil society partners (organizational capacity) and will be subsequently replicated at the level of other small localities in Romania. The direct beneficiaries of the project are 1100 young people aged between 14 and 35 from Navodari and the metropolis area of Constanta. The project partners represent all parts of the local community: town hall -local authority, Navodari High School – education, Youth for Sustainable Development-civil society and Circular Ways Norway - social economy structure. They will be part of the newly developed model of trans-sectorial local body that will creat synergies between citizens, local public authority, civil society.
Summary of project results
Significant challenges addressed by ECOvocacy project were: lack of information and civic engagement of youngsters from Navodari and Constanta in the local community life; insufficient involvement of the local authorities on environmental matters; lack of local consultations with young people for the coordination of environmental policies in a local area bordering the Black Sea coastal line.
In order to respond to these major local level needs, the following support activities were implemented within the project: CEAS-Citizens-Administration-Civil Society. The trans-sectoral body CEAS was created and fully operationalized, with the role of advocacy between citizens and local authorities. CEAS operates independently with monthly meetings, receives proposals on the environmental area from citizens, fine-tunes them and proposes implementation to the local authority. 3 major proposals from CEAS have already been approved.
The Ecology Academy was an excellent pilot initiative to introduce young people to the environment and ecology. The success was major, 401 young people took part in the Academy, 33% more than the initial target. The local campaign "Cetateam Mare pt Mare" represented the main outreach of ECOvocacy in the community. 8 public events opened the awareness area for over 800 citizens. The exchange visit from Norway consolidated examples of good practices at youth level from Norway, transferred to the Academy and the CEAS activity. Results of the project exceeded the expectations: 1516 people directly involved in the activities. ECOvocacy supported the Navodari - Constanta community, which now entered in a mainstream awareness system, through the continuation of CEAS'' activities.