Become a Part of a Greener, Sustainable Change

Content

This playlist invites you to actively engage in environmental activities and discover how you can contribute to this essential change. Among young people, environmental degradation is recognised as one of the most pressing issues, with increasing numbers joining initiatives to address this challenge. Become part of the movement and contribute in your unique way. Every effort matters, and each one of us is responsible for our actions. Join our activities and make a difference at both local and national levels. Do you want change? Then, BE that change!
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Through five diverse activities spanning various levels and actions, you will enhance skills essential for environmental engagement while also developing abilities that are valuable in your everyday life, personal growth, and professional journey. Communication skills, strategic thinking, empathy, and adaptability are just a few of the many capacities you’ll cultivate, enriching your personality and broadening your potential through your involvement in environmental activities.
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This guide is designed not only to benefit the environment but also to foster the skill development of young people eager to make a positive impact on society.
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This playlist supports and encourages learning, recognition, and action contributing to the European Youth Goal #10:  Sustainable Green Europe.
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Why should you care?Secure a sustainable future: Learn how environmental protection ensures a livable planet for future generations, including clean air, water, and a stable climate.
Be a changemaker: Discover how your actions can influence policies, encourage green innovations, and drive collective efforts to combat climate change.
Shape greener communities: Gain the skills and knowledge to create eco-friendly communities, promote sustainability, and advocate for green initiatives in your local area.
Enhance your quality of life: Learn how sustainable practices contribute to a healthier lifestyle, reduce pollution, and prevent environmental hazards that affect everyone.
Adopt a sustainable lifestyle: Develop habits and choices, like reducing waste and conserving energy, that empower you to live sustainably and inspire others to follow suit.
Influence global policies: Explore how young people can participate in environmental decision-making, from local projects to international climate negotiations.
Foster teamwork through eco-activities: Engage in environmental projects and activities, such as community clean-ups or tree planting, to build teamwork skills and connect with like-minded peers.
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How partners and organisations in Cities of Learning can support you:Engage in activities: By offering a variety of inspiring activities and ideas, the aim is to raise awareness about current issues and encourage others to become part of the change.
Encourage participation: Use social media and local outreach efforts to motivate young people to join and contribute to sustainable initiatives.
Create local connections: Help young people build networks with small and large associations by connecting them to various projects and opportunities.
Organise events: Partner with local organisations, both small and large, to organise meetings, events, or activities that involve young people in discussions, enabling them to share their perspectives and brainstorm ideas for environmental protection.
Adopt an environmentally friendly lifestyle: By making small, intentional changes to daily habits, individuals can reduce their carbon footprint while demonstrating their commitment to sustainable living.
Influence others: Promoting a sustainable way of life can inspire other young people to see that change is possible through personal habit transformation. By becoming a role model, you can exemplify the "domino effect" that positive actions can have in society.
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How to get started:Choose the activity that interests you most and participate in events available in your local area or online.
Apply for each badge by completing the required tasks and submitting your evidence through the platform.
Once you’ve completed all the activities and earned your badges, you’ll automatically receive the playlist badge, recognising your overall achievement and contribution to European Youth Goal No. 10: Sustainable Green Europe.
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This playlist is a part of the European Youth Goals for Cities of Learning cooperation partnership implemented by four partner organisations:
System&G, lead partner in Greece
CODEC, Belgium
Badgecraft, Lithuania
System&G Finland
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The EU Erasmus+ programme co-funded this activity.
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Activities to complete

Complete the following activities, earn badges and you will see your playlist progress updated

Create a Path for a Greener Neighbourhood

Mandatory

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Participate in a Virtual Discussion about the Environment

Mandatory

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Connect with Your Surroundings and Organise an Impactful Action

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Adopt a Sustainable Lifestyle

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Content

Through this initiative, you can build your everyday lifestyle around sustainable methods and rhythms to help prevent the spread of environmental damage across the globe. While factories and infrastructure are significant contributors to pollution and pose serious threats to our flora, individual actions can be instrumental in demonstrating our disagreement with such practices and committing to a healthier, uncontaminated way of life.﻿
By adopting a sustainable lifestyle, you become a role model for others. As we all know, the domino effect works remarkably well in our society: your habits can inspire others, and before you realise it, your surroundings will adopt similar values and practices as yourself.
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First, get inspired!Take a look at several tips that can help you reduce your CO2 consumption while also saving money by the end of the month. These tips will support you on the long journey towards adopting a healthier lifestyle and contribute to protecting the environment. 
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Environmental protection stems from small, everyday initiatives, and it is up to each of us to do our best to prevent the worsening of this severe situation. 
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Now, take action!This activity will help you structure your daily life around the protection of the environment. As this is a critical moment, you will soon notice the benefits — not only for the planet but also for your body, as you begin to feel healthier and enjoy the peace of mind that comes with a clear conscience.
Provide your own research based on your current lifestyle: Exploring the web can help you identify which aspects of your everyday life have the most significant impact on the environment. Once you’ve identified these, you can contemplate how to make drastic changes to these habits.
Initiate activities based on your needs: After conducting your research, adapt the results to fit your current lifestyle. There’s no need to tackle all the changes at once—patience is key in these matters, as the human brain tends to resist change. Start with simple, manageable tasks to realise that change is achievable. Once you’ve accomplished the initial steps, you’ll gradually build the confidence and ability to advance to more environmentally conscious activities.
Repeat your habits regularly: At first, repetition might feel challenging. The fast pace of life, combined with tasks and responsibilities, can hinder progress, and people often give up after a short period. However, before you know it, these new habits will become part of your identity.
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Even though it’s common to feel frustrated, fatigued, or disheartened and abandon new habits, try not to give up. Instead, reflect on the future and the positive impact your efforts will have on the environment. Consistency is the key to maintaining a new, healthier, and more sustainable lifestyle.
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Get your badge.
Complete some activities from the list above and apply for a badge (=click the "Get this badge" button below) to analyse which specific action you would like to proceed, how you intend to promote your event and in which methods and plans you will follow to execute this Action Correctly.
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Who is behind this activity?
Cities of Learning Network partners will support you in maintaining balance and will issue a badge recognising your ability to stay on track with an environmentally friendly lifestyle, aligned with European Youth Goal #10 Sustainable Green Europe. We value your commitment to being part of this change and wish to reward your efforts by granting badge recognition for your dedication and involvement in sustainable activities.
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Contact us for more details about the Erasmus+ co-funded project "European Youth Goals for Cities of Learning"
System&G, Greece - the project lead partner
CODEC, Belgium
Badgecraft, Lithuania
System&G Finland
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Disclaimer: We are grateful for the ideas generated by youth leaders and youth workers during the international study visits. To create this activity, humans collaborated with AI using the Youth Goals Hub GPT custom-built version, informed and inspired by the best youth work practices.
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Get activity badge

My Lifestyle Serves as an Example for the Citizens of Tomorrow Get this badge

This badge is awarded for completing the “Adopt a Sustainable Lifestyle” activity. While individual acts may seem small, they can inspire others to follow your example. Beyond industrial degradation, which is a major contributor, the Western way of living is equally responsible for environmental challenges and must adapt to foster meaningful change.
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Skills and experiences gained (according to GreenComp: The European Sustainability Competence Framework):
Ethical Awareness: By applying new principles and mottos to your lifestyle, you will create a personal ethical code grounded in environmental needs and urgencies. A balanced and sustainable lifestyle demonstrates your ability to raise awareness about current environmental challenges and take a stand against them in a peaceful and constructive manner. Through this new lifestyle, you will also develop empathy and a sense of global citizenship, demonstrating your understanding of the pressing issues of our time. 
Becoming a problem-solving individual: By researching ways to lead a fully sustainable life, you will train your mind to develop strategies and explore methods to consume less and minimise waste. This problem-solving approach will not only enhance your environmental practices but also equip you with strategic skills that can be applied to other areas of life, helping you tackle a variety of challenges effectively.
Discipline and Consistency: The ultimate goal is to transform sustainable practices into automatic behaviours. By cultivating the discipline to maintain eco-friendly habits over time, you will improve your overall self-discipline. This enhanced consistency will benefit other areas of your life, such as completing work-related tasks, delivering projects on time, and accomplishing duties that may initially seem challenging.
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This badge represents your ability to structure your daily life around environmentally friendly behaviours and habits. Individual eco-friendly actions align with European Youth Goal #10: A Sustainable Green Europe. The Cities of Learning Network celebrates young people’s initiatives and efforts to adopt sustainable behaviours. Although this badge addresses a long-term commitment to creating lasting habits, recognition will be given to individuals who demonstrate consistent adherence to eco-conscious practices at key milestones.

Tasks

Task no.1

Issued by organiser or scanning QR code

Conduct Personal Research and Identify Less Eco-Friendly Habits:
Task:  Create a list of all your regular lifestyle activities that could be considered unsustainable. These might include habits such as using a car instead of sustainable transport, relying on non-ecological lighting, or leaving lights on unnecessarily. Once you’ve identified these unsustainable behaviours, research and propose alternative solutions to reduce your CO2 emissions as much as possible. We recommend starting gradually rather than attempting to implement all changes at once. Progress slowly to ensure lasting adjustments.
Evidence: Upload a list of the initiatives you intend to adopt in your daily lifestyle. Explain how you plan to implement these changes, the approximate timeline for each, and why you consider them important. This step will help our team assess whether these measures are sustainable enough to earn the badge successfully.

Task no.2

Issued by organiser or scanning QR code

Repeat and Expand Your Sustainable Daily Routines Over a Month:
Task:  Practise your new sustainable habits consistently for a month. Keep weekly updates detailing which actions were effective and which need improvement. This will help you better understand potential challenges and identify practical solutions. If certain habits prove too difficult to maintain, consider pausing or modifying them rather than exhausting yourself. Overly strict routines can lead to frustration and abandonment of your efforts toward a sustainable lifestyle.
Evidence: Submit a one-page PDF summarising your daily habits over the month. Highlight which practices were successful, which require slower integration, and any adjustments you made. This reflection will help you address challenges and identify alternative approaches. For example, if commuting by car is unavoidable, consider options like teleworking a few days a week.

Task no.3

Issued by organiser or scanning QR code

Maintain Your Sustainable Habits for Two Consecutive Months: 
Task: Research suggests it takes an average of 66 days to adopt new habits and fully integrate them into your lifestyle. Therefore, we ask you to sustain these eco-friendly habits consistently for two months without interruption.
Evidence: Submit a final PDF report detailing your experience, reflecting on how these habits benefited you, and whether you plan to continue practising them. Even if you decide not to maintain these habits in the long term, the effort you invested in following them for two months will still be recognised with a badge. Your comments, feedback, and review of this process will also contribute to the development of future activities to support sustainable lifestyles.

Engage in an Environmental Activity in Your Country

Mandatory

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Activities: 5

Started: 1

Completed playlist: 0

Organisers

Network of Cities and Regions of Learning

Badgecraft hosts this platform and develops it together with leading educational organisations. The European Union's programme Erasmus+ granted co-funding for building the first version of this platform. Contact support@badgecraft.eu.