Do we really know the reality that young people live today? What are their concerns and interests? What stigmas are they fighting against? How does being digital natives affect this generation's issues? Before we delve into their reality, we suggest you reflect on this initial quiz considering the data for your country.

We hope that this starting point has helped you to reflect a little on how close you are to the reality of young people, and whether you need to do some more research on what data really corresponds to the youth in your region.

As we have seen in this first part, the youth population, which is also very diverse, can be grouped under some similar characteristics, such as level of education or training, social and political representation or the importance they give to environmental and mental health aspects.

Whether it's ethnicity, culture or socio-economic background, the youth here come from all walks of life. This rich tapestry is woven from factors like migration, which adds layers of cultural richness and varied identities. It's also important to remember that being 16 is very different from being 29; each age comes with its own unique perspective.

Education-wise, European youth are rocking it. Most complete their secondary education, and a large proportion goes on to tertiary education or vocational training. In fact, a considerable number of youth in Europe hold university degrees, which is pretty impressive.

However, when it comes to employment, the picture is different. Youth unemployment rates are higher compared to adults, and many young people find themselves in precarious jobs or facing long job searches. The transition from education to employment is a tough nut to crack, influenced by the education they've received, their work experience, and the job market policies of their countries.

On the flip side, the youth in Europe are highly engaged when it comes to social and political matters. They're passionate about causes like climate change, human rights and social justice. While they might not be flocking to traditional political parties or elections, they're very active in social movements, NGOs and volunteer work.

Now, let's talk about tech. European youth are digital natives – they've grown up with technology and are masters at navigating online spaces and social media. This has transformed how they consume information, learn and socialise. But with great power comes great responsibility, and there's a need for critical digital literacy to combat fake news and misinformation.

Mental health and well-being are big concerns for the youth in Europe. Academic pressure, job uncertainty, social expectations, the constant buzz of social media and the ecological anxiety can lead to high stress and mental health issues.

Special mention should be made of ecological anxiety: the engagement of young people in climate issues creates some awareness of eco-anxiety and this contributes to raising awareness of mental health issues. Unfortunately, access to mental health support is limited, so there's a pressing need for better policies and programs.

Lastly, let's not forget the values and attitudes that youth in Europe hold dear. They champion diversity, equality and human rights. They're open to different identities and sexual orientations, and they're generally more progressive than previous generations. Plus, they're very environmentally conscious, supporting green and sustainable initiatives and being at the forefront of the climate change movement with an incredible passion. Greta Thunberg, a young climate activist from Sweden, has become a global icon for her efforts to raise awareness and demand action on climate change. Many young people are inspired by her and participate in climate strikes and other environmental activities.

Young Europeans are not just the future; they are actively shaping the present with their progressive values and unwavering commitment to a better world.

For a deeper understanding of these values, check out the articles, podcasts and videos in the Resources section below.

Our role as youth workers is to positively influence young people's lives, promoting their well-being, personal development and active participation in society, especially on environmental issues and career guidance.

Therefore, in this sub-module, we will explore the competencies, responsibilities and approaches we need to adopt in order to play our role effectively.

But first things first. We need to be clear what we mean when we discuss youth work and youth workers.

Definitions of Youth Work

For the European Union, youth work is:

“a broad term covering a large scope of activities of a social, cultural, educational or political nature both by, with and for young people. Increasingly, such activities also include sport and services for young people. Youth work belongs to the area of ‘out-of-school’ education, as well as specific leisure time activities managed by professional or voluntary youth workers and youth leaders and is based on non-formal learning processes and on voluntary participation.”

The Council of Europe describes youth work as:

“a broad term covering a wide variety of activities of a social, cultural, educational, environmental and/or political nature by, with and for young people, in groups or individually. Youth work is delivered by paid and volunteer youth workers and is based on non-formal and informal learning processes focused on young people and on voluntary participation. Youth work is quintessentially a social practice, working with young people and the societies in which they live, facilitating young people’s active participation and inclusion in their communities and in decision making.”

In a nutshell, youth work is a social practice that seeks to accompany young people in their personal, social and educational development. It encompasses a wide range of activities and services aimed at supporting young people in their daily lives, from non-formal education to counselling and emotional support. Youth workers operate in a variety of contexts, including community centres, non-profit organisations, schools and government programmes.

Competences of a Youth Worker

Let’s begin to understand the competences you need to develop by using this wordsearch to find some of the main qualities and skills a youth worker should have:

There are many skills and competences related to youth work. The Council of Europe’s Youth Work Portfolio identifies no less than 31 competences grouped around 7 areas, each with its own set of skills.

Although all of them are relevant to your work as a youth worker (we encourage you to read them all carefully), we are going to highlight the ones that we believe are most relevant competences for youth work related to career guidance and care for the environment.

• Competence 1.1: Build positive, non-judgemental relationships with young people
• Competence 1.2: Understand the social context of young people’s lives
• Competence 1.3: Involve young people in the planning, delivery and evaluation of youth work using participatory methods, as suitable
• Competence 1.4: Relate to young people as equals
• Competence 1.5: Demonstrate openness in discussing young people’s personal and emotional issues when raised in the youth work context

• Competence 3.1: Assist young people to identify and take responsibility for the role they want to have in their community and society
• Competence 3.2: Support young people to identify goals, develop strategies and organise individual and collective action for social change
• Competence 3.3: Support young people to develop their critical thinking and understanding about society and power, how social and political systems work, and how they can have an influence on them
• Competence 3.4: Support the competence and confidence development of young people

We will get to know more about the Youth Work Portfolio in our Module 5, so be patient. For now, let’s focus on how we can develop these competences. How can we be good at this?

Practical Approaches to Youth Work

Managing/guiding a group of people is not easy and there is no ‘right’ way, because no two people are the same. We know that our groups are made up of young people, but each have their own characteristics and history, not to mention the differences between 16-year-olds and 29-year-olds. There are no recipes, BUT we do have the ingredients:

The only way to address young people's needs and aspirations is to know those needs. And to know those needs, it’s essential that young people feel confident, safe and comfortable enough to be honest about their needs and aspirations. To achieve this, we should actively listen and facilitate open and honest conversations, and create an atmosphere of trust and respect where a relationship flows without taboos. In addition, knowing the codes and languages that each generation uses will give us an advantage in connecting with young people. A horizontal approach will help us to connect more with what we want to transmit.

An example of a concrete activity for this purpose is "The spider's web activity", where participants introduce themselves and, with a ball of wool, a symbolic web of connection between everyone is made. Then, in small groups, we can create visual maps that represent the diversity within the group. Afterwards, we lead a discussion on how to foster a supportive, inclusive and respectful environment, and close by writing the conclusions on a large flipchart, which we will all sign, making these conclusions the group ground rules.

From this activity, we draw another skill that we need to cultivate in ourselves: participatory decision-making. If the young people in our group see themselves not only as passive participants receiving training but also as active members, the connection and trust created will not only improve their self-esteem, but also improve the process as a whole.

Empathy in Youth Work

Empathy is another basic skill to build strong and meaningful relationships with young people. Youth workers must be able to put themselves in the shoes of young people, understand their perspectives and experiences, and provide emotional support and guidance.

When young people are looking for a job and have socio-environmental concerns, they can be paralysed by the paradox of accepting a job that contradicts their ideals. One risk we have as youth workers, therefore, is falling into paternalism ("this is what you should do") or, at the other extreme, irrationality ("change your life and pursue your dreams like there is no tomorrow"). The skills we have seen so far (empathy, decision-making etc.) are fundamental in order to balance our guidance effectively.

But it’s not only about management skills, as we must have knowledge of, in this case, employment and environmental issues.

Knowledge and Networking

We cannot guide young people properly on employment without knowing the most important features of the labour market in our country or region, and also the most basic employment policies (and especially those that directly affect young people). Inevitably, we must have sufficient knowledge about labour rights, so that young people know what rights and responsibilities they have.

On the other hand, we must know the causes and consequences of the most important environmental problems at the global level and at the local level, and consequently the connection between the two. We also need to know the essential environmental laws, especially those in the labour field, so that when our young people are looking for a job, they know how to assess a company's commitment to the environment.

Obviously, we cannot be experts in everything, so the essential skill to develop is knowing how to find and weave contacts with those experts (people, companies, trade unions etc.). In Module 6, “Mapping the opportunities”, we will go deeper, but for the moment, we encourage you to map the resources available in your area on these issues. Here are some resources that may help you:

• Information on EU Environment Policy, which provides the framework for the environmental policies of EU member countries.
• Information on EU Labour Law
• Information on EU Youth Employment Support
• Consequences of climate change - European Commission.

We invite you to carry out the following exercise of self-reflection on the methodologies that youth workers use, as a way of closing this section. In it, you will find ideas on how to further enhance the connection we make with young people:

Diversity is an intrinsic characteristic of contemporary European youth. Young people come from a variety of cultural, social and economic backgrounds, and have a wide range of identities, beliefs and experiences. As youth workers, it is essential to recognise and value this diversity in order to create inclusive and effective environments that respond to the needs of all young people. This sub-module offers strategies and reflections for adapting our work to this diversity and promoting inclusion.

To do this, we must first understand the different aspects that make up this diversity:

• Cultural Diversity: Europe is a continent with a rich and growing cultural and ethnic diversity. Young people may belong to different ethnic groups, have a migrant background or be part of minority communities. It is crucial to recognise and respect these differences, promoting an environment where all cultures are valued and celebrated. And within countries, we can also see differences between young people from urban and rural areas; regional accents and vastly differing views are just two examples.
• Socio-economic Diversity: Young people come from different socio-economic backgrounds, which influences their opportunities, resources and challenges. It is important to be aware of the economic barriers that some young people may face and provide support and resources to level the playing field.
• Gender and Sexual Diversity: Gender identity and sexual orientation are important aspects of young people's identity. Creating safe and inclusive spaces where young people can express their identity without fear of discrimination is critical. This includes the use of inclusive language and support for gender and sexual diversity.
• Diversity of Abilities: Not all young people have the same physical, mental and emotional capacities. Adapting activities and programmes to be accessible and inclusive for all is essential to ensure that all young people can participate fully, overcoming any potential barriers.

As we have seen, young people experience diversity in different forms and as a youth worker this is not always easy. For this, it is important to have an eye on inclusion.

Inclusion is proactive, so it does not settle for just non-discrimination, but provides the means and resources for all people to feel comfortable in a given group, and to participate to the extent they wish to. In other words, it is not about ignoring a person's low participation, but neither is it about forcing him or her to do more. It is a process in which we must try to reach that person with different strategies, letting them know that we take them into account and value them.

For this reason, many of the best strategies to foster inclusion have already been mentioned in this module, such as active listening, identification of needs and interests, participatory decision-making or the creation of an environment of trust and respect.

Creativity is another basic skill to foster inclusion, because if, for example, the activity we had prepared to identify a girl's needs does not work, we need to think of another activity to achieve that goal. That is why we must constantly train ourselves to learn new activities, methods and techniques. In this sense, it is very important to collaborate with other organisations and networks that work with diverse groups which can provide additional support and specialised resources. This includes working with organisations that focus on advocacy for girls’/women’s rights, minority rights, LGTBIQ+ groups and people with disabilities, amongst others.

Emotional adaptability is an individual's ability to adapt and recover from situations of adversity, stress or trauma. It is a crucial competence both for young people and for ourselves as youth workers. In today's context, where young people face a variety of challenges, from academic pressure to job uncertainty, as well as the climate crisis, military conflicts and mental health, developing the ability to manage stress and adapt to adverse situations is critical.

This sub-module focuses on providing tools and reflections to improve emotional control in various situations and foster greater adaptability and mental strength among the young people we work with. Emotional adaptability is the ability to cope with stressful situations and recover from adversity. It's a critical skill for young people as they navigate the complexities of modern life.

Numerous studies highlight the importance of emotional adaptability. For instance, research published in academic journals shows that high levels of adaptability are associated with better mental health outcomes, including lower rates of anxiety and depression. Individuals with strong coping skills are more likely to succeed academically and socially, demonstrating the far-reaching benefits of fostering this skill in youth.

Young people in Europe today face significant stresses, including academic pressure, social expectations, and an uncertain future. According to different research, a large percentage of young people report feeling stressed due to academic workload and future uncertainties.

Social pressure also plays a substantial role in the mental health of young people in Europe. The impact of social media on mental health has been documented in studies across European countries, highlighting increased levels of anxiety and depression among teenagers who spend excessive time online.

Additionally, eco-anxiety, defined as the chronic fear of environmental doom, is an emerging concern among young people worldwide, including in Europe. A global survey published in The Lancet Planetary Health found that a significant percentage of young Europeans are very or extremely worried about climate change. This anxiety about the future of the planet can contribute to feelings of helplessness and stress, highlighting the need for effective coping strategies and building mental strength.

Understanding these pressures and incorporating strategies to build emotional adaptability and strength can significantly impact the well-being and development of young people in Europe. By providing them with the tools to manage stress and adapt to challenges, we can help them develop a healthier outlook and a stronger sense of self-efficacy.

Emotional resilience helps young people to maintain mental and emotional balance, even in difficult situations. This is essential to minimise mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.

To maintain mental and emotional balance, we can use the following strategies:

• Meditation techniques: Incorporating mindfulness and meditation practices into sessions can help young people develop greater awareness of their emotions and thoughts, and regulate their emotional responses.
• Personal Reflection: Encouraging personal reflection through journaling, group discussions or art activities can help young people identify and process their emotions.
• Learning from Failure: Teaching young people to see failures as learning opportunities rather than insurmountable obstacles can strengthen their resilience. Activities that celebrate attempts and mistakes can be helpful, especially in such an unpredictable area as employment and the disappointments that young people can face with jobs that are only apparently "green."
• Goal Setting: Helping young people set achievable goals and develop plans to achieve them can foster a positive, proactive mindset.
• Building Support Networks: Encourage the creation of support networks among young people, facilitating the formation of peer groups where they can share experiences and offer mutual support. Promoting a safe space from the first moment of contact with the group will facilitate the initial building of support networks.
• Access to Mental Health Resources: Providing information and access to potential mental health resources, such as counsellors, therapists and helplines, is critical to providing comprehensive support.
• Physical and Recreational Activities: Regular physical and recreational activities can help reduce stress and improve emotional well-being. Include these types of activities in your workshops and training with young people.
• Community Service Projects: Engaging young people in volunteering and community service projects can provide a sense of purpose and connection, strengthening their resilience, as well as establishing new social relationships that can be beneficial.

And while we are on the subject of mental health, it is crucial to take care of our own mental health. Guiding a group of young people is tremendously satisfying but challenging: it involves a lot of responsibility and conflict management.

In a survey of youth workers, 72% of youth workers claim to have experienced burnout, and accordingly, the research suggests that youth workers often leave their organisations and change career. This was confirmed by 70% of youth workers who claim to know colleagues that have left youth work due to burnout or poor working conditions.

Again, there are no magic recipes, but some things can be done:

• Taking care of the mental health of your group of young people and taking care of your own mental health are mutually reinforcing: if you create a participative, trusting and safe group climate, the relationships between all the people will be healthy, the atmosphere will be relaxed, people will feel valued and possible conflicts that arise will be dealt with in an appropriate and healthy way, having a very positive impact on the mental health of the whole group (including you).

Fostering coping strategies in young people and youth workers is an ongoing process that requires a holistic and adaptive approach. By implementing inclusive strategies that focus on emotional well-being, we can help young people address their current challenges and prepare them for a more balanced and fulfilling life.

It’s also important to establish self-care routines that include adequate rest, healthy eating and regular exercise.

And, what about professional support? Do not hesitate to seek professional support when needed, either through therapy or counselling. But, in this respect, we believe that the conclusion of the qualitative research Well-being on Youth Workers is essential:

At the end, we would like to point out something that was mentioned many times during this research, and it regards all levels of support. The youth workers who participated in this research expressed a strong need for free supervision, or, in case of an emergency, free access to psychological support. Psychological support, just as the rest of the suggestions for support, could build a more productive and healthier environment for youth workers and all young people.

We realised how it can be difficult for youth workers to work in the working conditions in which they do now, and especially when facing crisis situations, or even some everyday challenges. One of the respondents explained it like this:

“I think overall, at all levels, the support which is missing is related to Mental Health, stress management and conflict - Psychological help is something still only for the privileged (financially) and the structures are not there yet to provide it at a lower cost, even if the conversation around mental health is opening. So now there is a need, not only to have the conversation, but to demand proper structures to deal with stress at work, emotion, both in personal and professional life, counselling, and so on. To make it something that is not only a fashion/trend, but as something that is not only for those who can afford a 50€ session.”

CLOSING

As a final reflection on all these issues, we invite you to listen to this short interview with Raquel Cabello, a youth worker from a municipality in Andalusia and board member of the Andalusian Association of Youth Workers. Through some questions, we can visualise how this person carries out her daily work as a youth worker.

Interview with Raquel Cabello, youth technician, on how to connect with young people.

Understanding the unique characteristics and challenges of young people is crucial for guiding them effectively, especially when they're passionate about environmental advocacy and dealing with eco-anxiety. As a youth worker, your role is to support these young individuals in transforming their concerns into constructive career paths.

Recognising diversity among young people allows you to tailor your guidance, ensuring each person feels understood and supported. By fostering coping strategies, you help them manage their eco-anxiety and maintain their commitment to environmental causes, which is essential for long-term success in related careers.

By integrating these approaches into your work, you'll be better equipped to create a supportive environment where young people can thrive, both personally and professionally, enabling them to pursue meaningful careers and stay engaged in their advocacy work. Ultimately, this integrated approach will help young people transform their concerns into constructive action, fostering both their growth and the greater good they seek to achieve.

The term sustainability is not new. Its use is documented as early as 1713 in German forestry to claim that no more wood should be cut than can grow back. In recent years, the term has experienced a boom. In the face of an escalating climate crisis, appeals to bring human activity into harmony with nature are becoming louder and more frequent. There is no uniform understanding of sustainability. However, most definitions stress that the planet’s available resources should be exploited only to such an extent that all people, regardless of where they live in the world right now, as well as future generations, may live a good life.

The present, however, is far from sustainable, since the planet’s resources are currently being overexploited. In the year 2024, all of the Earth’s natural resources which are renewable within a year had been used up on the first of August. This day is known as Earth Overshoot Day.

A look at chart 1 shows that different countries exploit natural resources at different rates. While the countries of the so-called Global North had their country-specific depletion days almost entirely in the first half of the year, the majority of those in the Global South were in the second half. Generally speaking, the Global North contributes significantly more to the global overload than the Global South. This discrepancy lies at the core of issues addressed by the climate justice movement.

Today, 98% of scientists agree that the climate crisis is human-made. However, it is important to emphasise that not everyone is equally responsible for the crisis and not everyone suffers equally from its consequences. While the richest 1% of the world’s population is responsible for twice as many emissions as the poorer half, it is precisely those who contribute the least who are affected the most. The concept of climate (in)justice highlights that the ecological crisis is just as much a social crisis on a global scale.

The basic pattern that wealth correlates with high emissions applies both to inter-country (see chart 1) and to intra-country (societal) level (see chart 2). The chart shows that the richest 10% of the world’s population is responsible for almost half of the consumer emissions worldwide.

While efforts to protect the climate should certainly concern everyone, those with the highest ecological footprint have a special role to play. A lot could already be achieved by changing unsustainable economic practices and individual behaviours in consumer societies. However, economic activity and lifestyles in the Global North are systemically linked to persisting structures of capitalism, colonialism and racism, making harmful patterns difficult to change.

Many scholars date the historical roots of climate change back to the 18th century where the industrial revolution, colonialism, and capitalism came together in a very specific conjunction. The invention of the steam engine and its use in the English cotton industry from 1760 onwards marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. When coal, mineral oil, or natural gas is burnt to release energy, they emit greenhouse gases into the earth’s atmosphere and lead to global warming (see box below).

Today, the steam engine is not only symbolic of a changed mode of production (keyword: industrialisation), it is also symbolic of a changed economic system (keyword: capitalism, see box below). The use of fossil fuels allowed accelerated production, increased trade, and profits, and concentrated capital on the side of a few - the owners. Over time, the production of goods became more a means of making profits than of satisfying human needs, one of the central traits of capitalism (see box below).

Capitalism engendered mass production and a global transport system for goods, with severe consequences for the climate. In chart 4, we can see how greenhouse gas emissions have increased since the beginning of the industrial revolution (see chart 4).

The industrial revolution and capitalism would probably not have developed as rapidly had they not evolved in the context of European colonialism. Although capitalism always goes hand in hand with the exploitation of natural resources and human labour, this was taken to extremes in the colonised territories. Land theft, destruction of ecosystems, displacements, and enslavement of local peoples to increase the colonialists’ profits were daily routines. Racist reasoning served to "legitimise" violence and exploitation.

Even if the above-mentioned forms of European colonialism and enslavement are largely history, they continue to have an impact until this day. The expression ‘post-colonialism’ refers to the continuing effects of more than 500 years of colonialism, both in the form of economic exploitation and racism. The post-colonial reality also finds its expression in the current climate crisis, namely through large-scale extractives in post-colonial countries and the unequal distribution of root causes of, and suffering from, climate change between the Global North and Global South (see above). Some activists speak of ‘environmental racism’ and call for the adoption of a decolonial perspective in the fight against climate change. They argue that, for a just transition, racism, unequal exploitation, and social division need to be replaced with global solidarity and justice.

Protagonists of the global movement for climate justice focus on the global inequalities reflected and strengthened by the climate crisis.

Additional material:
Watch Vanessa Nakate, a Ugandan climate activist, talk about climate justice and racism (in German, with subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufcZE7EbBb0 (from minute 2:20).

The current climate crisis is a very dynamic phenomenon. New facts are published daily and it may seem impossible to stay up to date. Nevertheless, it is important to stay informed, not least because there is also a lot of fake news out there. Many young people are well informed about climate change and its causes; however, they are also confronted with contradictory and dubious information. It is important to be able to provide reliable information and trustworthy sources.

Current global warming poses great dangers for people and ecosystems. Stopping it requires efforts at all levels: political, societal and personal.

Political efforts

Climate change does not stop at national borders. Climate-damaging behaviour, no matter where in the world it occurs, affects the climate worldwide. Measures to combat global warming, therefore, need to be adopted at an international level. International regulations must target the economy as the inner dynamics of capitalism drive competition and the pursuit for profit, and will, if not regulated, cause more damage in the future.

On May 9, 1992, a first important step towards international regulation was taken, when 154 countries adopted the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The declared goals were the stabilisation of greenhouse gas emissions and the adoption of the principle of climate justice. Following the convention, the UN Climate Change Conference held annual meetings. The most impactful ones to date were held in Kyoto (1997), Cancun (2010), Paris (2015) and Dubai in 2023. Another milestone at UN level was the General Assembly’s resolution on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in New York in 2015. At EU level, some important steps have been taken since 2019 - see the table below.

Despite these numerous commitments to climate protection at global and European level, implementation by national governments is still too slow. The organisation Germanwatch undertakes an annual climate policy rating of the 57 countries with the highest emissions. Every year, places 1 to 3 remain vacant, as the organisation finds that none of the countries have an adequate climate protection policy. In 2024, ranked 4 to 10 were Denmark, Estonia, The Philippines, India, Netherlands, Morocco and Sweden. Achievements which were evaluated in a positive manner, included comparatively low per capita emissions (India), efforts in the area of energy efficiency (Morocco), renewable energies (Estonia) or circular economy (Netherlands).

Education

Education is an important lever for sustainability. Today, there are various educational approaches that aim to strengthen the understanding of global interdependencies and responsible global citizenship.

• Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is listed under goal 4.7 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. It aims at enabling learners to understand the global interconnections and interdependencies relating to climate change and align personal decisions with the UN development goals. The focus is on decision-making and action skills for sustainable development.
• Global Education (GE) aims to overcome Eurocentrism in education by making the interconnectedness of living conditions worldwide a cross-cutting issue for education. People should understand global power relations and their effects, but at the same time, perceive themselves as competent citizens who can advocate for change.
• Global Citizenship Education (GCE) understands people as global citizens who should act responsibly. GCE focuses its education at the cognitive, social-emotional and behavioural level of personal development.
• GreenComp is a reference framework for sustainable competences for use in educational settings which was edited by the European Commission. It gives guidance related to the development of “knowledge, skills and attitudes that promote ways to think, plan and act with empathy, responsibility, and care for our planet and for public health” (for GreenComp, see more in module 5).

Activism

For many people, the change that is being initiated at the political level is too slow. In recent years, more and more civil society movements are being formed to increase pressure on governments to take more and faster action against global warming. The stories of climate activists tell of anger, courage, perseverance and, in some cases, also success.

To tell these stories is important since it can be uplifting to hear about activists fighting for shared values, especially when people feel hopeless in the face of the climate crisis.

Watch now an interview with young Austrian Aeron Treiblmayr who tells us how he became a climate activist and student in Social Economics. His journey there was all but linear and consists of a drop-out of a vocational training followed by a period of not knowing what to do next, just as much as a random selection for Austria’s climate council of citizens.

Interview with young Austrian Aeron Treiblmayr

Some examples for climate activism:

• In Europe, Fridays for Future is probably the best known among movements against climate change. The movement was started by the young Swede Greta Thunberg in 2018 but has spread throughout the world, reaching as far as Australia, China, Japan, East Timor, Thailand and USA. The movement is mainly made up of school and university students. However, supporter groups such as Parents, Scientists, Teachers and Entrepreneurs for Future have emerged in many countries.
• Climate activism is not a European phenomenon. Many indigenous peoples around the world are among the longest, loudest and most courageous among protesters. Their struggles are important as they often combine the preservation of ecosystems and the climate with a fight against extractivism, capitalist exploitation, post-colonial inequalities and racism, and thus the root causes of global warming (see above). Indigenous people’s battles for the preservation of nature are often struggles for survival and the cultivation of a lifestyle vastly different to consumerist and environmentally harmful ones. It is important to acknowledge movements in the Global South and by indigenous peoples in order not to reproduce Eurocentric misconceptions about climate activism.

Individual level

Many people are already further ahead in aligning action and personal convictions than governments. They see climate-friendly behaviour not as a restriction to their own freedom, but as a way of securing freedom in the future.

A youth study conducted by Greenpeace in 2022 showed that young people aged between 17 and 24 are more aware of sustainability than other age groups and want their politicians to act. At the same time, consumption is an important part of youth cultures in the Global North. There is thus a gap between problem awareness and behaviour.

Youth workers can be important role models with regard to climate-friendly behaviour.

There are plenty of little things that can be done to live more sustainably.

Here are 18 climate protection tips from WWF:

Nutrition

• Only buy what you can really use
• Eating vegetables is much more climate-friendly than eating meat
• Look out for fairtrade and organic labels when buying food

Waste

• Use reusable instead of disposable containers
• Recycle your waste properly
• Try to repair instead of buying new

Mobility

• Use environmentally friendly means of transport (bike, public transportation)
• Only use the car when absolutely necessary
• Minimise your ecological footprint by carpooling

Living

• Reduce your power consumption through greater energy efficiency
• Use green electricity
• Heat more energy-efficiently through ventilation and neighbourhood heating

Travel

• Go on holiday nearby
• Avoid flying within Europe
• Choose accommodation that respects the environment

Consumption

• Inform yourself about the products you buy
• Borrow instead of buying new
• Choose a bank with social and environmental standards

Sometimes, knowledge about how to act sustainably is there, but it’s the circumstances that prevent realisation. Working to ameliorate the circumstances so that sustainable action becomes easy for everyone is a rewarding thing to do. We then speak of an increase of the ecological HANDprint (as the positive counterpart to the ecological footprint).

Creating a physical map with green work and green training opportunities in a given territory to support local youth in their pursuit for sustainable careers, as is suggested in module 6, increases one’s ecological handprint!

Module 2 focused on the topic of ‘knowledge’ and emphasised how closely knowledge and values are linked. It dealt with various aspects of the climate crisis and the struggle against it:

Attention to environmental sustainability is certainly one of the most important issues and challenges of recent years, as discussed in the previous module. As a youth worker, you will have come across it very often with youth groups, and have noticed that climate change is also playing an increasingly important role in the life decisions of the next generation. In fact, Gen Z and Millennials have a great desire to prioritise environmental sustainability but face complex difficulties in doing so. The questions we will try to answer, therefore, are: why is it that, although Gen Zs and Millennials have a great focus on green and sustainable values, they struggle so much to introduce them into their lives in general, and their careers specifically? What factors are holding them back? How can they be supported in harmonising life, work, and sustainability?

If we focus instead on the impact climate change has on young people's lives, we will see that 6 out of 10 young people say they have experienced anxious feelings about climate change in the last month and that it is also impacting their careers and lifestyle decisions. We won't go into the growing phenomenon of eco-anxiety - which we already addressed in Module 1 - but this data helps us contextualise the feelings of today's young people who, despite the difficulties, try to act. For example, 73% of Millennials report that they try daily to reduce their impact on the environment and more than 50% of young people would be willing to pay more for more eco-friendly products, despite low salaries. However, many believe that this will be very difficult if economic conditions do not improve. Today young people, on average, earn less money compared to their parents and grandparents, emphasised by the fact that more than 60% of young people have a second job. It must, therefore, be recognised that there are structural and social factors that make it difficult for workers and companies themselves to behave sustainably. Still, many young people are willing to align their jobs with their green values. As reported in the table: one in six young people say they have already changed or plan to change jobs because of their concern for the environment; around 46% of young people reported that they are encouraging their employer to consider environmental issues, with many believing that they can influence their organisation’s sustainability efforts.

To sum up, it appears therefore, that whilst young people have a great sensibility for environmental issues, and would wish for their places of work to improve in this area, precarious economic conditions and social factors hinder progress in this area. They believe in what they are doing and we, as youth workers, need to be on their side in this change.

Most people will have had to answer the question, “What line of work are you in?” several times in their life, and the answer we give already tells a lot about ourselves and our personality. Work is certainly a very important part of each of our lives because not only does it take up a lot of our time, but the path we took to get to our chosen profession is part of us and who we are.

Our perception of ‘work’ can be discussed through the following question: is work a means to achieve something (a certain lifestyle, an economic condition or a chance to sustain yourself so that you can then devote yourself to something else) or is it a means to convey something about yourself, such as what you believe in and your values? Of course, there is no right or wrong answer, nor is there a single point of view regarding work and values. However, we often do not stop long enough to think: “What is work for me?”

That is why we have prepared a tool in this chapter that will guide us on a path of self-reflection to better understand the values we believe in and what we want to pass on to the young people we meet. We will proceed in steps, reconstructing the timeline of our lives, putting different experiences on the scale to understand which ones were personally fulfilling and allowed us to express ourselves, and finally seek to know fully the values that move us. Once we have discovered our core values through the self-reflection tool, we will understand if we are really putting them into practice in our daily lives.

This course is not meant to make judgements, but it is meant to offer a chance to discover one more piece of ourselves; to understand if and how we really put into action what we believe in, in every aspect of our life, including employment.

As youth workers, doing this exercise ourselves will aid you in asking the same of the young people you meet.

HOW TO?

Try the self-reflection tool now as this will help you to better understand the topics of this module but also to facilitate an exercise with young people.

Thank you for putting yourself out there. It is not always easy to look inside yourself but hopefully this tool has allowed you to be clearer about your values’ boundaries and about how you can implement those values you haven’t yet put in practice in life and work.

Let’s continue with the module activities!

REMEMBER
"To work for a living": this is often how young people perceive the world of work. A phrase that seems in stark contrast to the beliefs of the previous generation, which was more accustomed to the concept of "live to work". What has changed? The focus has shifted from work as an all-encompassing view of life, to work as a means to afford a better life, and thus obtain money to improve one's quality of life. Despite this ambition, the picture that emerges of young people who are already in the world of work is quite different. It is not difficult to find youngsters with a second job in order to make ends meet; others are precarious, and although they make a narrative of freedom and independence, many young people under 35, especially from southern Europe, still live with their parents because they are unable to be financially independent.

 

Let's take a look at the expectations towards work. Here too, compared to the narrative of previous generations much has changed. The young person is a worker who does not want to be selected but wants to select. What does this mean? It means that fewer and fewer young people do not look exclusively at wages but feel that the values of the companies they work for are important. As we also noted in the self-reflection process, values are the qualities and virtues that are most significant to us; the compass that guides us in our behaviour and life choices. The value of 'work' for today's young people is clear - the right job counts more than the fixed job. There is a need to feel that work has a value. This is why more and more young people are making a point of choosing organisations that integrate the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, and looking for a company that pays attention to sustainability in their mission, then translating it into concrete policies and actions.

After a personal reflection moment, we will now try to understand how you can find a balance between life, values and work. In this part, we will better understand what work-life balance, work-life integration and work-life harmony are and how these strategies can help you and the young people you meet to better integrate the values you believe in.

We start here:
“labour is not a commodity and all human beings, regardless of race, creed or gender, have the right to pursue both their material well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity, economic security and equal opportunities”

This statement is part of the Philadelphia Declaration of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and underlines the fact that paid work is much more than just satisfying the material needs of workers. Work should also provide the opportunity to satisfy personal life, thus ensuring a healthy balance among work and private life that has positive effects on psychological, spiritual and physical health. In fact, if you feel you have room, at work or in your private life, to nurture and respect the values you believe in, your satisfaction and happiness will certainly increase and this will also allow you to have a better balance.

Let us therefore better understand what strategies to implement to achieve this, whilst introducing some examples related to the world of sustainability.

Work-life balance

What is work-life balance?
The expression refers to the need to find a balance between time for one's private life and time for work, between productivity and relaxation, between professional growth and nutrition of the soul. As we often see in our work and that of the people around us, finding a balance is not easy. Mainly because there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ formula. The right balance is different for each of us: for some, it may mean flexible hours to attend family events, while for others, it may involve mindfulness practices to relieve stress. We must also consider that balance is not necessarily about dividing time equally.

Why do we struggle to find balance?
The difficulty in finding a balance is often associated with two main aspects: on the one hand, the lack of time and scheduling conflicts; and on the other, the feeling of being overwhelmed, overloaded or stressed by the pressure of multiple roles. We therefore fail to have a good work-life balance because it may happen that the overall demands of the work role and the personal role are somehow incompatible.

Examples are role overload, when the demands on time and energy associated with the activities of multiple roles are too high to perform adequately. Or work-family interference, when the demands and responsibilities of work make it more difficult to fulfil the responsibilities of the family role, or vice versa. Another example, increasingly common in our society, is caregiver stress - the need to provide care or assistance to someone else who needs it - thus preventing a good work-life balance.

So, what is the ultimate goal?
The ultimate goal of this strategy is to feel fulfilled and satisfied with both aspects of one's life. The balance between work and private life is the key to a sustainable and satisfying career: it is therefore not a matter of separating work from life, but of harmoniously merging the two to create a symphony of success and happiness.

The green example
Within the work-life balance strategy, some examples for putting the value of sustainability into practice could be: engaging in volunteer actions for the environment; participating in ecological walks organised in our territories; becoming active in one's community by attending the different associations that fight for climate change, or even participating in climate events that are organised in our cities. These examples have varying degrees of intensity, precisely because, in the work-life balance strategy, time does not have to be divided equally and engagements happen outside the workplace. By adopting this strategy, each of us can act in the way and time that we see fit.

Work-life integration

The continued growth of smart-working has largely erased the boundary between work and private life. So, the debate on work-life balance has been rekindled and in the course of discussions, new concepts have arisen, including ‘work-life integration’.

What is work-life integration?
Work-life integration is a holistic approach that, differently from work-life balance, seeks to merge personal and professional needs. Instead of treating work and life as separate entities to be balanced, risking conflict between the two worlds, the work-life integration approach aims to find areas of compromise and synergy with the ultimate goal of increasing worker satisfaction to be fulfilled both at work and in our wider lives.

What are the basic principles of work-life integration?
Organisations play a big role in this strategy: the idea is to build capacity by providing supportive and empathetic leadership, grant workers more flexibility, provide more opportunities for learning and growth, and work internally to develop a sense of community. A workplace that is more open and attentive to all aspects of life ensures that workers feel more fulfilled and do not necessarily have to draw a line between personal life and work. This approach also ensures that the values one believes in can be reflected in the place where one works, providing even more incentive to put them into practice.

The green example
In contrast to the green example of work-life balance, where we are mainly concerned with what the individual can do in favour of environmental sustainability, in the work-life integration approach the organisation or company one works for plays an important role.

• choosing to use recyclable coffee cups or washable cutlery: the employee can bring the ‘good practice’ of using his or her own coffee cup into the company, or the organisation can make it available;
• eliminating the use of unnecessary plastic: this can be done by motivating individual workers, but also through specific company directives;
• involving workers in training moments in which to raise awareness on the subject in order to spread green values: this can start with the individual during informal moments such as lunch breaks, or it can be “institutionalised” in real moments of the year dedicated to this issue.

Work-life harmony

The concept of work-life integration also has its limitations. At the individual and leader level, one must constantly start, stop, reconsider and move forward, and this is only possible if we focus on something other than balance or integration. This is why the model has been updated in recent years with the idea of work-life harmony

This strategy, compared to the previous ones, is much more about the personal - what energy we have and how it is invested. The focus of the thinking is that time is limited and cannot be recovered. On the contrary, the energy we have is a force that can be raised or lowered. Therefore, by identifying how much time is available and how much energy we need to devote to a given topic, we can perform the different tasks in a way that does not feel overloaded. Therefore, thanks to this calculation between energy and time, we will feel stronger because we will be able to harmonise our energy with our goals. If work-life balance and work-life integration are more focused on investigating the what, the how, and the extent, the work-life harmony approach investigates the why - Why do I do what I do for a living? For whom do I do it? And with whom do I do it? By starting with these questions, which we have also seen to be important in the self-reflection tool, we better understand the concept of harmony: aligning who I am as a person with my values and ideas, with the choice of job, rather than having to draw a line between personal and professional life. In summary, we could say that the more our personal values and the values the organisation we work for overlap, the better our life and work will be harmonised.

The green example
Examples of work-life harmony in the green sphere might include: working at associations, organisations or NGOs that have sustainability as one of their goals or working at companies that promote the use of natural light, renewable energy or green solutions for mobility to the workplace.

All jobs can include some aspect of sustainability; you don't necessarily have to work in renewable energy companies or be a transition worker. We believe that everyone, at least to some extent, can bring the values of sustainability within their place of work.

Here we bring you a concrete example, an inspirational story, that can guide us to promote the vision of sustainability and pass on the idea that we can bring change to our daily realities.

Progetto QUID produces ethical ‘Made in Italy’ fashion from end-of-series fabrics, offering professional and training opportunities to people at risk of social and labour exclusion, with a migratory background and/or in fragile conditions, with particular attention to women. The objective of re-employment is achieved by employing people in the production and design of ethical clothing. To learn more about this reality, watch this video:

PROGETTO QUID: A CONCRETE EXAMPLE

The module emphasises the importance of self-reflection in life choices, both professional and private, encouraging one to respect one's values. A self-reflection tool is proposed to analyse past experiences, identify guiding values, and understand whether they are reflected in one's work. In particular, environmental sustainability emerges as a core value for younger generations, but they struggle to fully integrate it into their careers, often due to economic and structural obstacles. However, many young people seek to influence their employers in favour of more sustainable practices.

This module explores three key strategies for reconciling life, work, and values: work-life balance, work-life integration, and work-life harmony. These approaches offer different ways to harmonise personal and professional aspects while aiming for overall well-being. Concrete examples are also presented on how to promote sustainability, both personally and within organisations. An inspiring case is that of Progetto QUID, which combines ethics, fashion, and social inclusion, demonstrating that even small actions can generate a positive and sustainable impact in the world of work.

“A ship in the harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” - John Shedd, 1928

Just like the ships designed to navigate vast oceans, humans are built for exploration, growth, and achievement. The existence of each of us is a journey through the ocean of life, and we are born to evolve. Today’s world, near and far, is a world of change, so vast and rapid that our life is a continuous journey through change.

In the 1990s, it was common for leaders to address young people with "You are the change!" This was the desired image of the young person: a person able to introduce change, navigate it, and change the status quo. However, as George Bernard Shaw once said, "those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." In reality, before we change the world around us, we need to see that change starts within us.

In this module, we will try to understand what change is, how it affects us, and how we react and cope with changes in the world, at work, and with those around us. On the basis of this experience, we will try to build a plan for personal change, useful for you as youth workers, but also for young people. It will start within the field of employment, which normally presents a huge change for each of us, so that we can be ready to think about its meaning and embrace it. We will need some time to try to adapt ourselves and accept it—and this means thinking about how and what to change inside ourselves.

Once we have thought this through carefully, we will also look at the changes in our workplace: what they are, how they happen, how they can be managed or how we can manage ourselves within them. We are the change: maybe you won't start changing your workplace completely and immediately, but the desire for change and the opportunity to bring it should be with us. This is why we need to be prepared when the time comes.

What is change?

To familiarise yourself with the concept of change, we propose a little exercise. Try to write a short poem of five lines about change:

1. One noun that describes the change;
2. Two adjectives that describe the change;
3. Three verbs that express the actions of the change;
4. Four words that express your feelings towards the change;
5. One word that expresses the essence of the change.

An example:

1. Travel
2. Fast – Educating
3. Embrace – Sweep – Transform
4. Surprise – Anxiety – Confusion – Enjoyment
5. Everywhere

Now that you have created your personal image of what change is for you, let's have a look at the dictionary definition of change. According to different definitions, change is:

• … to make someone or something different, alter, or modify.
• … to replace something with something else, especially something of the same kind that is newer or better, substitute one thing for another.
• … to alter means to make or become different; change implies making either an essential difference often amounting in a loss of original identity or a substitution of one thing for another.

As we can see from the definition above, change is what modifies the status quo, and what brings something new to ourselves, such as new understandings, new values, new relationships, new skills, or even a new way of life. We could find that change is all around us: starting from what is close, for example our family environment or in our circle of loved ones, but also including what is distant, such as the change that comes from the world around us that cannot be avoided. Change often cannot be resisted and forces us to ride its waves, and sometimes it makes us change or try to change the world around us. This is why it is important in this first part of the module to focus on personal change.

As we have heard, life is always a change but sometimes we face a big or sudden one that’s hard to deal with, and it causes stress, which can last for a period of time. Once the change reaches us, it will affect us, but we can be prepared for it. It is important to realise that the world is changing around us and if we are not prepared, it may be more complex to deal with. Often, our previous ways to solve problems may not work anymore following the change. We cannot always continue behaving, solving problems, or reacting to them as we did before.

Here is an example: following years of formal education, many of your young people are moving into the world of work. However, this may mean great changes in their personal lives, for example, as they earn money but also have to take responsibility for spending it effectively (paying bills etc). They will therefore be required to change the way they conduct themselves in order to survive. This means that the change starts within ourselves. Let's think about how to make the changes we need to, so we don't feel bad at work, at home, or in the community we live in.

Managing individual change is an important skill to develop because it is something that can help young people to grow and help them to determine the quality of their life in the future. This is why, in the following part, you will try to dig deeper into this topic.

What is change management, and why does change need to be managed?

Change management is a process of overseeing and facilitating change at every level it occurs. It is up to management teams to decide exactly how this change will be addressed, develop the process, and how to best execute it. The Business Dictionary defines change management as "the coordination of a structured period of transition from situation A to situation B in order to achieve lasting change within an organisation." Similarly, the Change Management Learning Center defines change management as "the process, tools, and techniques to manage the people-side of business change to achieve the required business outcome, and to realise that business change effectively within the social infrastructure of the workplace."

It is more likely that you will not have to propose and manage spectacular changes in the organisation you will work for, but let's not forget that people are increasingly choosing their jobs in line with their values, such as personal responsibility, taking initiative, sustainability in the workplace, or green jobs. Change in an organisation or company does not always come from the leaders, but can also originate from other members of that organisation. Introducing change, however, even a small one, does require leadership competences.

Thus, everyone can propose changes to improve the sustainability of a workplace or the company as a whole.

How to introduce change

Imagine that you are the CEO of a big company and you would like to introduce a new green technology which will completely change the production processes. Would you completely cancel whatever exists or should you introduce change step by step? In any case, this is not an easy task!

Introducing change does not necessarily mean altering everything that existed before, and for this reason introducing change is very difficult to do. This is why it is important to focus on the difference between change and transition:

Change is the external event or situation that takes place: a new business strategy, a turn of leadership, a merger or a new product. The organisation focuses on the desired outcome that the change will produce, which is generally in response to external events. Change can happen very quickly so we could say that “change” is the event; it is defined in a specific moment in time (for example, you move into a new home, you leave a job, you become a parent).

Transition is the process that unfolds before, during, and after the change event. Transition affects us on physical, emotional and psychological levels and in this process, we are transformed. In our work, we believe that bringing mindful attention to the transition process makes it more likely that you will be satisfied with the change you undertake.

In order to introduce change in a soft and respectful way, let’s have a look at one of the models of change: The Bridges Transition Model. This model, that guides organisations through the process of transition, was first introduced by William Bridges, a prominent organisational consultant, in his 1991 book, “Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change”. The Model aims to help organisations and individuals understand and more effectively manage and work through the personal and human side of change.

The model identifies the three main stages of an individual experience during change:

1. Ending What Currently Is: Transition starts with an ending. This is paradoxical but true. This first phase of transition begins when people identify what they are losing and learn how to manage these losses. They determine what is over or being left behind, and what they will keep. These may include relationships, processes, team members, or locations.
2. Neutral Zone: The second step of transition comes after letting go: the neutral zone. People go through an in-between time when the old is gone but the new isn’t fully operational. It is when critical, psychological realignments and repatterning take place. It is the very core of the transition process. This is the time between the old reality and sense of identity and the new one. People are creating new processes and learning what their new roles will be. They are in flux and may feel confusion and distress. The neutral zone is the seedbed for new beginnings.
3. New Beginnings: Beginnings involve new understandings, values, and attitudes. Beginnings are marked by a release of energy in a new direction – they are an expression of a fresh identity. Well-managed transitions allow people to establish new roles with an understanding of their purpose, the part they play, and how to contribute and participate most effectively. As a result, they feel reoriented and renewed.

Empathetic leaders recognise that change can put people in crisis. The starting point for dealing with transition is not the outcome but the endings that people have in leaving the old situation behind. Change will only be successful if leaders and organisations address the transition that people experience during it. Supporting people through this transition, rather than pushing forward, is essential if the change is to work as planned. This is key to capitalising on opportunities for innovation and creating organisational resilience.

What is the transition management process?

Transition management in organisations addresses the inner psychological process that people experience during change. Successful transition management involves these steps:

1. Communicating with colleagues why the change is needed.
2. Collecting information from those affected by the change to understand its impact on them. Gaining their investment in the outcome.
3. Doing an audit of the organisation’s transition readiness.
4. Educating leaders about how the change will affect individuals in the organisation to manage the transition effectively.
5. Monitoring the progress of individuals as they go through the three stages of transition.
6. Helping individuals understand how they can positively contribute to the change and the importance of their role in the organisation.

If you were the same CEO as before, would you have more tools to navigate the transition?

Continue discovering more on the topic in the next sub-module.

As we have seen in the previous part of the module, life is about constant change, and that means constant challenges and adaptation to new situations. Change can also be the result of conflicts in the workplace, the family, or the larger community.

In this part of the module, you will be introduced to the concept of conflict and its place and role in our lives. We will start from our immediate conflicts: how we see them, how we experience them, and how we evaluate them. We will offer you a new take on the concept of conflict: not as a destructive force, but as an opportunity to realize one's own interests, to develop relations between the parties involved, and conflict resolution as a path to mutually beneficial solutions.

When our goal is sustainable development in a world full of injustice, imbalances, and contradictions, when we are guided by values such as justice, sustainability, and dignity, and when we seek to promote these values, value-based conflicts will inevitably arise - but we will discuss them and present a model for their resolution.

Approaching the Concept of Conflict

To reflect on ‘conflict’, try to answer the following questions:

• What associations does the word conflict evoke in you?
• What is the behaviour of a person in a conflict situation?
• What feelings does conflict bring up?

Probably in your answers, we will find that conflict is a struggle, a fight, a resistance, an attempt to impose one's own solutions. The very mention of it gives rise to feelings of fright, tension, irritation, and dislike. And the behaviours in a conflict situation are usually attacking the other, using violence, aggression, or shunning. We have done this exercise many times, in many different countries and cultures, and everywhere the responses were strikingly similar. We think of conflict as something bad, frightening, destroying relationships, putting people against each other, requiring the use of force, leading to hatred and division.

Official Definitions of the Term Depict Rather “Negative” Ideas

• Conflict is a state of open, often prolonged struggle: battle or war; others define it as a state of disharmony, a clash between incompatible or opposing personalities, ideas, interests.
• Conflict occurs when two people wish to commit actions which are mutually exclusive.
• Conflict is a situation of rivalry in which the parties realise the incompatibility of potential future positions, and in which each party wishes to take a position incompatible with the other party's wishes.

Let’s Get More Practical: The Quarrel of the Donkeys

Let's look at this picture with the two donkeys.

In the first picture they are in a conflicting situation: each one of them wants to reach and eat his bowl of hay and each pulls the other towards the bowl. We see, represented here, two really incompatible desires. Since their forces are equal neither of them succeeds in pulling the other. In these unsuccessful efforts, the hostility between the two donkeys intensifies, each wanting to achieve and enforce its own solution. It is certain that if the donkeys thought and could talk, neither would care about the needs of the other, each would only want to satisfy its own needs.

What does the conflict between the two donkeys look like? On the surface they are unsuccessfully trying to prevail and each clearly states their position (“I want to eat from my haystack”). On the surface we see a stubborn struggle, hostility, an attempt to get one's way by force. The two sides know nothing about each other, except that the other is pulling the rope in the opposite direction. They don't care about the other, they don't care about the opportunity to build or develop a relationship with each other. In their eyes, the other is the enemy because they are hindering success - their own haystack. If one succeeds, the other will be left hungry, defeated but also humiliated - they might become enemies for the future, and perhaps forever. This kind of conflict destroys relationships, creates enemies, and it is a fight to achieve victory for one side.

But, when does the miracle happen? When the two donkeys turn to each other and try to solve the problem together. Here is when the situation changes: from fighting, they move to exchanging about what they want and to developing a shared solution. In the process of finding a solution their hostility diminishes, their communication becomes more and more intense and constructive, the trust between them increases to the point that each is willing to follow the other to their haystack, wait for them to feed and then head together to the next one. The donkeys become more like partners. The search for a solution becomes a joint problem-solving activity. In short, this is the second vision of conflict and resolution.

Figuratively, we can think of conflict as the parties sitting across the table from each other, and between them is the problem and their often mutually exclusive positions on how to solve it. The point is for the two parties to stand side by side on one side of the table, and for the conflict to be in front of them, a challenge and a problem that requires a joint solution. This is the idea of peaceful conflict resolution because conflict diminishes when we seek to solve it as a problem together, when we understand the motives and actions of the other party, when we avoid threats and the use of force and do not try to unilaterally impose our solution. Conflict resolution suggests that it is best for the parties to find the solution together. Since the solution originates from all parties, it will be binding for them to the greatest extent. Direct communication increases the chances of success.

Causes Leading to Conflict

In problem-solving processes, the goal is clear: find the causes that created the problem and they will guide you to solve it. It is the same with conflict: the causes that led to the conflict suggest ways to resolve it. Many conflicts are caused by lack of information or a presence of misinformation. In such cases, we must focus our efforts on accessing reliable information, on sharing information if one party does not have it, on exposing misinformation or fake news. Other conflicts are caused by bad or deteriorating relations between the parties: strong emotions, misperception of the other or of their actions, stereotyped attitudes, poor communication or negative behaviour. Here the solution is in the direction of controlling the emotions expressed, clarifying perceptions, sharing feelings, avoiding repetitive negative behaviour. A third type of conflict is caused by value differences: when the two parties hold different basic values: attitudes to way of life, or different criteria for evaluating people and their actions. If the causes are of a similar nature, finding a common value is vital. These three types of conflicts (information, relationships and values) are considered to be unnecessary conflicts that can be easily resolved.

More complex are those which arise from unequal control over resources, unequal power, time constraints, social and natural factors. In such conflicts, we follow and rely on a mutually acceptable and fair decision-making process, clearly define roles and avoid the use of force because of a higher position in the hierarchy. There are also conflicts of interests, and to resolve them we examine the interests of the parties rather than their stated positions to resolve the conflict, seeking holistic solutions that satisfy the interests of all involved.

We can summarise the causes leading to conflict as having to do with the three sides of it:

• Causes related to the content of the conflict
• Causes related to the relationship between the parties of the conflict
• Causes arising from the accepted ways and procedures for conflict resolution

The image shows that, to be successfully resolved, a solution must be sought to satisfy the interests of the parties, a relationship of cooperation and trust must be developed between the parties, and procedures must be followed to resolve the conflict fairly. Before a conflict can be resolved, it must be analysed and understood. Frequently, conflicts can arise around us unforeseen without the opportunity to fully discuss and resolve effectively.

Here is the simple rule: if you feel a conflict arising, try to analyse what is happening. This is the best preventive action in terms of dealing with conflict and it is no coincidence that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of intervention". Keep in mind that conflicts often provide opportunities for learning.

So, What Should I Do When I Find Myself in a Conflict Situation?

There are five main points of peaceful conflict resolution:

• Focus on the conflict, not on the other person in the conflict.
• Focus on the interests of the parties, on what is important to them in the conflict, not on their positions - the solution they propose.
• Seek options and solutions that will satisfy the interests of all parties to the conflict.
• Good communication and relations between the parties facilitate the search for opportunities and solutions.
• Try to find criteria with which to evaluate proposals made.

Introducing change could lead to conflict but, if we understand conflict as opportunities rather than fight, this could help us bring sustainable change to our workplace and our lives. In this part, we will focus a bit more on how to face challenges and conflicts in the workplace, because young people, who are more attentive to sustainability issues, could have instruments not only to bring that change but also to manage conflicts that could arise.

Firstly, it is important to be aware that conflict is common in the workplace, so there is no need to be afraid. It is difficult, but the biggest mistake you can make is to do nothing because unresolved tensions can affect the health and performance of people and organisations. So, it is important to develop conflict resolution skills to pre-empt, manage and fix conflicts with your co-workers: it is important to raise the issue early and manage your emotions while explaining the reason for the conflict. While listening to the other party/ies is vital to show empathy and practise active listening. In the end, it is important to acknowledge criticism, so that you can understand the perceptions of others. Subsequently, there are some conflict-management techniques to be used. They could be summarised in three basic steps (but we will also see an example that can help us going deeper): the first step is to prove that you understand their view, then to acknowledge that you are part of the conflict and in the end, you need to try again if the conversation doesn't go well.

What Causes Conflict at Work?

Some of the most common causes of workplace conflict are:

• Unclear responsibilities: Some team members may feel they do more work than others, or resent those who seem to have fewer responsibilities. Blame and frustration can build due to duplicated work or unfinished tasks.
• Competition for resources: Time, money, materials, equipment, and skills are finite resources. Competition for them can lead to conflict.
• Different interests: People may focus on personal or departmental goals over organisational ones, or be held up and frustrated by others who they rely on to do their jobs effectively.
• Different values: This is really important for young people who enter the world of work with values and views of the world, work, or people, which may be quite different from those of other colleagues or, particularly, their employers.

It is important to be aware of these, because this information gives us a clearer picture of the conflict and more opportunity to understand it. In fact, when dealing with a conflict, the first step is to analyse the situation using the new conflict resolution approach:

• What are the main events that led to the conflict?
  First of all, try to go back to the start of the conflict: recall incidents, words, conversations, confrontations, attempts to resolve, relations between the parties. This will help gather a clearer picture, highlighting key moments in order to understand the motivation of all.
• Participants in the conflict: identify the participants:
  
  • Positions: Repeat and assess what the positions of the parties are.
  • Interests: What are the interests of the parties? Why is it important to them?
  • Relationships between the parties: Extract the most important thing from the review of the past: what are the relationships between the parties? Is there long-standing hostility and fighting, or is it accompanied by attempts at reconciliation to find a good solution?
  • Is there a willingness to find a solution or are the parties not willing to negotiate?
  • External circumstances: Are there external circumstances that push the parties towards or away from a solution?
  • Opinion by others about the conflict: How do others, such as colleagues, feel?
  • Can either party impose a unilateral solution?

By answering these questions, you will clarify the picture of the conflict, the way it is going, the chances for success or at least for a breakthrough in one respect or another.

GETTING PRACTICAL: Let's Try to Solve a Conflict

You and a colleague are constantly in conflict in a staff meeting. They propose to start the production of buttons and you the production of coats. During the dispute, sharp remarks, insults and mutual accusations of incompetence are heard. You feel the hostility of the other party, and are affected by their mocking and insulting tone. You come out of the meetings angry, at yourself and at your opponent, and frustrated that your proposals are not approved.

This conflict interferes with your work and worsens the relationship with the other colleague, so you decide to try to talk to them to resolve it.

Step 1: Agree to a meeting to discuss your differences. Stress the need for such a meeting and your desire to find a mutually acceptable solution.

Step 2: Discuss the conflict together. The first step will be to set out your views on the conflict and why it is important to you and the reasons why it has arisen. State your view and listen to the other side. Without understanding the other point of view you will not be able to move on. Try to keep the exchange positive - avoid insults, judging the other person, focus on the problem, not the other person's personality.

Step 3: When you have shared your views on the conflict and identified the causes of the conflict, you can move to the next step. Together look for solutions to the conflict that are acceptable to both parties: propose solutions, discuss them, try to develop them, if necessary suggest criteria by which these proposals should be judged.

Step 4: If you agree on some of the proposals, this may be the solution to the conflict, the agreement you reach. Agree on how this will be respected and what you will do if it is broken. If the conflict has engaged the attention of your colleagues, communicate the outcome to them.

Briefly, this is the way the conflict could be solved:

• You try to explore the conflict together.
• You share your interests and why the conflict is important to you both.
• You look for mutually acceptable solutions together.
• Together, you assess the reality of these solutions and reach an agreement.

…What About Values?

If your conflict is about professing different values, remember that there are no simple solutions. It is extremely difficult to reach agreements about values and almost impossible for any party to give up their stance. What we can work on is how to address a value conflict To do so, a strategic approach is required, showing respect for the views of all sides. That the final aim is a common understanding through collaboration must be made clear to all. But how should you go about this?

Step 1: Assess the sacredness of a value for the person or the organisation involved. Conflicts of this nature are difficult to face, and often escalate rapidly, because, as we have seen in Module 3, values are intrinsic, and difficult to alter in a person. It is imperative to identify which values are core, sacred and inviolable, and those where there may be more flexibility and openness. Find the open spaces for you and encourage the other party/ies to do the same. This is what will create the opportunities for a better solution for all.

Step 2: Making some strategic concessions. Offering a concession of something that is important to you could improve the cooperativeness in your opponent. This gesture shows that you are really committed to finding a common solution.

“For example, in a community organisation where there is a conflict over resource allocation, one faction might deeply value environmental sustainability, while another focuses on immediate economic benefits for local businesses. If the environmental advocates agree to a limited development project that includes stringent environmental protections, it could signal a willingness to find common ground, thereby encouraging the economic faction to consider more sustainable practices in future projects.”

Step 3: Appreciate the positive qualities of your counterpart. It could seem like a false move, but this simple gesture could release tensions and open the opponent up to cooperative solutions. Such affirmations can mitigate identity threats, encouraging counterparts to engage in constructive dialogue and value creation, thereby facilitating a more amicable resolution to the conflict.

Try to imagine what to do in these different value conflict situations using the steps reported before:

• Business partners clash over the ethical standards they expect each other to uphold.
• A negotiator refuses to do business with a potential counterpart they deem immoral.
• Parents bar their teenager from attending an event they think might be dangerous.

The key is to be aware of the importance of your values, knowing what is core and what is negotiable, and to look for a common area that can unite (such as good relations at work or the success of the business).

Watch this video about the nature of change: why it is important to understand it, how to navigate change in both your personal and professional life, and how to initiate change. For Career Gardeners, this interview is particularly relevant as the expert, Krasimira Damjanova from Hope Association, highlights what to do when changes threaten our professed values or, conversely, when promoting green values—such as initiating changes at work.

Young People and Changes in the Workplace: An Interview with Krasimira Damjanova from Hope Association

This second video also aligns with the philosophy of the project. The expert discusses various conflicts that young people may encounter in the workplace, focusing in particular on value-based conflicts. These arise when young individuals, committed to green values, face a traditional work environment shaped by industrial-era values or practices of those who have built or work within such companies.

Value Conflicts in the Workplace: An Interview with Krasimira Damjanova from Hope Association

Module 4 explored the crucial themes of adapting to change and managing conflicts effectively in personal and professional contexts. By examining the nature of change and its challenges, you have gained insights into how to navigate transitions with resilience and positivity.

We also delved into the causes and dynamics of conflict, equipping you with strategies to handle disputes constructively, whether they arise within your own life or your workplace. Understanding these tools is vital for fostering harmonious environments that support personal growth and collaboration.

As you reflect on this module, remember that change and conflict are inevitable aspects of life. However, with the right mindset and competences, they can also become opportunities for learning, development, and innovation.

Keep moving forward with confidence, adaptability, and a commitment to creating positive change!

The Importance of Soft Skills in Today's Job Market: An Interview with Marcin Biernat, Deputy Director of the Employment Office in Katowice

Definition of Competence

Competence is the ability to do something successfully or effectively. It is a broader term than "skill", although it is often used interchangeably with it. Below you will find an explanation of what dimensions the concept of competence contains and how the term 'skill' relates to this broader concept.

In youth work, competence is understood as having three interlinked dimensions:

• Knowledge: This dimension refers to all the themes and issues you know or need to know about to do your work. This is the “cognitive” dimension of competence. It is commonly associated with the “head”.
• Skills: This dimension refers to what you are able to do or what you need to be able to do to carry out youth work. This is the “practical” or skills dimension of competence. It is commonly associated with the “hands”.
• Attitudes and Values: This dimension of competence refers to the attitudes and values you need to espouse in order to do your work effectively. This dimension of competence is commonly associated with the “heart”.

We will sometimes use the term "skills" in this module, but remember how they differ from competences as a broader term.

Hard and Soft Competences

Competence is also a broader concept than qualifications (education and seniority), as it refers to general human qualities—both innate and acquired. In the course of learning, studying, and taking the first steps on a professional path, we not only enrich our portfolio but above all acquire new skills and develop new character traits. For this reason, in order to systematise concepts, we divide competences into hard and soft.

The first group includes specialist knowledge and skills, experience gained, courses completed, and certificates obtained. The second group consists of ways of dealing with social situations, attitudes towards work, motivation and values, as well as all individual characteristics.

Another important difference between hard and soft competences is the ability to prove their presence. In the case of the former, submitting the relevant documents is not a problem. The ability to use a computer programme, knowledge of the law, or operation of technical equipment can easily be proven with a course certificate or diploma. It is much more difficult to demonstrate composure in stressful situations, the ability to work in a team, independence, or a sense of responsibility. Soft skills are difficult to verify, as they only come to light in authentic and spontaneous situations.

What Are Soft Competences?

For decades, soft competences have been undervalued and placed second behind hard competences. A change in this trend has been observed for some time. Increasingly, it is soft competences that can determine success in getting a new job or promotion.

Soft competences include:

• Interpersonal Competences: Concerning the relationship with another person, such as communication, self-presentation, conflict resolution, cooperation.
• Social Competences: Concerning functioning in a group of people, such as perceiving the needs and experiences of others, empathy, knowledge of social rules, assertiveness.
• Organisational Competences: Relating to the work to be done, e.g., autonomy, time management skills, taking initiative, commitment.
• Individual Competences: Psychological and character conditions, e.g., creativity, resistance to stress, decision-making, striving to improve skills, problem-solving, divided attention.
• Managerial Competences: Related to managing a team, e.g., leadership, coordinating work, delegating tasks.

Fortunately, as we know from the optimistic results of research, it is possible to work on developing soft competences. However, in order to be able to do this, one must first look at oneself and recognise weaknesses. This is a very important step, without which further development is not possible. Only after self-reflection can you act: enrol in classes, meet with an expert to help you develop your chosen competences and read books on personal development.

Analysis and Improvement of Soft Skills

Theory on personal and interpersonal skills will not yield any results. Self-reflection and practice are needed.

To start the process of improving soft skills, we need to thoroughly analyse our current level of skills. This can be done by asking ourselves: What am I good at? What do I have an aptitude for? What do I have the biggest problem with? Once this knowledge has been gathered, it is worthwhile training and practising.

Familiarise yourself with the proposed self-reflection tool and try it out. You can use it in your work with young people, but it is so universal that adults can also benefit from it.

As mentioned earlier in this section, self-reflection is one of the two key elements of skill improvement. The second one is practice.

Practice of Soft Skills

Practice of soft skills must be based on three fundamentals. These are:

• Action
• Listening attentively to feedback
• Reflection

This will be explained using the example of communication skills. No doubt as a youth worker, this skill is particularly important. Read about the most important elements of practice to keep in mind when improving your communication skills:

• Action: Getting the message across (if you can, prepare it in advance using your existing experience and skills).
• Feedback: When communicating with others, it is always important to pay attention to whether the purpose of the communication was achieved, i.e. whether this communication was effective. Every result should be analysed.
• Reflection: Think about what you could have done better if you didn't achieve the goal. Reflect on what worked if the goal was achieved.
• Trial-and-error method: In a situation where communication has been ineffective, it is worth trying a different method of action and analysing it again in terms of results so as to develop the most effective one.
• Remaining vigilant in situations that are already familiar: As we practise a skill, it starts to become automatic. This can lead to a weakening of our alertness to individual feedback.

Soft competences are universal competences that can be used on both personal and professional grounds. They are extremely important for many professions and should not be underestimated. It is a good idea to take advantage of training courses, where training is usually based on the principle of role-playing, to consult professional literature and to train these competences every day and at every opportunity in relation to others. Such an investment will inevitably pay off.

Improving Soft Skills in Youth Work

Nowadays, the issue of education is also frequently raised. In the course of education, little space is devoted to soft competences and making students aware of their importance. As a result, young adults enter the labour market fully educated, but without awareness of their strengths or deficiencies in other spheres.

As a youth worker, you can encourage young people to improve their soft skills in many ways.

How to Do It?

1. Talk to young people about soft competences: Show what they are and where and how they can be used. You can also reflect together on which soft competences are key in different jobs. Young people should see how important soft competences are and that developing even one of them may open doors in many areas. Remember that most activities develop soft competences—even those with a different focus. The key to success is to reflect on the development of soft competences required. At the end of the activity, always talk to the young people about what they have learned and what soft competences they have developed.
2. Use a variety of methodologies in class: For example, project creation, group work, discussions, role-playing, and simulations. This way, young people will experience situations as close as possible to real life, which will give them the opportunity to develop soft competences in a supportive environment. If you put young people in a variety of contexts, they will be better prepared for any situation that awaits them in adult life.
3. Encourage youth to engage in extracurricular activities such as volunteering: Ask young people what they have learned through community involvement (if they have such experiences), or what positive changes might await them if they decide to organise, for example, a picnic to benefit those in need.
4. Encourage young people to evaluate their own competences: Use every situation as a learning opportunity. When young people in groups are preparing, for example, a presentation or a local activity, talk to them afterwards about what they have learned from working with their colleagues, how they evaluate their own work, and which competences they would like to develop further. Encourage them to ask themselves questions such as: Do I complete the tasks on time? How do I cooperate with others? How do I talk to them? Do I like to plan activities? Which tasks were easiest for me and which were more difficult? Self-evaluation will make young people more motivated to develop specific competences whilst also being aware of the process. This will certainly contribute to their success. They will feel that they have an impact on their own development, while at the same time realising how many skills they already have. The downloadable 'Self-reflection Tool' above ('Explore and Improve your Soft Skills') can be used for individual self-reflection.

GREEN TRANSFORMATION

One of the most important contemporary European trends is certainly the green transformation. It encompasses a range of measures aimed at reducing human impact on nature. Currently, the initiatives come from EU directives, mainly the Green Deal and Fit for 55.

According to the EU, the benefits of the European Green Deal will include the creation of jobs fit for the future and the development of the skills needed for a green transformation—so-called 'green skills'.

Projections made by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) show that the effect of implementing measures to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal by 2030 will be to increase employment in the European Union by 1.2% (which in absolute terms means an additional 2.5 million jobs). Moreover, some 286,000 people employed in the energy sector by 2030 will have to find jobs in “greener” industries CEDEFOP, 2021.

GREEN COMPETENCE - WHAT IS IT?

Shaping green competences is one of the priorities of the European Union. The recommendation of the Council of the European Union on learning for green transition and sustainable development identifies actions to promote the training of skills necessary for green transition and sustainable development in member states at all levels of education, including non-formal education.

These are, firstly, the competences needed to work in the green economy sector, including in the following areas:

• energy infrastructure,
• onshore wind farm design and wind farm installation,
• photovoltaics and installation of photovoltaic equipment,
• repair and maintenance of electric cars,
• energy efficiency of buildings and insulation,
• recycling,
• renewable technologies,
• sustainable agriculture and tourism.

Secondly, these are soft competences in the field of “green skills”. They are of a horizontal nature—i.e. they can be found in industries or professions that are not directly related to the green transition, although the green transition somehow necessitates their formation (e.g. raising awareness and respect for the environment or raising awareness of sustainable development).

Below is the concept of green skills as proposed by the European Union and the International Labour Organisation, presenting the most important competences for sustainable development in an accessible way.

GREEN COMP - A EUROPEAN COMPETENCE FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Green competence encompasses multiple dimensions (Cabral & Dhar, 2019):

• Green knowledge: Concerns general knowledge of the natural environment.
• Green skills: Skills of both a professional and general nature that are necessary primarily for green jobs, but also for other professions affected by the green transition.
• Green awareness: Refers to the awareness of the impact of human activities on the environment including air pollution, carbon footprint, etc.
• Green attitudes: Understood as individuals' perceptions of the value of environmental protection.
• Green capabilities: Important for self-development and increasing productivity in the green economy.
• Green behaviours: Actions that support environmental sustainability.

The recently published (January 2022) European Sustainability Competence Framework (Green Comp) identifies 12 competences within 4 competence areas, the formation of which is essential for a green transformation. These are presented in the table below.

SET OF KEY SKILLS FOR GREEN JOBS BY INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION

In 2019, the International Labour Organisation developed a set of key skills for green jobs - these refer to a set of generic skills not linked to a specific job.

All employees:

• Awareness and respect for the environment; willingness to learn about sustainability.
• Adaptability to enable workers to acquire the theoretical and practical knowledge of the new technologies and processes needed to green their workplaces.
• Team working skills reflecting the need to work together within the organisation to find solutions to reduce the environmental footprint of the organisation.
• Resilience - the ability to adapt to changing conditions.
• Communication and negotiation skills to support the promotion of the required changes to colleagues and clients.
• Entrepreneurship supporting the exploitation of opportunities for low-carbon technologies and environmental adaptation.

Wanted in middle and high-skilled occupations:

• Analytical thinking (including risk and systems analysis) necessary to interpret and understand the need for change, and the resources and inputs required to do so.
• Coordination, management and business skills, which may include an interdisciplinary approach to economic, social and environmental objectives.
• Skills to innovate, identify opportunities and create new strategies to respond to green challenges.
• Marketing skills to promote greener products and services.
• Advisory skills to support consumers' understanding of green solutions and the diffusion of green technologies.
• Networking, IT and language skills to operate in global markets.
• Strategic and leadership skills to help politicians and company managers identify the right incentives, and create an enabling environment for green manufacturing and transport.

IMPORTANCE OF GREEN COMPETENCE

According to LinkedIn's report, only one in eight workers has one or more green skills, meaning that almost 88% of workers do not have even one green skill. In contrast, the average employment rate for employees with at least one green skill is 29% higher than the average for the entire workforce.

Worldwide, only 1 in 8 workers has one or more green skills - we are far from demonstrating the green skills we need.

The average employment rate for employees with at least one green skill is 29% higher than the average employment rate for all employees.

Garcia Vaquero et al (2021), analysing the demand for green skills in Spain, identified deficits in general soft skills, leading to the conclusion that green skills training programmes should also include the development of soft skills - these two categories of skills in retraining should be developed simultaneously.

Cabral & Dhar (2019) showed that green competence training positively influences all dimensions of green competence, and that companies' investment in green competence development positively influences green transformation within the company, thereby building competitive advantage. According to research, the development of green competences is key to achieving a sustainable future.

HOW TO DEVELOP COMPETENCES FOR A GREEN REVOLUTION IN YOUNG PEOPLE

As a youth worker, you play a key role in preparing young people for a green future. Here are some practical ways to bring green thinking and skills into your youth work organisation or school.

HOW TO DO IT?

1. Project-based learning: You can develop projects that challenge young people to propose sustainable solutions to real-world problems, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Project-based learning is a great way to encourage young people not only to develop these skills, but also to apply them.
2. Community climate partnerships: Encourage youth to partner with local businesses and community organisations that promote green thinking and sustainability. This can be done by inviting speakers or running workshops and programmes with young people.
3. Challenges and competitions related to sustainability and the environment: For example, photo competitions or environmental awareness competitions.
4. Activism: Encourage young people to engage with organisations and participate in social ventures. Activism engages on many levels and is therefore an important space for young people to develop. Consciously directing their involvement can open them up to experiences that allow them to build on their strengths and work on their weaknesses. And both are very rewarding.

GET INSPIRED!

These are just some examples of projects or ventures that can be carried out by young people:

• An interactive nature walk to raise awareness of biodiversity;
• Information sessions in the community highlighting practical ways to reuse waste;
• Planting trees near a school/other institution serving the local community;
• A series of lessons or activities on sustainable cities;
• The creation of a local or school climate action programme.

By building green thinking and skills among young people, you are helping to shape a generation that will drive positive change, as well as providing young people with the skills they need to secure and thrive in the workplace.

See the Reources section below if you would like to know more about this topic.

WHAT IS ENTREPRENEURSHIP?

Entrepreneurship is defined differently in the various scientific disciplines for which it is the subject of research. As a result, there is no single, universally accepted definition of entrepreneurship.

One possibility is to adopt the European concept of entrepreneurship as a key competence. As a result of years of work by a working group within the European Commission, entrepreneurship has been identified as one of the eight key competences for lifelong learning. Key competences are the combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes that all individuals need for personal fulfilment and development, for active citizenship, social inclusion and employment. A description of the entrepreneurial competences can be found in the document entitled EntreComp.

EntreComp defines entrepreneurship as the ability to take opportunities and ideas, and turn them into value for others. The value created can be financial, cultural or social. Entrepreneurship is based on creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving, taking initiative, perseverance and the ability to act collectively e.g. planning and managing projects.

The areas listed in EntreComp cover the knowledge, skills and attitudes that people need in order to be entrepreneurial and create financial, cultural or social value for others.

HOW TO IMPROVE ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCE?

EntreComp defines 3 areas of entrepreneurial competence. These are:

• Ideas and opportunities,
• Resources,
• Actions.

Below you can read about the key skills, knowledge and attitudes that have been identified under the three areas mentioned here. In addition, read the specific tips on how to improve your entrepreneurial skills. You can use them to work on your own competences as well as with young people.

In the area of IDEAS AND POSSIBILITIES, the key skills, knowledge and attitudes are:

• Recognising opportunities,
• Creativity,
• Creating a vision,
• Valuing ideas,
• Ethical and sustainable thinking.

HOW TO DO IT?

Here are tips and recommendations on how to shape entrepreneurship in this area:

• Use your imagination and skills to identify opportunities for value creation (economic, cultural and social).
• Develop creative and purposeful ideas.
• Work on your vision of the future: imagine the future, develop a vision to turn ideas into action, visualise future scenarios so you can direct your efforts and actions.
• Recognise your ideas’ potential for value creation and identify appropriate ways to maximise it.
• Evaluate the consequences of the chosen ideas and actions and their impact on the target community, the market, society and the environment. Act responsibly.

In the area of RESOURCES, we distinguish the following skills, knowledge and attitudes:

• Self-awareness and self-efficacy,
• Motivation and perseverance,
• Resource mobilisation (acquisition and management of tangible, intangible and digital resources),
• Financial and economic skills,
• Mobilising others.

HOW TO DO IT?

Here are sample tips and recommendations on how to shape this area of competence:

• Identify and assess individual and group (if working in a team) strengths and weaknesses.
• Believe in your ability to influence the course of events despite uncertainties, setbacks and temporary failures.
• Stay focused and don't give up.
• Acquire and manage the tangible, intangible and digital resources needed to turn ideas into action.
• Make the most of limited resources.
• Estimate the cost of turning an idea into action.
• Plan, implement and evaluate financial decisions over time.
• Inspire and engage others.

In the area of competences for ACTIONS, the most important are:

• Taking the initiative,
• Planning and management,
• Dealing with uncertainty, ambiguity and risk,
• Working with others,
• Experiential learning.

HOW TO DO IT?

Here are tips and recommendations on how to shape this area of competence:

• Go big. Initiate value-creating processes. Take on challenges.
• Set long, medium and short-term goals. Set priorities and an action plan. Prepare a plan B in case of changes.
• Be prepared to make decisions in the face of uncertainty, ambiguity and risk.
• Collaborate and interact with others. Create networks.
• Use every value creation initiative as a learning opportunity.
• Learn with others, including peers and mentors.
• Make reflections and learn from both successes and failures (your own and others').

News related to the future of our society and our planet are not always helpful, as they often feed into sensationalism and fear. The often-overwhelming anxiety this creates can lead people to apathy, then to resignation and finally inaction. This is counter-productive to the goal of raising awareness about the need to change our ways and live more sustainably. Instead of focusing on fear-mongering headlines, we can focus our attention on the influential work of activists around the world who are courageously paving the way towards a more sustainable future. They can inspire us to follow in their footsteps and participate in transforming the world around us on a scale that is currently available to us, no matter how big or small.

Each of these young people, acting in accordance with their beliefs and making the best of their skills, has created value for the world. These people also realised that it was important to encourage others to act together, including people, companies, organisations and governments. This led to the creation of foundations, associations, companies and global movements with the overarching goal of changing the world for the better. Here are some inspiring examples of how others have turned their beliefs into action and created jobs for themselves and others, while serving the planet.

Local level

MAŁGORZATA TERRERO-ROZMUS, POLAND
Małgorzata Terrero-Rozmus from Częstochowa (Poland), like many young people, was strongly committed to fighting climate change. She changed her habits to be more environmentally friendly, but felt that this was not enough. As a 26-year-old, she founded the Rething Foundation in Częstochowa in 2019. Its main goal is to reduce the negative impact of human activities on the environment and to mitigate the negative environmental effects of such activities. The foundation runs social media campaigns, educational classes in schools, open lectures and workshops, as well as other activities that directly affect the environment, such as planting trees and organising community clean-ups of forests, rivers and other public places.

Małgorzata is characterised by stubbornness in pursuit of her goals, as she has a deep inner conviction that she cannot stand idle. She decided, therefore, to do something more and she set up two local charity shops selling second-hand items. They are staffed by disadvantaged employees and volunteers working within the foundation. The shops are called ‘Better Climate’ and offer products at lower prices than regular shops. All proceeds from sales (minus the cost of maintaining the shop) go towards the organisation's statutory objectives.

Visit the website of Rething Foundation: https://fundacjarething.pl/

Regional and national level

NZAMBI MATEE, KENYA
The Gjenge Makers organisation, based in Nairobi, Kenya, and led by Nzambi Matee, ingeniously creates environmentally friendly paving stones from recycled materials. The result is a colourful and durable material that is also good for the environment. Nzambi decided to give up her job as a data analyst in 2017 to focus on sustainability and waste management. Setting up a small lab in her mother's garden, she started creating and testing paving stones, finally developing the perfect recipe. In 2018, she made her first cube from plastic waste, and a year later she invented a machine to process waste on a larger scale…

She also had to face several challenges. Her neighbours complained about the noisy machine used for her experiments and production. In addition, Nzambi did not see her friends for a year because she was so determined to pursue her mission. She won a scholarship in a social entrepreneurship training programme in the United States of America. During her short trip to the US, she used the materials labs at the University of Colorado in Boulder to test and refine her sand-to-plastic ratio. Eventually, Nzambi founded the start-up Gjenge Makers. Since 2021, her factory has recycled around 20 tonnes of plastic waste and provided economic opportunities for more than 100 people, including women, young people and informal rubbish collectors.

Watch this video to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbZKP4UAtL8

LEFTERIS ARAPAKIS, GREECE
Overfishing and plastic pollution have threatened many fish species in the Mediterranean, not only destroying aquatic ecosystems, but also causing fishermen in Greece to lose their sources of income. To remedy this, Lefteris Arapakis created the Enaleia fishing school, where he taught fishermen how to fish sustainably and to collect discarded plastic before it pollutes the sea. The fishermen collect more than 20 tonnes of plastic from the sea every month, making the waters habitable for fish; in turn increasing the fishing yield.

Born into a Greek fishing family, Lefteris spent his life on the Mediterranean coast. When the Greek economic crisis engulfed the country in 2016, he rose to the challenge with Enaleia, his non-profit social enterprise, dedicated to sustainable marine life and the education of young fishermen. The organisation tackles both local challenges, such as employment for small fishing communities, and global issues, such as ocean pollution, through initiatives such as Mediterranean CleanUp.

Lefteris has implemented innovative ways to create a circular economy and encourages sustainable practices. Using plastic brought ashore by fishermen, Enaleia works with companies to create t-shirts and socks, upcycling waste and reducing carbon emissions. “I believe in the key role that fishing communities can play in climate action, mitigating marine plastic pollution and overfishing, given their extensive knowledge and experience of the oceans and their specificities.... Optimism and flexibility are our main weapons in the fight against the climate crisis”, he says.

Find out more on the website: https://www.theworlds50best.com/50next/list/2022/trailblazing-activists/lefteris-arapakis

International level

GRETA THUNBERG, SWEDEN
As one of the most influential environmental activists, Greta Thunberg (born in 2003) continues to lead the Fridays for Future movement, which organises protests against the failure of governments and industry to take climate action.

The movement has attracted 14 million people to climate strikes, and Greta has inspired a generation of young activists to follow in her footsteps and raise their voices in defence of the planet.

Greta Thunberg, despite being promoted to ninth grade, did not go to school on 20 August 2018, prompted by the general election taking place on 9 September and the heatwave and forest fires that hit Sweden. Her demands to the Swedish government were to reduce carbon emissions and respect the 2015 Paris Agreement. On the day she was due to start the school year, she instead protested outside the Riksdag building, the Swedish Parliament, with a banner Skolstrejk för klimatet (translated: school strike for the climate). Every Friday since the start of the school year, she left school and continued her one-woman picket.

In December 2018, she attended the COP24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland, where she travelled at the invitation of the UN Secretary-General. She also protested in London and in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, and spoke at the European Parliament on 16 April 2019.

Young people around the world, following Thunberg, have started to organise climate protests in the form of marches organised during school hours. Millions of people in more than 150 countries around the world joined the so-called Global Climate Strike, demanding action by politicians.

Visit the 'Fridays for Future' website to learn more about this global movement: https://fridaysforfuture.org/

WHAT IS YOUTH WORK AND WHAT ARE THE COMPETENCES OF A YOUTH WORKER?

In module 1, we explained what youth work is - a keyword for all kinds of activities with, for and by young people of a social, cultural, educational or political nature. It belongs to the domain of “out-of-school” education, most commonly referred to as either non-formal or informal learning. The main objective of youth work is to create opportunities for young people to shape their own futures.

The range of themes that youth work covers is just as diverse as the types of people and organisations involved. Political activism, street work, sports activities, social enterprise and leisure-time activities can all be termed “youth work”.

In order to look at the topic of competences needed to perform the role of a youth worker, we would like to remind you of a tool developed by the Council of Europe called Portfolio (mentioned in module 1).

The Portfolio is a tool for assessing competences in youth work and planning their development. This process is very important because youth workers are committed to lifelong learning and youth work itself is a constantly developing field.

The key questions that the Portfolio wants to help you answer are as follows: When you think about the youth work you are involved in, what do you do and what do you need to be able to do it well? What does it take to be a competent youth worker?

In the Portfolio, the youth worker's competences are divided into seven sections according to their functions. Under each function, you will find examples of competences described in terms of 3 dimensions: knowledge (head), skills (hands), attitudes and values (heart). You have already become familiar with these terms in the first part of module 5.

To give you an example, look at the key competences for supporting young people in being active participants of the society they live in. It is important both for green transformation and for learning entrepreneurship.

Please visit the following website to see the full list of functions and competences: https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth-portfolio/youth-work-competence

But remember, the list of competences presented there is not exhaustive. You may want to add other very important ones you need for the youth work you do.

IDEAS FOR USING PORTFOLIO

The online European Youth Work Portfolio can be useful for you as an individual youth worker or youth leader to:

• Self-assess the current level of youth work competence.
• Set up learning and development aims and pursue those in ways you will identify.
• After a certain time, revisit your self-assessment to see what has changed, update your Portfolio or restart the process.

There is an online tool to start using the Portfolio. In order to use it, please, visit the website: https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth-portfolio/online-portfolio

Making a Portfolio is a dynamic process and you are invited, if you use the tool, to revisit it regularly. This way it can help you to keep your motivation, to learn more and develop your youth work competence. You can easily check whether the self-assessment made at one point in time is still valid, and then update the parts for which changes or developments have taken place.

Also keep in mind that you do not have to excel in all of these competences.

PRACTICAL EXERCISE FOR SELF-DEVELOPMENT OF YOUTH WORKERS’ COMPETENCES

Another method in which the above-mentioned competences can be used is the Hierarchy of Competences. This method will help you to identify the competences that are important in your work, but also think of their hierarchy and development. You are going to create a ranking of particular competences. Do this exercise step by step. First comes the explanation and further down you can find the tool.

PART I. HIERARCHY OF COMPETENCES

Print Attachment 1 in the document below to complete this part of the exercise.

1. See the list of competences (these come from the Portfolio) – Attachment 1. Take a close look through it and check whether other competences that are important to you are missing from the list. If so, write them in the blanks.
2. Cross out 10 competences from the list, which are the least important for you in your work.
3. Look at your list, would you like to add something to it? You can write down further competences if something comes to mind. Use the blank spaces.
4. In the next step, cross out another 10 competences which are not the most important. The task becomes more difficult, but you can do it!
5. Finally, cross out so many competences so that only 5 remain on your list. This does not mean that the competences crossed out will not count at all in your work. Just for the purpose of this exercise, choose 5 that you will work with today.
6. Take a break. This part of the exercise was not easy and required many difficult decisions. Make yourself a tea or drink some water. It helps your brain to concentrate.

PART 2. SELF-ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Print Attachment 2 in the document below to complete this part of the exercise.

1. Transcribe the competences you have chosen into a separate list for column 1 using the attachment 2.
2. For each competence on your list, indicate on a scale from 1 to 10 how important it is in your work. The scoring can be repeated, i.e. you can consider 2 or more competences to be equally important and give them the same number of points. Enter the scores in column 2.
3. In the next step, ‘my assessment’, consider how many points on a scale from 1 to 10 you would give yourself for having a particular competence. E.g. Use a range of educational methods including those that develop creativity and foster motivation for learning - 6 points. Write the score in column 3.
4. Write a score in the 4th column on a scale from 1 to 10 describing to what extent you would like to achieve mastery in the given competence. It will be your goal. E.g. Use a range of educational methods including ones that develop creativity and foster motivation for learning - 9 points.
5. Now think about and write down at least one idea on how you could improve in each of the 5 areas. E.g. training on youth work methods or job shadowing.
6. Finally, think about what you need to achieve your goal. E.g. funding, finding a partner organisation, approval from your supervisor, expert advice. Also determine within what time frame you are able to take care of what you need. E.g. Within 2 weeks I will find a counsellor to help me find and enrol in a training course. / In the coming week I will look at the available training courses on the SALTO website.

Congratulations! You have self-assessed your competences and planned your development in this field.

But don't forget to check, e.g. every six months, what progress you are making towards your goals and what your competence hierarchy is. It might change with time.

With Module 5 and its information on competencies, with a special focus on skills for green transformation and entrepreneurship, you will be able to support the development of young people's awareness and abilities in this area.

You can now use a self-reflection tool when discussing any type of competence with young people. By being aware of your strengths and weaknesses, both you and the young people you are working with, will be able to identify a starting point and next steps to strengthen competencies in particular areas.

In this module, you have also learned many practical tips on how to develop competencies through youth work.

We hope that the examples of people who successfully turn their beliefs into action and work, with a focus on green values, will serve as inspiration for the positive change that Europe and the world needs. Everyone, regardless of their age and occupation, can develop their competencies. They are useful in professional and private life.

Good luck with your development!

Critical Collective Mapping

The Orangotango collective is concerned with the critical collective mapping of social spaces. Starting from the awareness that most land and city maps are instruments of power that represent, divide, and depict spaces according to dominant viewpoints about which places are worth knowing or where it is worth going, collective mapping is a way of representing space from the perspective of what matters to the people inhabiting it. Alternative maps allow us to make certain, even marginalized places visible or to display the distribution of certain things in space (e.g., NGOs and institutions of social welfare). By knowing a territory differently, new ways of acting can be engendered. For example, a map for solidarity economy initiatives may encourage people to buy more regionally or fairly produced products.

Collective Mapping: How To?

Collective mapping serves to map a particular social space or habitat in a new way so it becomes known and is seen differently. The process requires collective debate and invokes swarm knowledge. A central part of collective mapping is agreeing what goes on the map or not.
 
Orangotango proposes following a number of steps in the process:

• Preparation: Prepare a case with workshop materials (flipcharts, pens, colorful cards, scissors, adhesive strips, glue, photos/flyers/icons/stickers, etc.) and an actual geographical map of the area to be remapped for reference.
• Gathering: Gather collectively in a place suitable for a material-intensive workshop.
• Workshop Opening: Open the workshop with organizational information and a statement about the aim and purpose of the workshop.
• Primary Decisions: Encourage the group to make some important decisions: Who is mapping where, what, how, why and for whom? and to determine the criteria for selecting the places that go on the map.
• Map Creation: The group works on the collective map, or in small groups: discussion, research, drawing, painting, pinning, etc.
• Physical Tour: Optional exploration tour of the city. Group enters new findings in the map.
• Presentation: Group(s) present the (different) map(s) in the plenary.
• Conclusion: Publishing of different maps by each group separately or creation of one joint map.

Mapping Opportunities for Sustainable Career and Training Choices

The economy is a key lever for achieving the ecological turnaround. Companies and employers have a major impact on society through the products they sell or the services they offer, but also through the social relationships they promote within and outside the company. Companies that hold up values of fair and equal payment, promote sustainable workplaces or reduced working hours, have a direct (positive) impact on the lives of their employees, and sometimes even on society.

However, some official definitions of green jobs are quite narrow and consider only jobs that directly contribute to a political or social solution to the climate crisis. The reality today is that the sectors with the highest recruitment rates for green skills are the ones considered especially harmful to the climate (e.g. the energy sector, manufacturing industry). This shows that the bandwidth for green jobs is enormous: it ranges from jobs that serve to combat global warming to jobs that are intended to curb the climate-damaging effects of otherwise energy-intensive and material-intensive industries. Between these poles are jobs with companies that work comparably more sustainably than others within the same sector. There are also jobs in the fields of education, social work, or with NGOs that strive for a just society and a world worth living in.

In our effort to map the opportunities for young people on the lookout for green jobs or training opportunities, we opt for a broader definition. We suggest, thus, that these green job and training opportunities may go on our map:

• Green job opportunities that are directly concerned with solving the climate crisis.
• Green job opportunities with ecologically and socially conscious employers.
• Green job opportunities in the service of social change and a just world.
• Education and training facilities for green skills.

Other Relevant Services for Youth

The map should also contain locations where youth can get information on sustainable jobs and training opportunities:

• Career counseling or job centers that provide advice on green jobs and training opportunities.
• Job fairs that provide information about green jobs and sustainable companies in the area.
• Experts (individuals, counselors, representatives of trade unions, etc.) on legal issues concerning labor rights and environmental laws.

Examples of Companies and Initiatives in Europe

Here are a few examples of companies and initiatives in Europe with high ecological and/or social standards. They were chosen randomly from a vast collection:

• Ratisbona: A property developer with branches in Germany, Spain, and Portugal that follows the cradle-to-cradle principle. The materials used are binding carbon instead of causing emissions, are non-toxic, and recyclable.
  https://ratisbona.com/
• WeFair: WeFair is Austria's largest sustainability fair, assembling the latest fashion trends, brand new innovations, and ingenious gadgets – all fair, ecological, and sustainable.
  https://wefair.at/
• Recicleta: Recicleta is a service provider working with persons from vulnerable groups who collect paper, PET, and aluminum from businesses and buildings for recycling in Bucharest.
  https://recicleta.ro/
• Βιος Coop: The Greek farming cooperative focuses on the procurement of mostly local and domestic products in order to contribute to the development of agricultural production and to the needs and wellbeing of its members in terms of social justice.
  http://www.bioscoop.gr/
• Amazon: Even though the international multi is far from being a flagship company for social and ecological sustainability, we have decided to list it as an example of a company that was pushed to become greener by their staff. In 2018, almost 9,000 employees successfully pressured their boss to use 100% green energy and to become climate neutral by 2040.
• Sebastian Fuchs Bad und Heizung: The company emphasizes the use of environmentally friendly heating systems. It uses environmentally friendly building materials and recycles waste. For the installation of every heating system, a tree is planted.
  https://www.sanitaerfuchs.de/
• Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation: The Estonian NGO Peipsi was established in 1994 in the field of global and environmental education, sustainable local resources management, and border research topics, focusing on the Estonian-Russian border region, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia.
  https://ctc.ee/peipsi-ctc
• Neue Regensburger Hütte: The first mountain hut in the Tyrolean Alps that serves exclusively vegetarian food.
  https://www.regensburgerhuette.at/

The following checklist can help assess the sustainability of an employer:

• Energy efficiency:
  • Use of renewable energy sources (solar, wind, geothermal)
  • Measures to reduce energy consumption (e.g., energy-efficient appliances, building technology)
• Conservation of resources:
  • Efficient use and reuse of materials
  • Avoiding waste and promoting recycling
• Climate protection:
  • Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
  • Compensating unavoidable emissions through climate protection projects
• Water management:
  • Reduction in water consumption
  • Use of rainwater or greywater
• Environmental protection:
  • Minimisation of environmental pollution (air, water, soil)
  • Protecting biodiversity and preserving natural habitats
• Product design:
  • Development of environmentally friendly and durable products
  • Use of environmentally friendly materials

• Working conditions:
  • Fair wages and salaries
  • Safe and healthy working conditions
• Equality and inclusion:
  • Promoting diversity and equal opportunities in the workplace
  • Measures to prevent discrimination
• Labour rights:
  • Compliance with international labour standards (International Labour Organisation standards)
  • Respect for freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining
• Community involvement:
  • Supporting local communities and social projects
  • Promoting education and social development
• Transparency and ethical business practices:
  • Disclosure of business practices and corporate governance
  • Combating corruption and unethical behaviour
• Supply chain:
  • Ensuring fair working conditions and ecological standards in the supply chain
  • Cooperation with suppliers who assume social and ecological responsibility

• Sustainable business strategy:
  • Integration of sustainability into the corporate strategy
  • Long-term goals for ecological and social sustainability
• Stakeholder involvement:
  • Involving customers, employees, investors, and communities in sustainability initiatives
  • Regular dialog and collaboration with stakeholders
• Sustainability reporting:
  • Regular and transparent reporting on sustainability targets and performance
  • Use of recognised sustainability standards such as GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) or SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board)

Module 6 addressed the link between social and environmental sustainability and career planning for young people. It presented a tool that youth workers can use with young people to map their living areas for opportunities of sustainable careers and training. The tool of ‘critical collective mapping’ involves several steps and aims at localising and visualising green jobs, career advice centres and job fairs in the area. A checklist was presented to evaluate employers or training centres according to environmental and social criteria, including energy efficiency, fair working conditions, transparency and a sustainable business strategy.