Datenbank der Projekte zur ländlichen Entwicklung

Aiming to promote environmental awareness and European identity, in this project a French Local Action Group and Leader-type associations from Romania offer young people an exchange across Europe via the participation in different leisure activities.

Pays Vichy Auvergne (Vichy, France)

The LAG Vichy-Auvergne has been continuously deepening its relationships with Romania since 2001. Back then, initial contacts between the administrative departments of Allier and Cluj were facilitated by a city twinning arrangement. A subsequent joint initiative by the French LAG and the Huedin micro-region focused on the creation of (1) a French-Romanian Business Centre to support bi-lateral company partnerships, and (2) an official partnership between the Clermont-Ferrand Business School and the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca.

The overall objectives were to help the youngsters to become aware of their European identity and to make them realize what it means to be an eco-citizen. More specifically, the project aimed to: i) enable young people to apprehend the different realities of two countries, by getting to know and understanding each other; ii) provide them with opportunity for joint sports activities and discoveries of their natural and cultural environment; iii) make the young people aware of environmental protection issues, and in particular of their individual and collective responsibility to practice proper waste management; and iv) help the youth to realize the European dimension of eco-citizenship.

Altogether, thirty youngsters participated in the project, of which 16 went on a journey from France to the micro-region of Huedin in Romania. A couple of weeks later, their visit was returned by 14 young Romanians. The French discovered the Romanian region’s history and culture and experienced rural life in the area, in which their counterparts live. The visit to France, which was of a similar nature, also included joint field trips in order to advocate the respect for nature and environment.

The project offered young people from France and Romania a first-time opportunity to participate in an international project. They were introduced to the concept of sharing and exchanging experience by engaging in joint exercise and discovery. Learning about similarities and differences helped them to get to know and better understand each other. Experiencing the way of life in another country, the youngsters realised that one can be easily misled by prejudice and clichés, which are nothing else but perceptions that are based on ignorance. As a consequence of their participation in this project, the ideas behind the European identity have undoubtedly evolved for each of these young people.

The French took note of the presence of waste along rivers, roads, and even on the site of the youth hostel where they stayed. An exchange with their Romanian peers on the topic revealed that bins for selective sorting did indeed exist in Romania, but they were not properly used. The youngsters spontaneously agreed to organize a joint bin construction exercise, to enable sorted waste disposal on their vacation site, followed by a joint collection exercise to promote environmental responsibility.

In France a joint workshop was held at SICTOM South-Allier, which collects and treats household waste from 136 local communities. A nature guide of the Bellenaves visitor centre helped the group to discover the flora and fauna of the Forêt de Colettes. The Auvergne region’s geology was in the focus of a visit to the Wolframines mining museum. Canoeing and tree climbing activities completed the discovery of the region’s natural environment.

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Florentin GEORGESCU

leader_pays@pays-vichy-auvergne.fr

+33 4 70 96 57 32

English, French, Romanian