Project Summary
The “Green Bridges: Virtual Exchanges for Climate Action and Social Innovation” project connects young people from Europe (Spain, Germany, Denmark) and Sub-Saharan Africa (Uganda, Guinea, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Nigeria) through a program of interactive digital events. The focus is on urgent needs in the areas of climate education, digital skills, social innovation, and inclusive participation. The consortium of eight organizations guides participants through digital events and group work on real-world problems, leading up to the development and presentation of solutions to relevant stakeholders.
Project Manager
Status
ongoing since 2026
Budget
EUR 462.019
Partners
European Commission
ASSAMBA – ASSOCIAÇÃO DOS AMIGOS DO BAMBU (MZ)
2811 Social Enterprise (DE)
Open Europe (ES)
GAERS – Global Agricultural Extension and Rural Services (NG)
Giving Hope Foundation (DK)
GT2050 – GreenTransformation2050 (GN)
SHCAN – Soil Health and Climate Action Network (UG)
StartNLight (SL)
Project goals
Facilitator Training
At least 25 facilitators from 8 countries will be trained during the first 9 months. A training program will be developed, five online training sessions will be held, and at least three virtual exchange seminars will be organized. A facilitator’s handbook and an online library will be created.
Virtual Exchanges
During the project period, 2500 young people (aged 18–30) from Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa will participate in 18 virtual exchanges on specific topics such as sustainability, justice, and entrepreneurship; at least 50% of these participants will be women and 20% will come from marginalized groups
Local Action Plans
Participants will have the opportunity to take part in group challenges and field trips (in the respective countries). Mixed-country teams will develop proposed solutions to real-world problems.Development and provision of a “toolkit” for young people on climate protection in easily accessible digital formats and various languages by the 34th month of the project.
Youth Innovation Toolkit for Climate Action
Development and provision of a “toolkit” for young people on climate protection in easily accessible digital formats and various languages by the 34th month of the project.
Showcase Event
Development of a communication strategy. A showcase event will take place in the 32nd month. Participants and partners will have the opportunity to present their ideas, results, and experiences to relevant stakeholders.
Green Bridges is a 36-month project designed to facilitate virtual exchanges on climate protection and social innovation among young people from Europe (Germany, Denmark, Spain) and Sub-Saharan Africa (Uganda, Guinea, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Nigeria). The initiative was launched by Weltweit e.V. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have increasingly relied on digital platforms to connect with initiatives around the world. After launching the Action Network Worldwide platform in 2022, the formats of this exchange became increasingly diverse. We began hosting digital workshops, leading discussion panels, and offering short webinars. Through this, we gained insight into what matters most to young people in the Global South, and what they need to actively shape a better future for themselves. We were thrilled when we came across the application opportunities for the European “Virtual Exchanges” project under the Erasmus+ program, as it seemed tailor-made for us. We were particularly pleased that this would allow us to organize a project together with our partners, some of whom we have known and valued for decades.
Young people are the most vocal advocates for climate protection, yet they often lack quality education in this area as well as platforms to engage. For many, active participation is further hindered by the structural imbalance between the Global North and South. We want to bring these young people into Green Bridges and thereby offer them a structured educational program featuring intercultural exchange and real-world problem-solving. Through the ANW platform, this program and the solution-oriented group work will be made as accessible as possible and implemented in a moderated manner. The focus will be on topics such as climate justice, circular economy, green entrepreneurship, regenerative food systems, and social innovations.
Particular emphasis is placed on ensuring that at least 50 percent of the participants are women and at least 20 percent are from marginalized groups.
To ensure that the results of the mixed-country collaborations in the group work do not go unnoticed, Green Bridges plans a showcase event, as one of the goals is for these ideas and concepts to be translated into action. Therefor toward the end of the project, a platform will be provided to bring participants and partner organizations together with interest groups and stakeholders to present their experiences and results.
The project’s sustainability will also be ensured through a “Youth Innovation Toolkit for Climate Action,” which will be compiled from the project’s results and experiences and made available, also in translated versions.
At the core of Green Bridges are various digital exchange events via Zoom. Each partner in the consortium will prepare at least two of these online events and invite participants from all partner countries to attend. The formats of these “Virtual Exchanges” are flexible and will be tailored to the topic, the specific target group, and the capabilities of the respective partner. Each partner organization has a specialized area of expertise that we believe can be an enrichment for young people from other countries to learn more about or engage with in the virtual exchange.
The goal of the project is to support young people in advancing and implementing their goals for sustainable development. To this end, we bring together young adults from Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa and offer them educational opportunities and a platform for developing ideas and solutions to real environmental and climate problems.
