Youth Green Deal visual storytelling training: Learning to document eco-volunteer experiences through video hosted by SCI Belgium in Brussels. 

The Youth Green Deal project has been initiated by the MIDI working group together with partners from the South Mediterranean area and aims to mobilize young people to act against climate change through eco-volunteering. The project is supported by Erasmus+ and apart from 3 trainings also includes 4 eco-camps, a final conference bringing together different stakeholders and an impact research. 

Coordinated by Volontaires sans Frontieres Tunisia, the project brings together 4 SCI branches active in the MIDI working group (Catalonia, Italy, France and Belgium) and 4 partners from the Mediterranean area (VSFr Tunisia, EVO Morocco, Space for Sustainable development Jordan and ASCC Palestine). After a leader training in March in Tunisia, the group of young leaders got the opportunity to develop their storytelling skills. This short but very powerful training gave the participants the opportunity to learn and practice different visual documenting techniques so that during the upcoming eco-camps the young people themselves would be able to document the camp experiences and tell the eco-camp stories.  

The objective of this training was to give the participants, all members of a YGD partner association, the necessary tools to document and promote eco-volunteering during participative workcamps within their organization. Thanks to courses on visual narration, photography, courses on different shots and angles, courses on camera settings and video editing, we were able to learn how to make a good short film with a simple smartphone. Unfortunately the participants from Tunisia couldn’t join us because they didn’t get their visa on time. 

This training was really helpful to me. I was able to learn new skills that I didn’t have before. […] I can now use editing software and create a video in a more professional way.

– Giulia Tringali (SCI Italy).

Thanks to this international framework, this training was an opportunity to create intercultural exchanges and to discover other ways of doing and creating:

 It was very rewarding to work with new people and learn from their experiences, knowledge and skills. I came out of this training very motivated to continue to be active in the Youth green deal eco-volunteer project.

– Palomé Venot (SCI Belgium).

Although the main axis of this training was learning how to make a promotional video, it was also an opportunity to address other themes:

• The rich presentation of Mr. Bastien Bruninx was the opportunity to reinforce our knowledge on the stakes of climate change, its origins and its consequences. Although it was a cold shower for most of us, the conclusion on resilience and the systemic alternatives to be implemented to fight against this warming left our eyes shining with hope.
• Also, during the visit to Champ du Chaudron – a farm in Anderlecht, Belgium – we were able to learn the basics of permaculture by helping the farmers harvest their vegetables, prepare a growing bed and manage the compost. We even had the opportunity to plant a tree, symbolizing the passage of the Youth Green Deal on this farm.

This day at the farm was also an opportunity to take out our smartphones to put into practice the elements learned during this training:

It was also very stimulating and encouraging to come up with ideas and apply them directly in the field to create a video.

– Pol Guixeras i Vidal (SCI Catalonia).

It was great to learn from the experts and then put everything into practice by working in a group. I will never forget what I learned and the great encounters I had in Belgium.

– Giulia Tringali (SCI Italy).

 4 short films including interviews, explanation of the place and technique of culture, and feelings of the participants were shot by the 12 participants of this training during this outing to the Champ du Chaudron. Objective accomplished!

Here is one of the videos made by Pol, Palomé and myself:

The post-training goal for each of the participants is now to do the same thing again to showcase the actions and initiatives of each Youth Green Deal partner organization around the world. Good luck to all!

A big thank you to SCI Belgium for organizing this training and especially to Sergio Raimundo, Isabel Léthé, Sabina Jaworek (SCI Belgium) and Hamza Al-Shayeb (SSD Jordan) for their passion and effort during this week as organizer and facilitator.

We’ll see you soon for feedback on the first participative work camp of the Youth Green Deal which will take place from July 4th to 14th 2022 in Catalonia. Follow Youth Green Deal on Instagram and facebook and check out our stories! There are still places for the eco-camp in Tunisia (August) for which we still have places for French and Italian volunteers and for the eco-camp in Morocco (September) for which we are looking for Spanish and Belgian volunteers!

Contact your branch if interested. See you soon!

Article by Hugo DUMONT (Volunteer in SCI France)