No matter the difficult circumstances, 2020 has seen the first project activities of the CEYOU project implemented in Italy, Wales and France, aiming to engage and empower youth on circular economy.

In Southern Italy, ACR+ member UCSA organised online Hackaton sessions between March and April, challenging young people between 18 and 30 years old to come up with innovative circular economy solutions on three key areas: food waste reduction, waste prevention and the extension of the life span of goods. UCSA is now working with the participants at the implementation of the winning ideas. The first step is a training on entrepreneurial and business modelling skills, followed by on-site visits and meetings with organizations and experts that are implementing similar projects in other contexts. The services defined will be tested during a circular economy festival in spring 2021.

In Wales, a younger group of environmental activists participated in online workshop in April to produce a guide for ‘Staying Green in Quarantine’ and later on started “Grow Pontypridd”, a project to support and encourage people to grow and share edible produce. In parallel to this, young people from Pontypridd have been meeting regularly with their local Member of Parliament, Welsh Assembly Member and Town Councillor to produce and work on a Local Action Plan for circular economy related activities. The plan includes increased public collection points for hard to recycle items such as crisp packets, a school uniform swap scheme and an award scheme for local businesses who have eco friendly and circular economy products and practices. 

In Strasbourg, CEYOU activities started in August with a patchwork workshop in partnership with an association working on up-cycling textile and using sewing as a tool for empowering and motivating unemployed people. This activity inspired the local partner of CEYOU, Youth Express Network, on how to work on the topic of fast fashion and promote entrepreneurial skills in this field.

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