Jong Lokaal Kabaal

Name of the organisation

Globelink

Website of the organisation

www.globelink.be

Location of the organisation

Onderwijsstraat 126B, 1070 Anderlecht, Belgium

E-mail address of the organisation

globelink@globelink.be

Good practice aspect(s)/themes of youth work

Participation of young people in activities (planning, preparing, carrying out, etc.)
Non-formal education/-learning
Sustainable development

Good practice category

A practice of processes and methods

Good practice aim & purpose

Youth Service Globelink challenges young people to strive for a sustainable, inclusive and just world. We develop in them strength, knowledge and enthusiasm to be able to make conscious choices and actively carry them out.
We resolutely believe in young people and their power to help build a democratic society. We contribute to the realization of a sustainable, fair world based on solidarity by starting from the ideas and actions of young people.

The ‘Jong Lokaal Kabaal’ project aims to build bridges between young people, policy makers and stakeholders.
We do this by creating dialogue and meeting at the local level around sustainability and social action. The action we link to this is that Globelink connects young people, different policy domains, policy makers and other
stakeholders at the local level to connect with each other around a local theme.

Good practice description

In cooperation with Globelink, three cities/municipalities (Hamont Achel, Zoersel and Beersel) organized the project Jong Lokaal Kabaal. Young people (between the ages of 16 and 26) from these cities/municipalities discovered the theme and sub-themes of climate through the kick-off (climate tables combined with an SDG escaperoom).
In the follow-up process, a core group of 15 young people per city/municipality set to work on the question: ‘How can we shape our city/municipality of the future in terms of climate?’
The 3 paths lead to inspiring actions on local sustainability. These self-devised actions and experiences were actively shared by the young people from the different cities and municipalities during and at the end of the track.
Youth consultants and sustainability officials strengthened the local anchoring so that the voice of young people echoed the municipal sustainability policy. In this way, we encouraged local administrations to continue working with the refreshing ideas of young people. This anchoring resulted in the development of a sustainable tool (ref. poster), with all the climate actions that each young person can apply in his/her/x life.

In this project, we start from the world of young people in order to encourage them to make their own sustainable choices. We then bring their opinions and beliefs to the broader local context. Anchoring both the process and the result is indispensable here

Good practice result & concrete effects

Young Local Kabaal started by locking young people in an epic escaperoom around the S(ustainable) D(evelopment) G(oals). Here they discovered the theme and sub-themes of climate.

In the follow-up process, the core group worked per city or municipality on the question: ‘How can we design our city/municipality of the future in terms of climate?’ The three tracks resulted in inspiring actions on local sustainability:

The Zoersel youth set up the action ‘Thursday = Veggie Day’ to promote vegetarian alternatives in primary schools. They made veggie spreads with children from the 6th grade for the other students at their school. You can find their bold promo video here.
The Jong Lokaal Kabaal youth in Beersel organized a real climate week. For youngsters of the third grade, they launched a sustainability challenge every day, such as ‘Monday plastic-free’ or ‘Wednesday car-free’. Be sure to check out this video of the start of the action week!
In Hamont-Achel, the youngsters opened a plant exchange box called ‘Potpots’. Here all inhabitants of the town can come and exchange cuttings, large and small indoor plants. For atmospheric images, be sure to check out their facebook or instagram.

Youth counselors and sustainability officers strengthen local anchoring so that the voice of young people is echoed in municipal sustainability policies. Local councils were encouraged to continue working with the inspiring ideas of young people.

Curious to see how it worked in previous years? Check out our overview brochure; https://ceac9f9a-f61e-4ecb-b235-abf7bbecdd69.filesusr.com/ugd/d57791_aa1314d783664296935906b84d221eb4.pdf

Good practice chapter of the European Charter on Local Youth Work

Core principles of youth work