A Youth Exchange Project of the Invasive Kind
Starting end of 2021 we were facing something extraordinary. Thanks to generous funding of the foreign ministery of Germany we were able to start organizing a new international project in Germany, Greece and Israel.
The project „Nature & Ideology – A Youth Exchange Project of the Invasive Kind“ was realised together with our friends from Agrio Rodo from Korfu and set to run over the course of two years. For the activities taking place in Israel we were also supported by our new partner Irgun Jeckes.
That’s what it’s all about
Allotment gardens as places of refuge from the Nazi regime, the garden city of Auschwitz as a National Socialist model city, the kibbutz as a sign of the dawn of a new society; „places close to nature“ could hardly be more different. Where is the link between these places, what separates them and what does the appropriation of such places mean for nature conservation and environmental protection and thus also for the future of young people on our planet? Together with young people from Greece and Germany, we want to explore the diverse framing of gardens regarding social change. Thereby we want to show how inhuman ideologies gain a foothold in nature conservation and environmental protection, but also how they can be uncovered as such and how positive humanistic alternatives can be offered instead.
The project started with a meeting of experts taking place in Germany at the beginning of 2022 and was followed by two international exchanges in Corfu and Germany. The second part of the project took place in Israel and showed how nature and gardens can be thought of in a humanistic and inclusive way. The professionals from Greece and Germany traveled to Israel in the first quarter of 2023 followed by the group of young people from both countries in the second quarter of 2023.
Programme
16th – 20th of March 2022: Professionals‘ exchange in Germany
26th of Aug. – 1st of Sep. 2022: International exchange in Greece
12th – 18th of Nov. 2022: International exchange in Germany
27th of Feb. – 5th of March 2023: Professionals‘ exchange in Israel
25th of March – 2nd of Apr. 2023: International exchange in Israel
The project is funded by the Ministery of Foreign Affairs.
