Protect the environment for your future!
3-10 November 2012
Gersau, Switzerland

Swiss Rural Youth will host the Autumn Seminar in the lovely town of Gersau, on the shores of Lake Lucerne. The theme will be environmental protection and sustainable development in rural communities. The seminar will explore how rural young people can contribute to sustainable ways of living. Participants will see local examples of sustainable development in rural areas such as forestry, energy production, recycling and energy-efficient construction.

Clean air, clean water and safe food are the very basic requirements of our lives. We want to experience nature to admire its beauty and for recreational purposes. Furthermore, nature provides us with all the basic resources from which human creativity produces a vast number of goods to make our lives better and more convenient. Our demands on ever increasing – faster computers, faster transport and better equipment to make our daily lives even more convenient. This has local and global effects like the depletion of natural resources, contamination of soil and water, climate change and the extinction of species. We also use more and more energy and produce a lot of waste. How can young people in rural areas contribute to sustainable ways of living? How can we make a difference in our daily lives, locally and globally? How can we live up our responsibility towards nature and its conservation for ourselves and for future generations?

Aims:

• Raise awareness amongst rural young people of the importance of an intact nature, a healthy environment and a stable climate for our future
• Promote sustainable development as way to balance current human needs and the preservation of the environment for future generations.
• Create an understanding for the impact and consequences of everyday decisions and actions on the environment and the climate.
• Encourage rural young people to become active citizens at the local,national and European level and to participate in the sustainable creation of their future.

Objectives:

• Explore different themes related to environmental protection and sustainable development like forestry, energy production, recycling and energy-efficient construction.
• Show local examples of sustainable development in rural areas.
• Give participants from the different countries and with different cultural backgrounds the opportunity to discuss and exchange their views and thoughts about environmental protection and sustainable development throughintercultural dialogue.

For more information, contact seminar(at)ruralyoutheurope.com.