The European Day of Environment (EDE) is about to come and of course the Environmental Working Group (EnWG) won’t let it pass unnoticed!
The six weeks that the Network will think about sustainability and will have the chance to prove that it is sustainable will start on the 22nd of April. This is the International Mother Earth Day and it reminds us of the well being of the planet and the impact we, as humans, have on it.
The EDE will last six weeks until the 5th of June. This is World Environment Day and the theme of this year is Think.Eat.Save, to raise awareness and do something about the huge amount of food we waste.
If you need some more sustainable inspiration before participating, 2013 is the International Year of Water Cooperation by the United Nations. Water is almost a magic liquid, without water life is not possible on Earth. The amount of clean, drinking water will be a huge problem in the near future, so water is a very current topic. The UN focuses mainly on water cooperation this year. Through different conferences on water cooperation in different countries, the organization hopes to attract attention, raise awareness and achieve a better cooperation regarding water policies and actions that are taken.
So now you have some background about the EDE and have some inspiration, but the most important thing is to participate yourself! All you need to know to participate you can find here:
When: From the 22nd of April until the 5th of June
What: Take a picture of your local while doing or showing something sustainable & finish the sentence “AEGEE-[name of antenna] is sustainable/thinks it is important to be sustainable because…”
Why: Your local will adorn our Wall of Sustainability and be in the race for the most sustainable local of the year when you will submit a video/essay etc. to show it!
How: Send your application BEFORE the 5th of June to enwg.aegee@gmail.com
Do you want to be the most sustainable local of the year? Then submit a video/essay or something else to prove it!
Don’t forget to like our facebook page EDE2013 and to watch the video:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhaNyfwM-uQ]
Written by Iris Hordijk, AEGEE-Utrecht and Speaker of the EnWG
In AEGEE, we are used to a lot of action days – or weeks, or months – to raise awareness for different topics or to encourage people to become active. Whether it is the Higher Education Days, the European Day of Environment or the
Logo of the Climate Impacts Day
Youth in Action Months, it is easier to activate people for a certain issue if you can focus on it for a specific period of time and offer them specific guidelines on how to get going.
During the Spring Agora Enschede, another worldwide action day took place, the Climate Impact Day. In the last decades, the man-made impact on climate became stronger and stronger. Unusual weather events are recorded all over the world, though people do not often make the link between these local events, rising CO2-emissions, and the changing climate worldwide. The aim of the Climate Impact Day is therefore to help people to “connect the dots”, to realise how the climate is changing and that global action has to be taken.
With the Environmental Working Group (EnWG), we wanted to add another dot to the picture by getting all Agora participants into one big dot and taking a photo of it. Fortunately we had the support of the
The Agora participants form a climate dot
amazing Agora organisers and could use the opportunity of the big group picture on the first day of the Agora to gather everybody into our climatedot; a dot that includes all participants, symbolising that we are all part of the change — and hopefully also of the solution.
We want to thank the participants as well as the organisers for the picture and are happy to see green topics becoming more and more mainstream.
Written by Hans-Peter Bretz, AEGEE-Aachen
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