Problem addressed

The project aimed to address the perceived needs of youth workers and youth leaders for tailored tools to develop green competences and ensure the environmentally friendly functioning of their organisations (taking into account not only environmental aspects, but also financial management, health, human resource management, etc.). We have identified a lack of knowledge of stakeholders in the youth sector in the areas of ecological footprint, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, which makes it more difficult for them to differentiate between effective solutions and greenwashing. The tools that were already available before the start of our project were not suitable for use in the youth and non-governmental sectors, but at the same time the need for such tools is becoming more and more visible as the principles of the European Green Deal (EGD) are reflected in new EU programmes as well as in national funding guidelines and public funding, on which youth organisations are more and more directly dependent.

Innovative solution

According to our literature review and the experience from previous projects, there were no "ready-made" tools for the development of green competences at organisational or individual level in the youth sector prior to our project. The materials and tools available to youth NGOs, young people, youth leaders and youth workers were not comprehensive and often only partially useful for them - the tools focusing on organisations tended to have a strong entrepreneurial orientation or focused on only part of the organisation's activities (e.g. events). We designed the project based on a needs analysis of the end-users - youth workers and leaders - and during the pilot testing phase of our project's results, we gathered feedback and upgraded the tools to better address the needs of the users. The aim of the online training for developing green competences was to bring about a change in the behaviour of young people, youth workers and leaders, a prerequisite for which is good information and attitudes based on validated and scientific information. The modules therefore elaborated on the basics of sustainability, looked at practical guidelines for detecting greenwashing, made recommendations on how to reduce one's ecological footprint, and then provided guidance on how to go about implementing sustainable principles in NGOs. Our aim was to create tools that would be useful in different cultural contexts, in organisations with different experiences and backgrounds or fields of work, and therefore we involved different partners from different parts of Europe, working in different fields. In addition, the pilot testing of the tools involved a really diverse range of organisations (in terms of size, organisation, financial resources and areas of work), which allowed us to get useful feedback and to adapt our tools as much as possible, or to write guidance on how organisations can adapt them.

Key results and benefits

The three main outcomes of the project, which aim to empower organisations and individuals, are:

• Online training to develop or upgrade green competences, focusing on individuals' needs for knowledge about the environment, ecological footprint and climate change, ways to adapt to it, and greener lifestyles,
• a carbon footprint calculator for organisations,
• guidelines and recommendations for sustainability in organisations.

The results are available free of charge in English, Romanian, Slovenian and Spanish via the project website: https://sustainable-ngo.eu.

Potential for mainstreaming

The Sustainable NGOs project has identified several areas where the approach and results of the project can be applied more broadly and in other areas of knowledge.

1. Wider application in the NGO sector:
The Carbon Footprint Calculator and the Sustainable Action Guidelines are adaptable to other NGOs not necessarily working in the youth sector. They allow for easy self-assessment and planning of improvements in organisational sustainability performance. However, additional dissemination efforts and adaptation of the approach will be needed to actively use our results in other organisations.

2. Integration into formal and non-formal education:
Online education for green competences is suitable for use in secondary and entry-level higher education programmes (environmental studies, social responsibility, entrepreneurship), as well as in non-formal education for young people and youth workers.

3. Adaptation for the entrepreneurial sector:
The tools could be used in small and medium-sized enterprises to introduce basic sustainability practices and to help develop sustainability strategies, particularly in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.

4. Use in local communities and municipalities:
The approach could be used by municipalities to measure the sustainability performance of local institutions, schools and events, and to raise awareness of sustainability actions in the local community.

5. Support for European policies and programmes:
The project results are directly linked to the objectives of the European Green Deal and the 2030 Agenda. The tools offer concrete tools for the implementation of green policies in the youth and wider NGO sector. As the results are available in several languages, it is possible to use them in the international community.