Romanian-Norwegian high school partnership to tackle environmental issues

Over 900 high school students from Romania and Norway will look for solving the environmental issues in areas they live and try to determine mayors to implement them within ‘Greenovation Challenge’ project.

Greenovation Challenge is a bilateral project, concerning mountain areas, for environmental education (Romania-Norway), developed by Junior Achievement Romania in partnership with Ungt Entreprenorskap Sogn og Fjordane (UESoF) and ROMONTANA, project funded through the EEA Grants 2009-2014 within the NGO Fund in Romania.

For two years students will submit sustainable development programs, will develop communication campaigns and will summon up members of the community into convincing the authorities to support their ideas.

Projects will focus on the main environment issues; mountain areas are facing sustainability-related problems, some of them concerning unemployment, socio-economic migration, consumer behavior.

The project will have a long-term impact by creating awareness among teenagers regarding the connection between education and environmental sustainability, school knowledge applicability and future career and a better capacity to identify opportunities for exploiting natural capital of mountain areas.

Students’ ideas will be enrolled in Greenovation Challenge, an innovative competition concerning environmental sustainability that develops local, national and international.

‘Greenovation Challenge’ project benefits a grant in amount of EUR 140.890.

Schools participating : Cugir (Alba), Campulung, (Arges), Nasaud (Bistrita Nasaud), Brasov (Brasov), Teregova (Caras Severin), Intorsura Buzaului (Covasna), Toplita (Harghita), Petrila (Hunedoara), Baia Mare (Maramures), Piatra-Neamt (Neamt), Cimpulung Moldovenesc (Suceava).

Partners

Junior Achievement Romania is the largest and most dynamic economic and entrepreneurial education organization in Romania. JA “learning by doing” programs are followed annually by over a quarter million young students in the country and take place in schools across the country through the formal partnership with the Ministry of Education and with the support of the business community.

Sogn og Fjordane Ungt Entreprenorskap is the Norwegian local office of the national organization in the county and its programs are designed to inspire young people entrepreneurial spirit through practical learning and involving business directly in the educational process. Under the partnership, the organisation will identify best practices in sustainable development of mountain areas in Norway and facilitate know-how transfer.

ROMONTANA is an organization which facilitates sustainable and integrated development of the mountain areas. As a partner within this project, it will develop information and educational materials focused on issues of sustainable development of mountain regions, will interact with local authorities in mountain areas and mobilizing them to participate in the project.