Back to School with EU Youth Cinema: Green Deal

The EU Youth Cinema: Green Deal project is entering its second phase this autumn, featuring a brand-new streaming platform, an expanded selection of cutting-edge European films focused on the environment, water, and sustainability, and the inclusion of additional partner countries.

A Sustainable Europe at the Core

Following two successful years of educating and raising awareness about environmental and sustainability issues among young people in Austria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Romania, and Slovenia, the EU Youth Cinema: Green Deal is set to begin its second edition this autumn. This pioneering initiative places a sustainable Europe at the center of its unique educational offerings. With its multicultural approach and an innovative, multilingual streaming platform operated by new project partner Cincopa, the project makes a significant contribution to appreciating and understanding the EU’s climate strategy. The platform boasts a carefully curated collection of over 50 European films, complemented by cinema visits, up-to-date teaching materials, workshops, and discussions. This year-round educational program is particularly aimed at addressing environmental challenges for young people, promoting green habits, and encouraging a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.

In Romania, the second edition will feature cinema events with free entry for all registered school classes at Cineplexx cinemas in București, Sibiu, Târgu Mureș and Satu Mare offered this year mainly in November; the project in Romania Macedonia is supported by several strong partners / green NGOs: Natura 5 Association (Bucharest), Urban Bike Revolution (Sibiu) and Focus Eco Center (Târgu-Mureș).

The registration to cinema events and the green streaming platform www.euyc.green is free and possible at any time: www.youth-cinema.eu/ro.

“An intact ecological and social environment is essential for a fulfilled life and successful economic activity. Sustainability must therefore be in the interests of us all in the face of advancing climate change. Initiatives such as ‘EU Youth Cinema: Green Deal’ make an important contribution to imparting knowledge and raising awareness of the EU climate strategy. We are happy to support this, especially as sustainability is also an integral part of our business model”, explains Hartwig Löger, CEO of Vienna Insurance Group.

The second edition of the EU Youth Cinema: Green Deal is organized by  LET’S CEE Filmfestival (Austria), EPEKA (Slovenia), Go Green (North Macedonia), Innovation Generation (Ukraine), and Chapter 4 Communications (CEE/SEE). The project is primarily funded by Creative Europe, the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology, and the Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) with the local brands Omniasig Non-Life, Asirom and BCR Asigurări de Viaţă. Additional essential support is provided by the Collecting Society for Audiovisual Media (VAM) and Cineplexx, the exclusive cinema partner across 11 countries and 33 cities.

“Cineplexx International is represented in eleven of the twelve countries and is contributing to the success of this highly innovative project with its relevant cinema expertise, customized marketing measures and first-class infrastructure. We also see this collaboration as a great opportunity to help establish a green school cinema in 33 European cities currently being screened, from Vienna and Salzburg to Skopje, Tirana, Split and Thessaloniki, as a place where a future-oriented dialog between generations and an exchange of knowledge, experience and environmentally friendly practices can take place”, says Christof Papousek, CFO and co-partner of Cineplexx International, which is on board as the exclusive cinema partner in 11 countries.

Expanding Horizons Across the Balkans and Beyond

Building on the success of its initial phase, the project is expanding this autumn to include new partner countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine, and South Tyrol. Teachers and educators from these countries can now register their classes or youth groups for access to the film platform, cinema screenings, and didactic materials in their respective national languages. Teachers from all 12 participating countries can register at any time for free at www.youth-cinema.eu to stream the entire green film collection, organize cinema trips, meet environmental experts, and discuss pressing global challenges.

Seeing Water Differently

In addition to the relaunch of the streaming platform, new European documentaries will be continuously added to the program. The film program will also align with the EU’s #WaterwiseEU campaign, launched in May, which focuses on water resilience and raising awareness about the importance of water as a vital resource.

Highlighted films include:

• “INTO THE ICE” (2022): A German-Danish documentary by Lars Ostenfeld, following three leading glacier researchers deep into the Greenland ice sheet.
• “UNTIL THE LAST DROP” (2023): A Polish documentary by Ewa Ewart, showcasing the dire conditions of European rivers and the extraordinary efforts of activists to protect them.
• “LAKE OF APPLES”: A short film by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov, produced in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, highlighting the destruction and restoration of regional ecosystems, such as Lake Prespa in North Macedonia, Albania, and Greece.
• Other Noteworthy Films: “TIME FOR UTOPIAN IDEAS” (2018), “START UP FOR A REASON” (2022), “ACTIVIST,” and “LA BUENA VIDA” (2015).

These films and the accompanying educational materials are suitable for a wide range of subjects, including social studies, geography, biology, philosophy, and foreign languages, making them adaptable to different educational levels.