Re-Establish Diversity and Inclusion in Environmental Locations
2022-1-CY02-KA153-YOU-000051901
INFORMATION
Project Name: RE-Establish Diversity and Inclusion in Environmental Locations (REDIEL)
Duration: 14th to 21st of November 2022
Activity: Training in Cyprus (Pissouri, Limassol) of 36 youth workers (4 youth workers from each organization)
Applicant and Coordinating Organization: ACPELIA, Pissouri, Limassol, Cyprus, acpeliacy@gmail.com
Project Management: Evangelia Nikolaou
General Management: Nikolas Nikolaou
Trainers: Erma Georgiou, Evangelia Nikolaou
Summary
"Re-Establish Diversity and Inclusion in Environmental Locations" consists of outdoor activities, seminars, and workshops designed to teach participants that nature is inherently diverse and inclusive. Due to historical oppression of people of colour people and women, there is a subconscious bias against minorities that many people are unaware of. Discrimination, which is frequently observed in outdoor spaces, is a myth created by humankind. To demythologize this false narrative, participants will engage in exercises focusing on emotional awareness, mindfulness, and outdoor activities, all of which will help them understand that nature is inclusive. Environmental locations are inherently accessible to all, something will be shown through the exhibition in Molos, Limassol. Participants will gain an understanding of the importance of truly inclusive environmental locations through their own curiosity, innovation, and non-formal educational research. They will come up with innovative ideas, competitions, exhibitions, fun, perfectionism, as well as reality to discover by themselves that empathy, trust, and humanities can be fostered through nature, and these are the true weapons against racism and discrimination.
Why Re-Establish?
National Geographic (2020) reports that people of colour are three times more likely than white people to live in areas without immediate access to nature. According to Goodrid (2018), 70% of the U.S. population who visit national forests, national wildlife refuges, and national parks are white, whereas Black people remain underrepresented in these spaces. Numerous explanations have been given for this phenomenon, but the most prevalent is that of historical racial discrimination. Racial oppression from the past continues to stalk our society, as does the significant income disparity between people of colour and white people. People of colour have higher unemployment rates and lower income levels, which means they have less disposable income for outdoor activities, walks in nature, and vacations.
Why in Environmental Locations?
As society becomes increasingly digital and absorbed by technology, this dichotomy between 'US' and 'THEM' in outdoor spaces has contributed to reinforcing the "nature-deficit disorder" (a term coined by Richard Louv).
Why is this a problem? Nature is widely researched, accepted, and suggested to improve mental health, stress levels, and cognitive abilities, to name a few. Additionally, if greater efforts are not made to engage current and future generations' potential, support for environmental public spaces, parks, and the environment in general may vanish. At a time when attempts to protect the environment due to climate change, we should pay attention to promoting diverse environmental locations and diversifying those that are not.
.Our Objectives
- To teach participants about discrimination in environmental locations, building the necessary competencies through NFE methods for formal application in their countries.
- To train youth workers how to think big and act big through high-quality workshops about Environmental locations that can be accessible for everyone.
- To gain emotional awareness of discrimination
- To foster empathy with others that are less fortunate
- To develop literacy competencies through critical thinking
- To learn how to trust others
- To foster awareness of ethnocentrism and prejudice in themselves and others