Intersectional Convergence of European Youth towards Green New Deal (System REset)
Overview
In 2020 and 2021, SmartUp helped young people in North Macedonia write a National Green Deal: a shared vision of a just and sustainable country by 2030, built together with people from many backgrounds, including Roma, rural, and LGBTQI+ communities that are often left out of decisions. We combined youth gatherings and trainings with a digital platform, Zelen Glas (“Green Voice”), where anyone could share their vision.
The work was part of a European project, Intersectional Convergence of European Youth towards Green New Deal, led by Young Friends of the Earth Europe and funded by Erasmus+. The visions we collected were shared with the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning and fed into a regional Balkan Green Deal.
The challenge
No seat at the table
Young people, especially from marginalised groups, had few ways to take part in policy discussions or to raise their demands on environmental and social justice.
Making intersectionality practical
Diverse youth groups needed the understanding and skills to work across issues such as climate, poverty, gender, and discrimination, and to take part in civic life.
Reaching people during Covid-19
Lockdowns moved most activities online, and it was hard to reach communities that most needed to be heard, so we had to change how we worked.
Activities and methods
The work combined a national movement, a digital platform, and local action:
- Coalition of the Future – national youth gatherings brought together activists, movements, and organisations, including Roma and social justice groups, to start the National Green Deal. Later working meetings covered circular economy, financing the transformation, and social justice, and a final event presented the document to decision-makers, including a Ministry representative, UNDP, and the EU Ambassador.
- Zelen Glas – a participatory platform with a collective-visioning form, designed in autumn 2020 and launched at the second national gathering. SmartUp helped design, build, and maintain it.
- Trainings on intersectionality – for high school students and young climate ambassadors, plus a panel on how civil society can take part in the UN climate conferences.
- Balkan Regional Forum – a three-day online forum that brought together participants from across the Balkans to shape a Balkan Green Deal and a Green and Just Recovery Plan.
- Intersectional Solidarity call – because Covid-19 prevented travelling to communities, we supported local organisations with small grants to run solidarity actions with the communities hit hardest and to collect their visions.
- Working with the state – we signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning to share the collected visions and work on policy recommendations.
Impact and learning
The project produced documents and a network that outlast it:
- A National Green Deal for North Macedonia, built from the visions of many communities and organised around nine areas, from participatory decision-making and food systems to energy, nature, public health, social justice, and the financing of the transformation
- A Balkan Green Deal and principles for a Balkan Green and Just Recovery created with partners across the region
- The Coalition of the Future, a national alliance of youth groups and movements working for system change
- Local solidarity actions – eleven community actions, from food and hygiene packages for single-parent families and support for a safe house, to books for local libraries, workshops with Roma youth, and help for farmers and homeless people
What we learned: communities that are rarely heard need time and trust, so we would spend more time with them before the activities start. Supporting local organisations that already work with those communities reached people better than going in ourselves.
Gallery
Outputs
National Green Deal of North Macedonia
The National Green Deal written by the Coalition of the Future, based on visions collected from young people and communities (in Macedonian).
Download national-green-deal-north-macedonia-2021.pdfCollective Visioning for a Balkan Green Deal
The visions for 2030 collected across the Balkans by the Balkan Green Deal Coalition, November 2020.
Download collective-visioning-for-a-balkan-green-deal-2020.pdfPrinciples for Balkan Green and Just Recovery
Shared principles for a green and just recovery from Covid-19, written by the Balkan Green Deal Coalition.
Download principles-for-balkan-green-and-just-recovery-2020.pdfPlanning similar work?
SmartUp can support research, co-creation, facilitation, digital tools, implementation, or learning documentation for related programmes.