Clean Future – Environmental Protection and Plastic Waste
Strengthening civil society and international collaboration against pollution in Armenia
Pollution, in particular through plastic and household waste, poses a big challenge in Armenia. It threatens ecosystems as well as human wellbeing. The project “Clean Future” aims to mobilise Armenian civil society intergenerationally in the fight for a cleaner and healthier future.
By building and strengthening local volunteer groups, NABU Armenia informs the local population about the advantages of sustainable consumption and builds environmental awareness. International exchange plays an important role in this, with the aim of a long-term collaboration between the German Naturschutzjugend (NAJU) and Armenian volunteer groups.
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No nice rest stop: a stork on a landfill - photo: Lusine Aghajanyan
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Joy & environmental misery: mountainscape & waste incineration. - photo: Levon Harutyunyan
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Let’s go, volunteers! Tending the environment on World Cleanup Day. - photo: NABU Armenia
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Just how it should be: waste sorting. - photo: NABU Armenia
Overview of the project activities
- Organisation and implementation of the first "Clean Future" youth camp for high school students
- Organisation of workshops and exchange trips for activists from Germany and Armenia
- Opening of an environmental club with various themed evenings, activities and free day trips
- Setting up of new recycling collection points and developing of educational materials
Insights into the environmental youth camp in Vahagnadzor, August 2023
In the middle of August, employees and volunteers of the NABU branch in Armenia organised a youth camp for adolescents at the retreat known as “Gugark,” located in the town of Vahagnadzor. Aiming at promoting environmental awareness among young people, the camp offered courses, competitions and games dealing with environmental topics. 35 adolescents participated in the diverse programme. For example, they could take action for environmental protection by participating in cleanup events, spend calm evenings watching short films about environmental topics and test their newly acquired knowledge in a quiz.
Through a competition, adolescents could collect extra points and thus get to participate in the harvest festival, which is co-organised by the Armenian NABU branch this year. The participants of the camp were divided into three teams: vultures, white storks and golden eagles. After the results of all the competitions were in, the white storks scored the highest number of points.
In September, the winners spent an exciting weekend in Dzoraghbyur. In the town to the east of Yerevan, the young conservationists took part in other environmental courses planned by NABU employees in Armenia.
The project is being implemented in cooperation with three local partners - the NABU branch in Armenia, the NGO "Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Development of Communities" (ISSD) and "For People and Nature Armenian Association" (FPNA) - and the NAJU national office. It is funded by the Federal Foreign Office.
Project facts
Project title
Clean Future – Environmental protection and plastic waste
Country / Region
Armenia
Period
June to December 2023
Partners
NABU branch in Armenia, For People and Nature Armenian Association, NGO "Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Development of Communities” (ISSD), NAJU-headquarter
Sponsored by / Supported by
Federal Foreign Office (Programme for cooperation with the civil society in the countries of the Eastern Partnership and Russia)
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