Fruits for Thought

• A month ago I was an organiser at a scientific conference, which was organised by my university’s student union. We prepared welcome packages for every participant. The package was in a tote bag, and inside the bag participants could find a reusable glass bottle and biodegradable pen. These items were important because through them we avoided plastic cups and pens during the event. I was totally impressed by this idea and, surprisingly, I saw people using the bottles also after the event, not only at university, but around town. There’s no need for an expensive welcome package, but for a useful one, which is more appreciated and eco-friendly.
• I’ve been vegetarian for 3 years now, which is important for me, not just because I feel sorry for the animals, but also to protect the environment. It’s a bit difficult to be vegetarian in my country. Sometimes I can hardly find alternatives. But I think it’s easier to look a bit more for other options, than to waste nature’s resources and to pollute through meat production. Since I’ve become a vegetarian I feel more conscious about saving the environment. Two friends of mine have also become vegetarians, because they gained a different perspective on this topic. My family supports my choice so they are also consuming less meat. I have five people around me, who became vegetarian or consume less meat. I think five people have a bigger impact than zero, and this is a constructive step.
• I got in touch with an old friend of mine, who took me to thrift shops, so recently me and my friend group got really into thrift shopping. It makes me happy that we can find such unique clothes and reuse someone’s old things.

My family and I felt compelled and obliged to take in Ukrainian refugees. Not because we want to present ourselves as helpful, but because we have experienced how people leave everything behind and have to suddenly leave their home country. You come as a stranger to a place without knowing its laws, language, culture or people. It was so nice to see how grateful and happy the guests were with us. They always told us that they felt comfortable here. At the same time, it was very nice for us to see that we are now able to help others in need.

When the war in Ukraine started, a lot of refugees arrived in Poland. In my city young people meet with teenagers from Ukraine to spend time with them, play board games and go for a walk in our city to get them to know their new surroundings. Educators and psychologists also take part in these meetings. I think it is a really important action and young refugees (also older people, but it is mostly dedicated to children and teenagers) need these meetings very much. I am very happy they can share their experiences in a safe space with specialists and peers. When I got to know how many refugees came to Poland and when I saw the photos from Ukraine I felt ready to help them, yet indirectly – through food and money collection.
Thanks to these meetings, young people from Ukraine feel more safe, they can make friends and acclimatise to the new country. Participants from Poland learned a very big lesson of empathy. They spend a lot of time with refugees and work together on a lot of problems. The involvement of people from Poland allowed the creation of these meetings.

At my college, in 2019, there was a lecture in May because of Europe Day, and one of the topics to address was the environment. The guest was Charles Moore, who discovered the plastic islands in the Pacific Ocean. As a journalism student, I belonged to the school newspaper and two of my colleagues had just interviewed Charles Moore. As we were leaving the auditorium, we were approached by a teacher who warned us about the need for the school to become more sustainable and that it was good for students to show concern and work together with the school’s management to change habits. So we had the idea of ​​forming an initiative: “ESCS Mais Limpa” (“ESCS” is the name of the college: “Escola Superior de Comunicação Social = Higher School of Social Communication” and “mais limpa” means “cleaner”). We spoke with the college principal council, who was very receptive, and we presented a list of items to change and to be implemented, from reducing the use of plastic in the school bar and cafeteria, to placing recycling bins in the school’s corridors and separating garbage, to placing drinking fountains, healthier options in vending machines, timers on bathroom faucets… Our action was so successful that more students decided to participate in the cause, which resulted in a group, where students can address the issue of sustainability and the environment while developing their communication skills, taking into account the college courses: design, advertising and marketing, journalism and public relations. Thus, several events have already been held in partnership with other organisations and personalities in the area – awareness campaigns, and promotion of social networks with the aim of informing and to catch up our followers’ attention. In addition, our school became part of the eco-schools council and received the green flag for achieving good results and proving to be more sustainable.
The teacher who approached us was our eye opener and our main motivator. And my personal motivation was to be part of something and to see that this “something” was useful for the community, for people in a personal way, and to be able to encourage others to change habits and to be active and to be part of the project too. Today, I am proud to be able to say that we have a face, an identity. I am proud to say that I am one of the founders of the project and the first president of “ESCS Mais Limpa” as a nucleus, and that, in a way, I helped to contribute to change. In the end, 5 journalism students and an advertisement and marketing student created something new, based on current environmental concerns. We had an impact on the school community and on the people who follow us, and today “ESCS mais Limpa” is already 3 years old.

• Forming and managing a team, and also to find a good dynamic, does not have to be an adversity, but it is not something that can be done in a snap of fingers either. It takes time, patience, and some predisposition to find the best path. It is for this reason that Bruce Tuckman’s Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing model can be useful to guide us in this process and to help us to overcome all phases.
• Still on good group dynamics, this is a link that can help you define what “group dynamics” is and how you can build it together with your team.
• Do you know that your group is the one that always needs an energiser at the beginning of activities, but ideas are running out? The pdf “100 ways to energise groups” could be the tool you needed and didn’t know about.
• To help connect your team, how about team-building? It’s a good idea, isn’t it? Then this link provides you with 60 ideas for team-building activities. Maybe some are just what you’re looking for.
• And this one is a small guide that provides you with more information about team building methods and techniques. It also talks about it regarding an executive environment, but maybe you can apply it to your reality also. So you can always check it out too: teambuilding.com.
• This pdf is a pack full of “Ideas, resources, methods and activities for non-formal intercultural education with young people and adults”, which can help you to deal with your local group and even to implement local activities and actions.

• A video dedicated to all those who told you: “you can’t do it”, may seem strange and unusual, but maybe it’s the kind of motivation you needed to start doing “what [“they”said] you can’t do”. So, check out the “Do what you can’t” video and get your dose of motivation today.
• A motivational article from the Harvard Business Review, which, although written in a business context, serves to show us that to continue on our path we must focus on the good things and in those that are pleasant to us, in order to “design goals and not tasks”, and continue, then, motivated and productive.

• Don’t know what topic to tackle in your local group? Or does your group have so many ideas that they can’t come to a consensus on what topic to talk about? So, this link with Youth goals EU can be a great source to get inspired for the next topic to address.
• Almost all topics that we want to talk about, if not all of them, are linked to human rights, so it’s always good to have correct information on the topic nearby. So here is the link with the universal declaration of human rights.
• We talk so much about human rights nowadays, as well as realising their importance for society and for human beings. However, it is also necessary for all of us to be educated about this topic in order to live as harmoniously as possible in the society in which we live. Hence, education for human rights is fundamental nowadays but what is it? Know more through this link: humanrightscareers.com.
• About education for human rights, this pdf is a collection of best practices regarding this topic, based on “principles and methodologies of non-formal education”, built to show that “Human Rights Education comes in many forms and is something that ordinary people and local organisations all over the member states of the Council of Europe are doing” (Paddison, 2017, p. 4).
• Also this “Compass: Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People” demands for Education for Human Rights.
• If you want to find information about the topics you want to address, try this platform. It might help you find books, articles on the subject you are looking for: osce.org.

• Throughout this guide we talk about knowledge and its various variables, using clear and simple language. But if you still want to know more about this topic, this link has a lot of relevant information to reinforce, clarify, and/or increase your knowledge about this specific point: knowledge-management-tools.net.
• It was also in this topic that we mentioned some ways to acquire knowledge, and one of them is “learning by doing” and this link complements the information we already had in the guide: pedagogy4change.org.
• And if you like books more, we bring you this recommendation: “Know your rights and claim them” written by Angelina Jolie. It is a book for all young people who believe in a better world and to encourage everyone to understand their rights and to stand up for them.
• Another interesting book that you can read is “Be the change“ by Gina Martin. It’s a toolkit for everyone who wants to be an activist and for everyone who wants to learn more about how they can be one and what they can do.
• Just as this guide was created within the scope of the Generation Europe – The Academy project, this Method Box was also created in the same context. As the name implies, this Method Box suggests several methods that may be useful to implement in your context, or even to help you develop other methods.
• Here you find a definition of learning to learn by UNESCO.

• To find out more about what soft skills are and keep some examples in mind, we present this article with some configurations and some types of soft skills: “What Are Soft Skills?”
• This is a soft skills toolkit that can be useful for you to find more information on the subject and some help to develop your own soft skills: “A TOOLKIT for Soft Skills Development for Young People”.
• We live in society and therefore we are faced with constant negotiation processes “to satisfy needs or desires”. But did you know that there are Five Styles of Negotiation? This article talks exactly about this topic and can help you understand how to proceed in future situations: “The Five Styles of Negotiation”.

• And now? How can I put my action plan into action? Throughout the guide we give you some tips, but we still bring you some additional information that may be useful to you. In this link you will find a small guide for activists that explains “What is a campaign strategy?”
• This blog by Aidan Ricketts brings you articles, workshops, and other resources for activists that can be a motivation, a guide, or even lessons learned to apply to your current journey.
• And this link is great for additional information about what activism is and how you can take action and also what are the differences between these two things: “HRE and Activism”.
• “We CAN! Taking action against hate speech through counter and alternative narratives” is a manual that provides “communicative and educational approaches and tools” for you to fight against hate speech, that can be your topic, or else you can just take the information you can and apply it to another situation.
• Activism takes many forms and the European Solidarity Corps is a way to gain inspiration and even help make a difference by signing up for volunteering and other projects.
• Do you need to raise funds for your action and don’t know how? This platform can help you find entities that can finance your project. If you need it, just click on this link: bond.org.uk.
• This guide can also help you by suggesting some methods that may be useful for you to raise funds for your project/action: “The Ultimate Guide to Nonprofit Fundraising + 22 Ideas”.
• In the same vein, this article provides you with 50 Nonprofit Fundraising Strategies to Help You Raise More.