Eco-photography: environment through the eye of the lens

 “Eco – photography: environment through the eye of the lens” is an international youth exchange that will be held in Cagliari, Italy, from 16 to 23 March 2018, focused on environmental protection and photography, which is a popular hobby among youth across Europe and thus opens up a connection between these individuals and the natural environment. The main aim of the project is to discuss the environmental problems and seek for creative and effective ways to resolve these issues with a peer to peer approach among youngsters.

Specific objectives of the project are:

• To stimulate young people’s spirit of initiative using methods of creative photography;

• To promote photography as a tool to raise awareness on environmental issues and a way to acquire knowledge and skills useful for persons’ personal and professional development;

• To foster mutual understanding, knowledge of ecological situation and culture in countries of participants;

• To develop young people’s motivation and sense of responsibility towards environmental issues in a global way;

• To create a campaign against climate change and environmental degradation, encouraging youth to further influence media, institutions and other stakeholders in the topic of ecology in Europe;

• To promote Erasmus+ programme as a tool to stimulate creativity, youth active participation and environmental awareness Giving a mandate to photography, and giving young people a stake in their rural environment and a reason to spend more time outdoors we hope to motivate more youngsters to protect the environment of their own countries and across Europe against both the ravages of climate change and also the encroachment of urban areas and issues such as littering or dumping of waste in areas of natural beauty. Photography can be a powerful tool for this as it provides a sense of accomplishment in taking a good photograph, allows for easy sharing and therefore increase visibility of the issue and can inspire young people to protect their environment. We will explore together the skills of landscape photography in the beautiful countryside of Sardinia, augmenting the motivation to preserve environment. At the end of the youth exchange participants will create a photo book containing the most salient images captured during the project. This tool aims to raise awareness on the issue of respect for the environment and its equilibrium. Moreover, an online gallery and a photographic exhibition that will be held the last day of the project will be realized, as well as photo exhibitions in all the countries of the participants.

Methods used are: non – formal education activities, role play, working groups, photography workshops.