Across Türkiye, Czechia, Georgia, Ukraine, Portugal, East Timor, Angola and Guinea-Bissau, DINARA-WELWET listened to young people, educators, youth workers, scientists and environmental professionals.
What does environmental education look like when the conversation stretches across three continents?
It stops being a neat classroom topic.
It becomes a question of forests and farms, rivers and cities, animals and people, data and disease, local communities and global systems. It becomes a question of what young people are actually being prepared for, and whether our education, youth work and professional training systems are keeping pace with the world they are inheriting.
This was the question at the heart of the DINARA-WELWET national and international workshops.
DINARA-WELWET is a Capacity Building project co-funded by the European Union. Its mission is ambitious but very concrete: to strengthen youth capacities in environmental protection, One Health, digital innovation and green career pathways by connecting practical training, new technologies, youth participation and international cooperation.
But before building training modules, digital tools or Youth Research Teams, the project began with something more fundamental.
It listened.
Across Türkiye, Czechia, Georgia, Ukraine and Portugal, and through wider outreach activities in East Timor, Angola and Guinea-Bissau, DINARA-WELWET brought together young people, youth workers, educators, veterinary and biodiversity professionals, environmental experts, community leaders, Scout leaders, NGO representatives, digital learning actors and institutional stakeholders.
The result was not simply a series of workshops.
It was a three-continent listening exercise on the future of youth, environment, One Health and climate resilience.
And what emerged was both encouraging and urgent.
Young people care deeply. They care about biodiversity, animals, ecosystems, climate change, community health and the future of the places they live in. But care, on its own, is not enough. If young people are expected to become part of the green transition, they need more than motivation. They need skills, pathways, mentors, tools, opportunities and confidence.
They need systems that take their potential seriously.
A project built by partners, not by slogans
DINARA-WELWET is possible because of a strong international partnership, and this matters. Environmental challenges are never solved by one organisation, one country or one discipline acting alone.
The project brings together partners with complementary expertise in youth work, digital education, veterinary sciences, biodiversity, biotechnology, conservation, research, policy, communication and immersive learning. We extend our warmest thanks to all project partners who contributed to the workshops, needs analysis and outreach process. Special recognition goes to the International Strategic Management Association (ISMA) in Türkiye, the project coordinator, whose leadership, coordination, strategic vision and commitment have been instrumental in bringing together partners across countries and continents and ensuring the successful implementation of the project. We also sincerely thank the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague in Czechia; the Union of Young Researchers and Analytics in Georgia; the Centre for Biodiversity Conservation and Research; the Georgian Biotechnology Association; the Ukrainian Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Council; the NGO Bureau of Research, Innovations and Technologies in Ukraine; Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University in Ukraine; and all associated contributors from East Timor, Angola, and Guinea-Bissau who supported the consultation and outreach activities.
We also gratefully acknowledge the co-funding of the European Union, which makes this kind of cross-border, cross-sector and youth-centred cooperation possible.
DINARA-WELWET is not only a project about environmental education. It is also a project about connection: between countries, between generations, between disciplines, and between the young people who want to contribute and the institutions that must help them do so.
Eight countries, three continents, many realities
One of the strongest lessons from the workshops is that international cooperation does not mean pretending every country faces the same challenges.
They do not.
The realities in Türkiye, Czechia, Georgia, Ukraine, Portugal, East Timor, Angola and Guinea-Bissau are different. Their ecosystems are different. Their education systems are different. Their institutional capacities, community needs, environmental pressures and youth opportunities are different.
Yet these differences also reveal another important truth: climate change and environmental degradation are deeply unequal in their impacts. Countries with fewer resources and lower historical emissions often face greater vulnerability and have fewer means to adapt. Recognising this imbalance is essential if international cooperation is to be meaningful and fair.
And that is exactly why this kind of dialogue matters.
In Türkiye, the project has been strongly connected to coordination, international project leadership, digital education and youth capacity building. Led by the International Strategic Management Association as project coordinator, Türkiye has played a central role in guiding the partnership, facilitating cooperation among diverse stakeholders and ensuring that the project’s vision is translated into practical action. At the same time, Türkiye faces a complex combination of environmental and social pressures, including increasing drought risk, water scarcity, wildfires, rapid urbanisation, earthquake-related recovery challenges and the need to strengthen climate adaptation across diverse regions. These realities create an important opportunity for discussions about resilience, disaster preparedness, digital learning and youth engagement in environmental governance.
In Czechia, the Prague workshop and the role of Czech University of Life Sciences Prague helped anchor the project in academic expertise, One Health thinking, curriculum development and international synthesis. Czechia’s contribution shows how scientific knowledge and training design can help translate complex environmental challenges into structured learning pathways for young people. The country also faces growing concerns related to drought, forest degradation, bark beetle outbreaks, biodiversity loss and climate adaptation in agricultural landscapes. These challenges highlight the importance of evidence-based environmental management and provide valuable examples of how research institutions can support practical solutions.
In Georgia, the workshops highlighted the importance of rural youth, protected areas, eco-clubs, biodiversity, biosecurity and the need to connect formal education with field realities. Young people showed motivation, but the consultations also revealed gaps in practical training, One Health awareness, digital access and conservation-related career visibility. Georgia’s mountainous geography, rich biodiversity and extensive protected areas create significant conservation opportunities, yet the country also faces pressures from land-use change, habitat fragmentation, natural hazards and uneven access to educational resources between urban and rural communities. These realities make Georgia an important case for discussing how environmental education can reach young people living closest to vulnerable ecosystems.
In Ukraine, the discussions carried a particular urgency. Environmental recovery, veterinary sciences, biosecurity, One Health and youth employability are not abstract themes in a country living through war. The conflict has affected ecosystems, agricultural lands, water resources, wildlife habitats and environmental monitoring systems. It has also increased concerns related to pollution, hazardous waste, animal welfare, disease surveillance, rabies prevention and public health resilience. Ukrainian participants and partners brought strong expertise in animal health, zoonotic disease prevention, risk communication, digital tools and applied learning. They also showed strong interest in interactive methods, VR, gamification and practical One Health education. Ukraine’s experience demonstrates how environmental protection, health security and community resilience become inseparable during periods of crisis.
In Portugal, the workshops and outreach connected youth workers, teachers, agriculture, forestry, technology and ecology experts, environmental NGOs, Scout leaders and young people, including young people with fewer opportunities. Portugal’s role also became a bridge to wider international outreach, extending the conversation to East Timor, Angola and Guinea-Bissau. The country faces increasingly visible climate-related challenges, including prolonged droughts, desertification in vulnerable regions, severe wildfires, coastal erosion, extreme weather events and growing concerns about the expansion of vector-borne and tropical diseases as temperatures rise. These challenges position Portugal as an important example of how climate change is reshaping environmental, health and educational priorities within Europe.
In East Timor, the discussions brought forward community resilience, forestry, biodiversity, veterinary perspectives, environmental education and local leadership. As a young nation with significant biodiversity and strong community ties, East Timor faces challenges linked to deforestation, land degradation, climate vulnerability, food security and limited access to environmental education resources in some areas. Like many countries in the Global South, East Timor contributes relatively little to global emissions while facing significant climate risks. Here, the challenge is not simply to teach environmental concepts, but to make One Health and climate resilience practical, accessible and relevant to everyday community realities. At the same time, strong local knowledge and community-based approaches offer valuable lessons in resilience and adaptation.
In Angola and Guinea-Bissau, the sessions brought professional and institutional perspectives from agriculture, forestry, technology, ecology, environmental protection, NGO leadership, and development-sector experience. These sessions did not include young people, and that distinction is important. What they added was a view of the professional ecosystem around youth: the institutions, experts, networks and support structures that must exist if young people are to find real pathways into environmental and conservation-related work. Both countries face significant challenges related to biodiversity conservation, deforestation, land-use pressures, waste management, climate vulnerability and the need to strengthen environmental governance and educational opportunities. Like many African nations, they are confronting climate impacts that far exceed their contribution to the causes of climate change. At the same time, their rich ecosystems, growing youth populations and expanding interest in sustainable development create important opportunities for future green careers and community-led environmental action.
This is the value of bringing three continents together.
Not because all countries tell the same story.
But because each country reveals a different part of the same global puzzle.
Ukraine reminds us that environmental protection cannot be separated from conflict, recovery and public health security.
Portugal shows how climate change is already reshaping landscapes through drought, wildfire risk, desertification and emerging health threats.
Türkiye highlights the importance of resilience in the face of environmental pressures, natural disasters and rapid social change.
Georgia demonstrates the need to connect biodiversity conservation with rural development and youth inclusion.
Czechia illustrates how scientific expertise and educational innovation can support adaptation to environmental change.
East Timor brings perspectives on community resilience, local leadership and the realities of climate vulnerability in developing contexts.
Angola and Guinea-Bissau contribute insights into sustainable development, ecosystem protection and the institutional conditions needed to create opportunities for future generations.
Together, these realities reveal that environmental challenges are never only environmental.
They are also social, educational, economic, political and health-related.
They are also questions of fairness and justice.
Who contributes to environmental harm? Who bears the consequences? Who has access to resources for adaptation and recovery? Who receives support, and who is left to cope alone?
These questions must remain part of the conversation if climate resilience is to be meaningful.
Environmental change influences how young people learn, where they find opportunities, how communities adapt and how societies prepare for uncertainty.
And they bring us back to the same shared question:
How do we prepare young people for a future shaped by environmental change, health risks, climate pressures and green transitions?
Young people care, but care is not a pathway
Across the workshops, one message returned again and again: young people are interested. They are not indifferent. They are not disconnected from environmental issues. Many are deeply motivated by biodiversity, animal health, climate change, community resilience and the desire to do meaningful work.
But motivation does not automatically become opportunity.
A young person may care about ecosystems and still have no idea what careers exist in this field.
They may study biology, veterinary sciences, environmental protection or agriculture and still have limited access to fieldwork.
They may hear about climate change every day and still not know how to connect that concern to a concrete professional path.
They may be told that the green transition needs them, while never being offered internships, mentors, equipment, practical training or entry points into the labour market.
This is one of the uncomfortable truths the workshops revealed.
We often ask young people to be engaged, resilient, innovative and environmentally responsible. But we do not always build the systems that allow them to become those things.
Passion may bring young people to conservation and environmental action.
But pathways are what allow them to stay.
That is why DINARA-WELWET’s work is so important. The project is not only raising awareness. It is asking what kind of learning ecosystem young people need in order to move from concern to competence, from interest to participation, and from participation to leadership.
Conservation cannot stay in the classroom
Another strong message from the workshops was the need for practical learning.
Theory matters. Concepts matter. Scientific knowledge matters. But young people cannot be prepared for environmental and One Health challenges through theory alone.
They need to observe. To map. To monitor. To test. To discuss. To simulate. To collect data. To understand risk. To work in teams. To communicate with communities. To see how animal health, human health and environmental health connect in real places.
Participants across countries highlighted gaps in fieldwork, wildlife monitoring, biodiversity observation, GIS and mapping, laboratory exposure, biosecurity practice, ecosystem restoration, digital data collection and applied case studies.
In other words, they were not asking for abstract inspiration.
They were asking for practice.
A young person cannot learn environmental resilience only from a slide about ecosystems. At some point, they need to understand what happens when a habitat changes, when a disease risk emerges, when local communities depend on fragile natural systems, when data is missing, when institutions do not communicate, or when a climate-related event exposes weaknesses in public health, animal health and environmental protection.
One Health, especially, cannot remain a diagram.
It must become a skillset.
One Health is not a slogan. It is a way of seeing the world.
One Health is often described as the connection between human health, animal health and environmental health. That definition is accurate, but it can sound technical until it becomes concrete.
A forest is not only a forest.
It is habitat. It is a climate buffer. It is a biodiversity system. It is a source of livelihood. It is a public health factor. It is part of disease ecology. It is part of how communities live, work, eat, move and adapt.
A wildlife disease is not only an animal-health issue.
It may connect to agriculture, food systems, livelihoods, biodiversity, public health, local economies and climate stress.
A polluted river is not only an environmental issue.
It may affect animal health, human health, farming, local economies, migration, education and social stability.
This is why One Health matters so much in DINARA-WELWET. It gives young people a way to understand complexity without becoming paralysed by it. It helps them see that the world is connected, and that solutions must be connected too.
But the workshops also showed that One Health education needs to become more accessible and practical. Young people need examples, scenarios, local case studies and tools that help them apply the concept to real life.
It is not enough to tell them that animals, people and ecosystems are connected.
We have to show them how.
Technology matters when it solves real problems
DINARA-WELWET has a strong digital innovation component, including virtual reality, artificial intelligence and digital conservation tools. This is one of the project’s most exciting dimensions.
But the workshops also made something very clear: technology should not be used as decoration.
VR is not meaningful simply because it is futuristic.
It is meaningful when it allows a young person to practise a real conservation challenge before facing it in the field.
AI is not meaningful because it sounds advanced.
It is meaningful when it helps young people understand wildlife monitoring, data analysis, environmental risks or decision-making.
GIS is not meaningful because it belongs in a technical toolkit.
It is meaningful when it helps participants see the relationship between land, habitats, communities, risks and resources.
Participants expressed interest in VR simulations, AI-supported monitoring, GIS, remote sensing, digital data collection, digital biosecurity tools, online collaboration and digital storytelling. But underneath that interest was a practical demand: make technology useful, accessible and connected to real problems.
A VR scenario can help a young person understand how to respond to a disease outbreak.
A digital map can help a team identify environmental risk.
An AI-supported tool can help analyse biodiversity data.
An online platform can connect young people across countries who would otherwise never meet.
This is the promise of digital learning when it is done well. It does not replace the field. It prepares young people for it.
Youth should not only be trained. They should help shape the work.
One of the most important next steps in DINARA-WELWET is the development of Youth Research Teams.
This matters because young people should not only be treated as participants in training sessions. They should be invited to become contributors to knowledge, awareness, local observation and policy dialogue.
Youth Research Teams can help young people take active roles in the project by supporting local environmental observation, peer education, awareness campaigns, digital tool testing, data collection, community engagement and policy input.
They can also help young people build portfolios, confidence, teamwork skills and employability evidence. This is especially important in fields where the transition from education to employment is often unclear.
A young person who contributes to a research team is not only learning about environmental change.
They are practising collaboration.
They are learning how to communicate.
They are understanding how evidence is collected.
They are connecting local reality with international cooperation.
They are beginning to see themselves as someone who belongs in this field.
That shift matters.
Because the future conservationist is not only someone who receives knowledge.
It is someone who helps produce it, translate it and bring it back to the community.
What the workshops really revealed
At one level, the workshops produced findings about skills gaps, training needs, digital tools, One Health education, employability, youth research structures and policy recommendations.
But at a deeper level, they revealed something larger.
Young people do not lack concern.
They often lack access.
Access to practical training.
Access to mentors.
Access to field experience.
Access to digital tools.
Access to professional networks.
Access to clear information about careers.
Access to institutions that see them as future contributors rather than temporary participants.
The workshops also showed that professionals, educators and youth workers need support too. They are the bridge between young people and the systems young people are trying to enter. If youth workers, teachers, trainers and local organisations are not equipped with modern tools and interdisciplinary methods, young people will feel that gap.
The consultations also highlighted the importance of recognising global inequalities in environmental challenges. Building climate resilience cannot be separated from discussions about equity, resources and international responsibility. Young people in countries facing the greatest climate risks should not be expected to carry the burden alone. Climate justice requires cooperation, investment, knowledge-sharing and support that reflects the unequal realities of climate change.
This is why DINARA-WELWET’s approach matters. It does not place responsibility only on young people. It looks at the ecosystem around them.
And that may be the central lesson.
If we want young people to protect ecosystems, we must first build the ecosystem that supports them.
That ecosystem includes schools, universities, youth organisations, NGOs, conservation professionals, veterinarians, digital educators, community leaders, policymakers, mentors, technology providers and international partners.
No single actor can do this alone.
But together, they can build the pathway.
From workshops to action
A good workshop ends with feedback.
A useful workshop becomes a roadmap.
For DINARA-WELWET, the workshops are not the end of a project activity. They are the foundation for what comes next.
The findings will help shape training modules, VR and AI-supported learning tools, Youth Research Team procedures, digital learning pathways, employability support, policy recommendations, public awareness campaigns and future international dissemination.
They will help the project move from listening to designing, from consultation to implementation, and from identifying gaps to building practical responses.
This is where the international partnership becomes especially important. The diversity of the consortium allows DINARA-WELWET to connect scientific expertise, youth work, digital learning, community outreach, environmental education and policy thinking.
That is the kind of cooperation the future requires.
Because environmental change is not waiting for education systems to modernise.
Climate risks are not waiting for institutions to coordinate.
Young people are not waiting for someone to tell them that the future is complicated. They already know.
What they need is preparation.
Want to join the conversation?
DINARA-WELWET is only beginning, and we want the conversation to keep growing.
If you are a young person, youth worker, educator, researcher, environmental professional, community leader, policymaker, NGO representative or organisation interested in environment, One Health, climate resilience, youth capacity building or digital learning, we would love to hear from you.
Get in touch through our contact form or contact us at info@redefine.pt.
Let’s keep building the pathways that allow young people’s care to become action.
