Review on “Photo Planet Picture Earth” Youth Exchange
Erasmus+ Youth Exchange
03-10.07.2015 I Viena, Austria
The project was a seven-day youth exchange attended by 50 young people from Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo and Greece, held in Vienna, Austria and organized by Organisation serbischer Studenten im Ausland Wien as Coordinator organization along with the partner organizations.
Young people in Europe today are usually urban dwellers with little contact with the natural environment as the modern lifestyle is focused on indoor activities combined with sedentary use of new technologies. By taking young people from across Europe and teaching those the skills of landscape photography in the beautiful countryside young people are given a stake in the environment and a solid reason to want to preserve it, not giving up the tech devices then utilizing them for the better cause. Not only this but the photographs they take with inputs of professionals can be used to spread the word and inspire other people to also use and preserve the natural environment. It utilized it through the workshops on why the environment is important, what threats it faces, whether or not we need to preserve the environment and how to use aspects of photography, such as photographic composition, lightning and effects, with the aim being to put on an creative exhibition of the participants photographs reachable to many young people locally, and across Europe.
The specific goals of the youth exchange were:
- Stimulating the initiative of young people using the method of creative photography for their ability to create images
- Promoting photography as a means of protecting the environment
- Creating a space for acquiring knowledge and skills useful for professional development of individuals
- To foster a common better understanding of the environmental situation and culture in the participating countries and to develop a sense of environmental awareness
- Campaign against climate change and environmental degradation through offline and online tools
- Encouraging young people to further influence the media on the topic of ecology in their countries
- Promoting cross-border cooperation in the fight against climate change.