Strengthen young people’s environmental awareness by teaching them how to reduce waste, recycle and use sustainable materials.
Erasmus+ Youth Exchange
Reimagining the Greek summer festival as a sustainable, creative celebration.
The Project
The “Zero-Waste Festivals” project aims to transform a traditional Greek practice, the summer village festival (panigiri), into a sustainable and creative experience, showcasing both local cultural heritage and a modern approach to environmental sustainability.
Our core goal is to create a dynamic framework that engages young people in a shared effort to upgrade local tradition, turning it into a modern form of art and cultural expression.
Goals
Strengthen young people’s environmental awareness by teaching them how to reduce waste, recycle and use sustainable materials.
Revive interest in the cultural heritage of Laconia, showing that traditional dances and songs can become a living workshop of coexistence and innovation.
Empower young people to develop creative and practical skills and become ambassadors of local cultural identity at a European level.
Promote cultural exchange and cooperation between young people from different European countries, broadening their horizons.
Create a model of sustainable tradition that can be reproduced and applied in other regions of Greece and Europe.
Activities
Working with traditional and modern materials, many of them recycled or collected locally, to create artworks and decorations for the festival. A highlight is the “Trash to Treasure Musical Instruments Workshop”, where participants build improvised instruments from recyclable materials.
Combining Spanish flamenco with traditional Greek music and Balkan rhythms from Serbia. Together we compose “Green Kalamatianos”, a song that unites different cultural elements, and we stage “Musical Dialogues in Residents’ Homes” and flash mob happenings in public spaces.
Recycling workshops and creative activities with natural materials. This includes the “Grandmothers’ Kitchen” (traditional recipes and reducing food waste) and an “Eco Corner at the Festival” with interactive stands and QR guides for sustainable behaviour.
Participants meet to share experiences, discuss challenges and plan future actions, building a lasting network of cooperation.
Showcasing the young people’s work and informing the local community and European stakeholders about the value of art as a means of social change.
Who takes part
6 participants · 1 team leader · 1 organiser
6 participants · 1 team leader
6 participants · 1 team leader
6 participants · 1 team leader · 1 organiser
Before you come
The activity runs from 1 to 9 September. The 31st of August and the 10th of September are the arrival and departure days, so they count as travel days.
Only after consultation can you arrive up to two days before the program and leave up to two days after it, to stay in Athens.
Requirements:
* For Spain: the Athens to Elafonisos transfer costs €70 per participant, so your flight tickets should not exceed €325 to stay within the €395 budget.
Calculate your Erasmus+ distance band ↗
Greece is typically around 25°C and sunny in the daytime; nights can be cooler (we sleep in tents).
Follow-up
This space will be filled after the project with photos, results and the creative outcomes produced by the participants. Come back soon!
Get in touch
Have a question about the exchange? Reach out to the coordinating team.
Lakwn-texnes · Coordinating organisation, Greece
✉️ paraskeuopoulos@lakwn-texnes.gr
💬 WhatsApp: to be announced