FLIP CHARTS 

Friends of the Earth Cyprus :

 is an environmental, non-governmental and non-profit, organisation based in Limassol. The organisation was founded in 1980 and since then is campaigning on a number of local, national, regional (Mediterranean and European) and global environmental problems. Our aim is to protect the environment, by promoting ecologically sustainable and socially just solutions. We are an activist organisation that protects the beauty of our island and the well-being of future generations, living in harmony with nature in a sustainable and just society.

The Erasmus Plus Program :

The Erasmus Plus programme aims to boost skills and employability, as well as modernising Education, Training, and Youth work.  Erasmus+ provides opportunities for over 4 million Europeans to study, train, gain work experience and volunteer abroad.

Erasmus+ supports transnational partnerships among Education, Training, and Youth institutions and organisations to foster cooperation and bridge the worlds of education and work in order to tackle the skills gaps we are facing in Europe.As an integrated programme, Erasmus+ offers more opportunities for cooperation across the Education , Training , Youth , and Sport  sectors and is easier to access than its predecessors, with simplified funding rules.

First day

MORNING SESSION:

      Participants arriving and during the morning session we introduced ourselves to each other by playing name games, and we expressed our expectation and fears with painting.

      Natasa did an introduction for Friends of the Earth.  She said a few words about the organization and what will follow during the day.

      After the introductory  sector Petros Cameris,  a volunteer , presented the ways and the dangers of organising an action

Quote of the presentation “Being an activist is being responsible”

AFTERNOON SESSION

      Theoretical framework of activism was explained by Kleitos Papastylianou and the debate followed focused on what is direct, indirect, invasive, passive, violent and non violent activism.

 Following the break four experts in Cyprus NGOs touched upon the main issues here in Cyprus

- First subject was about Energy by  Charalampos Theopemptou: 

“It is only by pure luck and not by implementing strategies, that Cyprus reached their European target levels of carbon emissions and energy”

 

- Then Natalie Stylianou (BirdLife Cyprus) talked about Illegal Poaching of Birds :

“This is an illegal action, with illegal trade that results in illegal money”

-  Cinstantinos Constantinou from Terra Cypria explained GMOs:

“ Even though GMOs are not being cultivated in Cyprus, our legislation is very vague in regulating GMOs which creates a lot of loopholes and traps”

                     - Natura2000 by Leukios Sergides (TerraCypria):

”Building Golf courses in an island with a severe shortages of water is ridiculous and unacceptable”

Second Day

MORNING SESSION:

•   Each participant made a presentation on their organisation. They also showed photos and videos as examples and to analyze them for further conversation.

•  Petros Cameris presented ways of avoiding violence in our demonstrations and actions. The group had many views and ideas on how non violent / violent activism can have different effects on public opinion.

 AFTERNOON SESSION:

•    After a small brake, with the help of our project's Theater Practitioner Natalia Kouhartsiouk, the participants used various theatrical tools  to help them find ideas for actions. They used their bodies to tell a story and express their feelings, as you can see in the pictures :).

•     Then they discussed about possible actions, ideas building on experiences they had.

Third day

MORNING SESSION:

            After hours of brainstorming sessions , the group split up to small teams which   decided what kind of action we will do and how.

AFTERNOON SESSION:

         Decisions on actions : 1) Birds illegal Poaching

                     2) GMOs

Fourth day

MORNING SESSION:

Fourth day... and the participants where excited for our trip to the Akrotiri peninsula. First stop was the St.George church. Outside of the church, they tell us some details about the birds and how they check them. Then we visited a place where the old ladies of the Village use reeds to make traditional hand-made baskets, and showed us every detail on how you can make a basket. Finally we visited the Akrotiri Environmental Centre. Our tour guide showed us a video on the history of the area, and what types of animals and plants are protected there. 

AFTERNOON SESSION:

Preparation of activism action 1 & 2  

MORNING SESSION:

Ø  Group work on Action (photo )

          

Ø  Making the ‘’birds’’ –(photo)

Activism Action:

           We leave the hotel – we go to the castle

     

 Get set….(photo)

      

     

     

     

 Ready …

     

Go........Action

     

Sixth

            Activism  Action GMOs

      GMO labels are not specific in Cyprus and so our group demonstrated on the rights of the consumers to know what they eat. 

   Team preparing action materials photos 

     

     

     

 Act-At-Anexartisias (AAA)

BACKSTAGE Non Violent Activism