On the weekend in September and October, the Latvian Fund for Nature in cooperation with the adventure organisation “Lūzumpunkts” organised a camp for young people, where various educational and bonding activities took place with the aim to deepen knowledge about climate change and build a close circle of like-minded, active and interesting young people who discuss together what is important to them and are ready to take action to prevent climate change. A debate tournament on vegetarianism and electric cars, as well as a nature awareness hike are just some of the activities of the adventure weekend!
On Friday evening at midday, arriving at the “Lūzumpunkts” territory, surrounded by the River Brasla, the young people got to know and discussed the “hot topic” - the 14th Saeima elections - through various bonding tasks (question cards, etc.). They outlined their thought process, that by casting their vote during the day, they were supporting parties with environmental issues on their agenda.
On Saturday morning, the camp was visited by one of the most prominent climate experts in Latvia - Jānis Brizga, Chairman of the Board of the environmental protection and environmental education organisation “Zaļā Brīvība”. The expert talked about the 1.5 °C lifestyle, which means reviewing and adjusting daily decisions in order to reduce or avoid the environmental impact of one's actions. After the lecture, under the guidance of representatives of the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, the camp participants learnt the basic principles of debating: order of speaking, structure of an argument, etc. They then discussed two topics: “The only way to reduce the environmental impact of the food industry is to make everyone vegetarian” and “The only way to reduce the environmental impact of the transport industry is through electric cars”.
The second part of the day was taken over by the team of the adventure organisation “Lūzumpunkts”, who had prepared a lot of physical activities in the beautiful and nature-rich surroundings of the River Brasla, which bring people together, teach mutual trust, negotiation culture and how to reach an agreement. For example, young people walked on ropes, supporting and motivating each other, and overcame their fear of heights by climbing a tall pole together. In between the different tasks, young people were interviewed on video about their wishes for the new government and what environmentally friendly habits they practice in their daily lives. Exciting interview videos will follow!
On Sunday, led by nature expert Linda Uzule, the young people went on a long and challenging hike along the River Brasla and got to know the natural values there. The biologist talked about the importance of fallen deadwood for biodiversity conservation, the loss of natural grasslands and other topics. She was surprised, as were the youngsters, to see the Hericium coralloides! At the end of the hike, the young people cooked on their own in nature with their pre-assigned backpacks, which contained both food and cooking equipment.
The Latvian Fund for Nature project “Game On: Don’t let climate change end the game!” camp was an aesthetic, human and intellectually challenging experience! In the lecture and debate, the young people learnt new information about climate change and how to mitigate it; in the Friday evening talks and the Saturday activity, they got to know each other and learnt how to express their opinions, respect others, trust each other and reach agreements; and on Sunday, when the weather was perfect, the hike along the River Brasla was a treat for the eyes, but also educational, as the expert enriched it with her narrative.
Check out the video about the camp here:
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