Earth Charter:
"...we must decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility, identifying ourselves with the whole Earth community as well as our local communities. We are at once citizens of different nations and of one world in which the local and global are linked. Everyone shares responsibility for the present and future well-being of the human family and the larger living world."



Earth Charter youth partner Reto Juvenil Internacional co-organized a three day training on global citizenship and climate change for Costa Rican youth. The event  “1er Encuentro Juvenil sobre Ciudadanía Global y Cambio Climático” brought together 36 youth activists, aged 18 – 30, from organizations and student unions.

The aim of the training was to assist young Costa Ricans in the process of understanding, learning and sharing ideas about the climate change, in order to create and propose a local action plan that is sustainable for the environment. 


Special objectives of the training were:

• to exchange experiences, knowledge and focus of the youth organizations in Costa Rica;
• to reflect on the challenges of Climate Change and on it’s effects, and to the vulnerability and responsibility of the youth as global citizens;
• to specify the suggestions and agreements that attempt to reduce the raise of temperature and to specify some responsible and effective actions for the global citizens; and
  
• to establish a process of communication between the youth organizations that helps to accomplish the ECOPLAN at the universities and communities.

In this event, the Earth Charter was presented as an ethical framework to approach the climate change and as a motivational tool to inspire each one of us to take a role as a global citizen. The workshop consisted of Earth Charter videos, two group work exercises, PowerPoint presentation and practical examples. The workshop was well received and contacts were exchanged after the session.