Jacques Cousteau began his underwater research which led to the conclusion that the planet was in distress in the 1950s. Earth Day, the first mass recognition that something needed to be done about the condition of the environment, was first marked in 1970, 52 years ago this April. Then came Greenpeace a year later. And in 2006 there was Al Gore’s primal scream about the baking of the planet, which garnered millions of devotees and an Academy Award. Sadly, since then, the environment and our climate have continued to worsen.
Greece is particularly vulnerable and has a lot to lose because of climate change. It is clear that the top-down approach of past governments is not enough, and like many other countries, civil society will have to get involved if the country is to inch closer to, and take full advantage of, the opportunities that emerge with sustainable development.
Enter Greece’s Ecogenia.
It is a new model for Greece. It is an exciting model. And it has a bottom-up approach to the environment and the climate by engaging and educating young people in solving the problems in their communities, to help ease Greece’s sustainability and climate challenges – not waiting to be rescued by the government or past generations, but pulling their sleeves up and getting to work to build their own future.