Today we mark the World Water Day, in connection to the SDG6 and it is our pleasure to present GEYC's initiatives on water advocacy. The "Thirsty for Solutions" project builds on the STSL24 campaign to advocate for free public access to drinking water in Romania, focusing on youth empowerment. By engaging young people in civic activism, advocacy, and sustainability, it promotes awareness and dialogue with decision-makers. The project includes community actions, a youth bootcamp, and a study visit to Brussels, fostering long-term impact.
Thirsty for solutions - the project concept
The "Thirsty for Solutions" project raises awareness and mobilizes youth to advocate for water accessibility in public spaces. It empowers young people through community-driven actions, a structured Ambassadors Network (STSL-AN), and a Bootcamp for Young Multipliers to equip them with media literacy, advocacy skills, and networking opportunities. Additionally, engagement with decision-makers, including a study visit to Brussels, ensures that youth voices reach policymakers.
Target Group:
The project targets:
- TG1: High school students (14-19 years old) from smaller cities in Romania along the Danube River.
- TG2: University students (19-24 years old) with more social mobility and activism potential.
- TG3: Decision-makers and public officials to influence infrastructure changes.
- TG4: Teachers, parents, and community members supporting youth participation.
- TG5: Media, journalists, and opinion leaders to amplify the project's impact.
Implementation: The project is structured into several phases over 20 months:
- Community Engagement Actions (Danube Caravan, Environmental Day, Earth Day) to raise awareness.
- Capacity-Building Bootcamp to train youth in digital advocacy and policy engagement.
- STSL Ambassadors Network (STSL-AN) to sustain activism beyond the project.
- Study Visit to Brussels, enabling youth to engage with EU policymakers.
Expected impact
The project fosters civic activism and environmental responsibility among young people, making them proactive in shaping public policy. It strengthens youth participation in sustainability initiatives, improves water accessibility, and promotes EU-wide best practices for public infrastructure. By engaging policymakers, it ensures long-term systemic change, inspiring similar initiatives across Romania and beyond.
The "Thirsty for Solutions" project is particularly relevant now due to the accelerating impact of climate change on global water resources and the increasing need for sustainable public infrastructure. Rising temperatures and extreme weather events, such as prolonged droughts, are exacerbating water scarcity across Europe, making access to safe, free drinking water in public spaces a crucial adaptation measure. The European Environment Agency (EEA) has highlighted that water stress is affecting one-third of the EU's territory, particularly in Southern and Eastern Europe, including Romania. Addressing this issue through public drinking fountains can help mitigate the environmental and social costs of excessive bottled water consumption while ensuring equitable access to this essential resource.
Furthermore, the EU’s Water Framework Directive and the Water Resilience Initiative both emphasize the need for better water management and access, yet Romania lags behind in providing free public drinking water, especially in high-traffic areas such as airports and city centers. Compared to Western Europe, where cities like Paris and Berlin have extensive networks of public water fountains, many regions in Eastern Europe still lack such infrastructure. Ensuring that young people engage in advocacy for water accessibility aligns with the EU's sustainability and climate adaptation goals. By addressing this gap now, the project can contribute to both reducing plastic waste—as Romania remains one of the EU’s largest consumers of bottled water—and increasing awareness about climate justice, making it an urgent and necessary initiative in today’s climate crisis.
A scalable model
The "Thirsty for Solutions" project contributes to a strong and democratic Europe by empowering young people to actively engage in civic life, advocate for their rights, and influence public policy. Democracy thrives when citizens, especially youth, are equipped with the tools and knowledge to address societal challenges. By involving young people in advocacy for free public access to drinking water, the project strengthens youth participation in decision-making, ensuring that their voices are heard at local, national, and EU levels. Through actions such as community engagement, digital activism, and policy dialogues, the project fosters a culture of responsible and engaged citizenship, aligning with European Youth Goals and the EU’s commitment to participatory democracy. The study visit to Brussels further reinforces this by connecting young activists with EU policymakers, showing them how democratic institutions function and how civic engagement can lead to tangible policy changes.
Beyond Europe, this initiative serves as a model for youth-led advocacy on global sustainability challenges, directly supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, the project aligns with SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) by advocating for equitable access to safe drinking water, SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) by reducing plastic waste, and SDG 13 (Climate Action) by promoting sustainable public infrastructure. By demonstrating how youth can mobilize, advocate, and implement change at the community level, this initiative can inspire similar movements worldwide, particularly in regions facing water accessibility challenges. Through digital campaigns, knowledge-sharing, and networking, young people from other parts of the world can adopt similar strategies to address environmental justice, civic participation, and sustainable urban development, strengthening democratic engagement and climate action on a global scale.
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"We believe that water can be a powerful way to engage young people in climate advocacy and direct action. With nearly 12,000 members in the GEYC community, we frequently hear from youth who are passionate about climate change and eager to take action, learn more, and volunteer. However, many struggle with knowing where to start. "Thirsty for Solutions" (RO: "Sete de soluÈ›ii") is GEYC’s first large-scale advocacy campaign, launched on June 5, 2024—World Environment Day. It started with a push for free drinking water access at Bucharest Airport, and now, through the KA154 project, we are expanding our efforts to involve youth from eight communities across Romania. Our goal is to empower young people to take action, and we hope to inspire similar movements across Europe and beyond in the near future." (Gabriel BREZOIU, acting as Head of Sustainability at GEYC) |
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"'Thirsty for solutions' was created as a response to last year’s heat wave at the airport and the urgent need for free drinking fountains at Otopeni Airport. Now, with the approval of the KA154 project, we are even more committed to expanding our efforts in other communities, advocating together with the youth for free potable water access and installing drinking fountains in public spaces. As a youth-focused organization that facilitates mobilities, we have observed the need for this fundamental right in the airport, and we believe in ensuring that young people, and all travelers, have the same access to safe drinking water that many other Europeans already have, at the same time massively reducing plastic waste. We are the only European capital whose main airport does not yet provide free drinking water to passengers. Within this initiative, we aim to change that and inspire similar efforts across Romania and beyond, through the collective power of the youth!" (Ana-Maria TODORAN, Sustainability Responsible at GEYC) |
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Disclaimer
This publication has been created in the context of the Erasmus+ project "Sete de soluții / Thirsty for solutions" (2024-3-RO01-KA154-YOU-000287055). Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.