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We develop programs that respond to community needs related to sustainable development and mobilize teams of young people to address these needs.

We develop programs that respond to community needs related to sustainable development and mobilize teams of young people to address these needs.

Program Focus Areas

Civic service is an effective way to engage young people in a dedicated period of service to address community needs, while receiving compensation for their time and effort. We take it one step further with our programming and ensure that all of our program impact is related to sustainable development and accelerates climate action at the local level.

Our current program focus areas were identified by local and national stakeholders as priorities, and match our staff’s expertise. Over time, we hope to expand our programs to additional geographic areas to better serve the country, local needs, and our cohort members. We aim to be a national program by 2030.

Our Model

Ecogenia recruits, trains and mobilizes teams of young people (ages 18-30) in Greece to execute localized climate action projects. This effectively employs young people in time-specific job opportunities while providing them practical work experience and professional development opportunities. The cohort members’ work adds social value and contributes to local and national climate agendas.

With this, we aim to generate larger ripple effects throughout Greek society. Cohort members take the practical skills from their service experience and apply what they learned throughout to personal and professional trajectories. Additionally, we hope communities feel inspired by the work of our cohort members and ensure the longevity and legacy of their service projects.

We believe the civic service model can be transformative for Greek society.

A Communities First Approach

Collaboration is critical to our program development, and the needs of the community always come first. We build on existing resources and expertise to have the greatest impact. We learn from community leadership to understand how our programs can make the most impact for each place we work in. If you are interested in working with us on a future program, we encourage you to reach out to us via our contact form.

Program Impact

Both the civic service model and the Both the sustainable development framework have two defining characteristics: they can be tailored, and are comprehensive.

This compatibility, in addition to the ever increasing need for decisive and smart action for climate mitigation, is why Ecogenia works across various program areas, and ensures its outcomes are directly contributing towards positive climate impact.

Informed by the opportunities, and unique dynamics of the Greek context, as well as by conducting thorough landscape analyses and needs assessments, Ecogenia has identified ecotourism and education as the impact areas to prioritize in its pilot and scaling phase.

The nature of the civic service model is that it has an inherent multiple effectiveness: it inspires profound change in the cohort members, it reaches a community, and it effectively addresses a local need. Distinctive to civic service is the way it marries practicality – by providing cohort members with skills and experience – with idealism and optimism – instilling in the young generation and the community a sense of civic responsibility and renewed spirit of action. Achieving this takes time, which is why we establish long-term relationships with the communities we reach, and why our goal is to build out the service term to last 6 – 9 months. Nevertheless, we have already witnessed this impact, and its potential, through our completed programs.

Learn more about our Education and Ecotourism program impact to date through our program reports.

Education Pilot Program | Impact Report 2022

Gr | En

Ecotourism Pilot Program | Impact Report 2022

Gr | En

Ecogenia is the first NGO in Greece that promotes sustainability through civic engagement, training and employment opportunities for young people. Through a service year model, Ecogenia connects Greek youth with organisations dedicated to creating sustainable solutions to environmental and societal challenges.

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