The ECHO Green Skills Guide is a practical resource designed to help youth workers, educators, facilitators and youth organisations turn sustainability learning into meaningful local environmental action.
Developed within GreenEcho – Workshops for Youth for Sustainability, part of the EYS 2026 programme of MV International, the Guide provides a flexible methodology, practical activities and ready-to-use tools to support young people in exploring environmental challenges, developing green skills and co-designing realistic eco-actions in their communities. Rather than treating young people only as recipients of environmental information, the GreenEcho approach places them at the centre of the process as co-researchers, co-designers and local actors.
What is the ECHO Green Skills Guide?
The Guide provides a common methodological foundation for the implementation of GreenEcho workshops and for their adaptation across different local and national contexts. It connects sustainability education, non-formal learning, meaningful youth participation and practical environmental action, supporting young people in moving from understanding a local environmental issue to designing and initiating a concrete response.
Who is it for?
The ECHO Green Skills Guide is particularly useful for:
- youth workers and facilitators
- educators and trainers
- youth organisations
- civil society organisations
- environmental and community initiatives
- MVI network members and partner organisations
Its primary participants are young people aged 18-30, with particular attention to creating accessible opportunities for young people with fewer opportunities.
The methodology explores how sustainability can be translated into everyday choices and collective action, connecting circular practices and responsible consumption with biodiversity, energy and climate awareness. At the same time, it strengthens environmental citizenship, community participation, collaborative problem-solving and action planning, giving young people the skills to understand local challenges and actively contribute to possible solutions.
Aligned with the European GreenComp sustainability competence framework, the Guide brings these competences to life through practical youth-work activities based on local exploration, collaboration, co-design and action.
From learning to action
At the heart of the Guide is the GreenEcho Learning-to-Action Cycle, a seven-step process:
CONNECT | EXPLORE | UNDERSTAND | IMAGINE | CO-DESIGN | ACT | REFLECT |
The process takes participants from their own experiences and observations of local environmental challenges to the development, implementation and evaluation of a youth-led eco-action. This approach makes environmental learning practical and participatory while strengthening young people’s ability to collaborate, make decisions, engage stakeholders and contribute to change in their communities.
Designed to be adapted and reused
The GreenEcho model has been developed to work across different environments and organisational settings. Activities can be adapted to urban, rural, coastal and island contexts, schools and youth centres, low-resource settings, as well as blended and online learning environments. The environmental topic, examples, language, timing and tools can change while preserving the core principles of youth participation, experiential learning, co-design, inclusion and action.
The Guide therefore serves not only as a resource for the EYS 2026 activities, but also as a transferable youth-work model that organisations can adapt to their own communities.
Ready to bring sustainability learning closer to local action?
Use the ECHO Green Skills Guide to organise participatory workshops, strengthen green competences and support young people in designing environmental initiatives relevant to their own communities.