Inclusion is Fusion!

Would you be an upcycler? The project StartUpcycling promotes youth employability through upcycling. 8 international partners worldwide developed methods and tools to show that upcycling can be a great tool to entrepreneurial learning, startup creation and waste reduction. Check out this VIDEO to get to know a few upcyclers. The partners developed a free online course that is available here: www.actione-learn.eu/startupcycling

Here is a constellation of methods we implemented in a workshop with youth on "Sustainability": INTRODUCING SUSTAINABLE TOPICS The project group gets introduced to the different definitions and the meaning of sustainability. After a presentation about the definition of sustainability, the group will get to know challenges of sustainability and understand why it is so important to strive for sustainability. WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY? Among many ways that sustainability has been defined, the simplest and most fundamental is: “the ability to sustain” or, in another way, “the capacity to endure.” [1] More than that, sustainability implies responsible and proactive decision-making and innovation that minimizes negative impact and maintains balance between ecological resilience, economic prosperity, political justice and cultural vibrancy to ensure a desirable planet for all species now and in the future. [2] It means, to be a sustainable has not just limited environm...

Inclusive gardens and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) A German study shows that gardening can contribute immensely to the integration of newcomers. In her master thesis, Alice Wichtmann explains that intercultural gardens can take on a variety of social functions: They are meeting places, exchanges, recreation and civil society engagements. They enable the growth of social, cultural and ecological diversity in a unique way and thus also promote the integration of newcomers ( ANU , accessed March 2018). Just recently, BBC wrote an article about the "healing power" of gardening and how refugees can find a new fulfilment, role or purpose in their new home town. And we, the team of INFUSION know that gardening can be a great starting point of setting up an own business. For example, following the example of Tania Jacobs setting up her own seed bank in Cape Town or Dijana Fabjan selling her own grown vegetables to the neighborhood through our Croatian partner ...

Rodrigo, member of Inclusion is Fusion, is a pedagogue and freelancer in the field of theatre and has been active since 2014 at schools, kindergartens, colleges, theaters and many other institutions. He teaches drama and theater methods as well as interdisciplinary scenic working forms that promote communication and interaction in the cultural and social environment. For him, it is very important to connect his educational work always with sustainability and environmentally friendly approaches. In his work with refugees and others, he combines theatre with natural material and accessories. Together with young newcomers, he composed a performance in nature with bamboo sticks and natural ropes. It was part of the project "Viel,halt!" in August 2017 that was bringing together newcomers and youth with and without disability from the three countries point close to Strasbourg. Inclusion and green education can happen in so many different ways! It is about connecting ...

The Earth Week aims to educate and offer inspirational ideas for possible behavioral change through workshops on ecological topics, lectures and meetings. Last year (2017) we celebrated the 5th edition of Earth Week with workshops on up-cycling, gardening, natural remedies, bird walks, fair trade dinner, natural cosmetics, herbal remedies, action bound (discover your green city), eco cinema, green book corner. During the workshops, we discussed various environmental topics such as sustainable living, conscious consumerism, local fauna, importance of plants in everyday use and more. Apart from the activities organized on the Castle hill and in our Herbaciarnia Laja, we cooperated with different schools around our city, bringing environmental education right into the classroom. Throughout the week, we arranged a special designated place for donating clothes and other products for refugees and people in need. These activities were summed up in a newspaper where article...

Upcycling Waste is the result of non-sustainable modes of production and consumption. Society is now forced to find new ways to combat waste, climate change, and further consequences of non-ecological living. Upcycling is the process of converting material no longer needed into something useful. It has become a simple and innovative concept in the area of waste management that needs more recognition from society.  In this context, upcycling can be a solution to make a change. The project StartUpcycling trains young and disadvantaged citizens to regard waste as a resource for creative upcycling production and start-up ideas. There is a high potential for more jobs in the field of sorting materials and creating goods to re-enter the economy. Background  When related to social innovation and entrepreneurship, the notion of sustainability must be conceptualized in a new way to be meaningful. Banerjee (2011) defines sustainability along three integrated dimensi...

If we talk about sustainability there is no way around to actually live sustainably and follow a critical path of consumption. One essential way of living sustainably is to live "zero waste". Zero Waste has become a life philosophy, movement and life style for many people in the world who choose to use natural products without plastics and packaging. Looking at waste, cosmetics play a big role in producing micro plastics (in creams) and plastic packaging: Everyday we are using tooth paste, body lotion or soap that are probably wrapped with plastic. There is an alternative to that! Milan Maushart from International Young Nature Friends put together some ideas of how to produce your own after sun lotion, shaving cream and soap for travelling: First of all, it is very important to prepare everything properly and be very careful when doing so. Every jar and every pot you use should be fumigated. You can do that by using new ones but I would recommend to use normal po...

Living Library is meant to provide a safe environment for sharing and discussion. You can think of it as an actual library where people go, borrow books for a limited time and read them. Only here the books are people and the action of reading the book means having a conversation with "it". In our case, the books were some of us, the participants of the second meeting for the INFUSION project in Cieszyn, and the readers were the visitors of the Tea festival that was happening at the same time. The topics of the books can vary and their subfocus is to challenge stereotypes, discrimination and prejudice.   The Living Library attempts to challenge prejudice by facilitating a conversation between two people: Books and Readers. Books are volunteers who have either been subjected to discrimination themselves or represent groups or individuals within society that are at risk of suffering from stereotype, stigma, prejudice or discrimination. Living Books often have pe...

Here are some inspirations to get creative for Christmas. Instead of buying new things (that are going to be wasted) we can just upcycle materials and get these beautiful results out of them: The products are made by people who are part of the project StartUpcycling (Starkmacher e.V.).