Where Dialogue, Knowledge, and Action Converge
In May 2024, a hundred young people between the ages of 20 and 35 gathered in Castiglione della Pescaia, on the Tuscan coast, for three days of intensive learning, exchange, and network-building. The occasion was the Climate Training Camp, organised by CESVI — an Italian NGO whose name stands for Cooperation and Development, and which works globally to support vulnerable populations in the pursuit of human rights, social well-being, and sustainable development.
The Camp was part of a broader initiative called “Zero in Conduct: in-formative actions led by young people, teachers and citizenship towards reducing environmental impact” — a programme that seeks to create new spaces of dialogue for both formal and informal education actors to engage meaningfully with the challenge of climate change.
A Three-Day Immersion in Climate Issues
The format of the Climate Training Camp was deliberately diverse and participatory. Over three days, attendees moved between interactive workshops, information sessions, and hands-on activities designed to deepen their understanding of climate change and help them develop concrete, practical skills for action. The goal was not simply to inform, but to empower: to equip participants with the tools to cope with transformation, think critically at a global scale, and build networks of collaboration capable of generating virtuous solutions.
The programme brought together more than 30 speakers from companies, start-ups, NGOs, research institutes, journalism, and universities. The topics covered ranged from the social impacts of climate change and intersectional feminism to climate migration, the effects on the Global South, European climate policy, and the techniques of effective climate communication. The breadth of perspectives on offer was one of the camp’s most distinctive features: participants were not presented with a single narrative, but with the full complexity of the challenge.
Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue and Collective Advocacy
On the second day, the programme included a multi-stakeholder Round Table, open to a group of young participants alongside project partners and local authorities. The purpose of this session was to work collaboratively towards a Partnership Agreement for Sustainability — a document addressed to policymakers and organisations, designed to gather and highlight good practices in bringing policies closer to citizens with a global perspective. This element of the Camp exemplifies the ambition that went beyond awareness-raising into concrete advocacy and civic participation.
Relevance for Sustainable Learning
The Climate Training Camp stands as a strong example of how non-formal learning can address the most urgent topics of our time at a national scale. By combining expert knowledge with peer exchange, practical skills with systemic thinking, and personal development with collective action, it created a learning environment that formal education rarely manages to achieve. Its contribution to SDG 13 (Climate Action) is clear, but the camp’s impact also resonates with SDG 4 (Quality Education) in its innovative and empowering approach to learning.
Website: cesvi.org
Contact: cesvi@cesvi.org
