The topic of the climate crisis is becoming more and more important in all of our lives. Most recently, the shocking images from the flood areas in Germany in July 2021 clearly showed us that climate change is a serious problem and that we all have to inform ourselves and act. The topic is also discussed among Ukrainian youth at our partner organization Agents of Change in Kyiv.
In our joint project - "Green City, Green World", we exchange ideas about the local and global challenges of the climate crisis and try to find common solutions.
In an online workshop with Katharina Bredigkeit of Klima-Kollekte we learned, among other things, what "climate justice" means: that, according to the polluter principle, countries that bear the main responsibility for global warming are also responsible for the global consequences and damage of climate change. This means, for example, that we should all work to reduce our carbon footprint. During our meeting it was very exciting to calculate how big our footprints are. If you want to try it out for yourself, take a look at www.fussabdruck.de.
It quickly becomes clear that we can take important steps in our own lives: travel less by plane, pay more attention to sustainability in products, or prefer vegetarian or vegan food. Recycling and upcycling are also great options! In self-made home videos on the subject of sustainability, Anastasiia from Odessa, Dmytro from Lviv, Charlotte from Stralsund, or Julia from Berlin show us what sustainability means in their hometowns.
During the weekend we also made creative fridge magnets out of old can lids under the guidance of Melanie in a Do-It-Yourself workshop - and the result is quite impressive, or what do you think?!
During the weekend we also had a visit: filmmaker Hemlock introduced us to his new film "Holodomor" and told us about his work in Ukraine, and Hanna Teschner from Aktion West-Ost gave us more information about Ukrainian history, culture and politics in a workshop "Understanding Ukraine".
We also wanted to try our hand at Ukrainian culinary art! Have you ever made Wareniki yourself? Shaping the dumplings is a lot of fun, especially when you are listening to Ukrainian charts whilst cooking. Here is a vegan recipe to try out! We think our Wareniki turned out pretty and they did taste excellent.
This shall not be the last meeting of our German-Ukrainian encounter. In 2022 we would like to meet "for real" and travel to Kyiv. But it shouldn't get boring until then either - maybe you would like to help us organize the next meeting? Feel free to get in touch!
