Meet the 4 new Greek CARE Pilot Projects!

The Mediterranean Permaculture Youth Festival is an 8-month cross-border youth cooperation project between Greece and Italy that operationalizes the Global CARE framework at territorial level. It empowers young people aged 18–30 to collectively address interconnected ecological, social, and democratic challenges affecting the Mediterranean region. By promoting regenerative lifestyles and participatory governance, the project positions care as a practical methodology for socio-ecological transformation.

At its core, the project culminates in a 4-day youth festival in Crete, bringing together participants from rural, peri-urban, and urban areas, including youth with fewer opportunities. Through hands-on workshops in regenerative agriculture, water resilience, composting, and biodiversity, participants develop practical ecological skills. Complementary activities, including deep ecology sessions addressing eco-anxiety, gender equality and intersectionality workshops, intercultural dialogue circles, and a community regeneration action, create inclusive spaces for learning, emotional reflection, and collaborative action.

Co-designed and co-facilitated by Greek and Italian partners, the festival is embedded in a broader cooperation process involving joint planning, follow-up dissemination, and community engagement activities. Participants act as co-creators, strengthening their agency while contributing to tangible local regeneration initiatives.

Implementing partners: Evolving Cycles (Greece), Terramore APS (Italy)

The project “PAGES & STAGES: Co-creating a Youth Library and Cultural Hub in Parga” aims to establish a permanent youth cultural hub through the creation of a community library and the activation of the Municipal Cultural Centre as an accessible civic space for young people. Implemented by TORVAS Athens, the Theatre Association of Parga “Avlaia” and the Municipality of Parga, the initiative addresses the lack of cultural infrastructure in semi-rural areas by combining cultural research, library creation and participatory artistic practice. A local mapping process will identify existing books and cultural materials currently dispersed across schools and community spaces, which will then be expanded through donations and targeted acquisitions focusing on feminism, queer studies, theatre and contemporary cultural expression.

The Municipal Cultural Centre will be lightly renovated and equipped with library furniture, creating a permanent reading room and youth cultural space. Young people aged 15–30 will participate in organising the library and shaping the space, while a cycle of participatory theatre workshops will culminate in a public performance that will also mark the inauguration of the new Municipal Library.

By combining access to knowledge, youth participation and artistic creation, the project seeks to revitalise local cultural life and establish a sustainable youth cultural hub in Parga, with particular emphasis on empowering young people and young women as active cultural participants and creators.

Implementing Partners: Torvas Athens & Theatre Association of Parga “Avlaia”

SYMBIOSIS is a community-based project that aims to empower young people through hands-on learning, creativity, and circular economy practices. The project focuses on activating an inclusive makerspace where youth aged 15–30 can experiment with reuse, repair, and sustainable design while developing practical environmental and technical skills.

Over an eight-month period, SYMBIOSIS will organize a series of experiential workshops where participants will learn how to transform waste materials into useful objects through activities such as plastic upcycling, repair cafés, wood and metal reuse, and creative paper recycling. Through these activities, young participants will strengthen their environmental awareness, develop problem-solving and collaboration skills, and engage in collective action for sustainability.

Implementing Partners: Greek Eco Project  &  SpaceTime Community