Serbia
participants
This event was organised with the aim to raise awareness about alternatives to the plastic bags because the city of Belgrade has made the decision to ban all the plastic bags from 1st of January 2020 and we wanted to educate people about the alternatives to plastic bags which are tote bags. It was also inclusive because we had participants with Down syndrome from the organisation "Dečije srce" who painted their own tote bags and it was creative workshop for raising awareness about ecology problems including people with disabilities and raising awarenes about the down syndrome to the intercultural environment by educating both local and international student about it.
We decided that venue should be accessible and in city centre, bought tote bags, brushes, colours and patterns of ESN star, organised the place to have a huge working space for all with attention to provide support for the people with Down syndrome. All participants met each other and then they were given the instructions and introduction by the coordinator why did we decided to organise this event and following that they got the tote bags and all the material so they started painting and they formed small groups in order to paint and talk because working in groups showed as one of the efficient methods then the groups changed and they had the opportunity to meet other people and talk with them covering different topics and talking about them openly to each other.
We had 25 young people who were educated about the alternatives to plastic bags and the plans of local authorities for banning the plastic bags for 2020 in Belgrade. Also 3 young people with down syndrome shared their ideas and were included while other 22 people were educated more about it. 30 tote bags were painted and each participant got to take their own tote bag home.