Call2Nature: “A strategic partnership aimed at bettering the use that youth make of their smartphone oriented towards the protection of our environment”

In this increasingly online and digital world, it’s easy to become too connected to the digital world and disconnect from the physical environment. With tech use in young people at an all time high, and the disregard for the natural world becoming more and more clear and harmful through the many digital practices that harm our physical environment, a change in perspective is needed. This is why Call2Nature: “A strategic partnership aimed at bettering the use that youth make of their smartphone oriented towards the protection of our environment”, a 2-Year Erasmus+ project in the field of Youth featuring an international partnership representing 4 countries (Italy, Denmark, Greece and Spain), aims to reframe and refocus the use of smartphones and other tech platforms towards a more positive relationship with the natural world and environment, helping young people reconnect to the natural world to build a healthy connection to both.

Call2Nature has tackled the climate crisis through the lens of young people and the impact their use of smartphones can have on this. The project has developed itself in a way that eliminates the need for declaring tech “good” or “bad”, but rather as a tool like many others that can harm, but also be used to help in innovative ways.

In the 2 years of the project, Call2Nature has created a diverse array of content to promote reconnection with the natural world, as well as self-reflection for young people and youth leaders on their online and digital behaviours. In the process, the following content has been developed:

• Youth auto-evaluation tool for digital practices: An innovative tool that allows young people to see how their digital practices affect the natural world, as well as evaluate how to implement more sustainable attitudes into their daily life, through a simple questionnaire and automated tool that is as informative as it is accessible and easy to use.
• Reconnect to Nature Programme: Call2Nature’s Reconnect to Nature Programme delivered the creation of a Manual of Disconnected Activities, designed to provide trainers and youth workers with the materials to allow young people to participate in a reflection and learning experience on their digital and natural habits in a completely disconnected way. This Programme culminated in a Youth Exchange in beautiful Xylokastro, Greece, where 25 young people and youth workers gathered in nature to enjoy a disconnected learning experience together.
• Online Training Platform for a smart use of smartphones: An innovative online repository featuring smart connected activities reflecting on the Reconnect to Nature Programme’s Disconnected Activities, with tips and key info on how youth workers can incorporate tech and smartphones into training activities, as well as a guide to young people in the sustainable use of devices and platforms to promote nature and sustainability.

Through the creation of this content and engagement of youth leaders and young people through dissemination and in the project’s Youth Exchange, Call2Nature looks to change the way young people see their smartphone and tech use and promote a healthy relationship with the natural and digital world. You can check out the project’s available outputs at https://call2nature.com, and take a look at the Facebook page for more updates on the project here: https://www.facebook.com/call2nature.

If you’re interested in learning about a healthy and sustainable use of smartphones and reconnecting to nature, make sure to follow Call2Nature and have a look at the project’s website!