In October 2022, 25 young people from across Europe participated in Erasmus+ project YHIKE – Youth Hiking for Future.
The YHIKE youth exchange took place in Slovakia in pension Gápeľ, Srdiečko-Chopok. Young people from Slovakia, Austria, Italy, France and Croatia participated and spent one week in Low Tatras planning hikes to Chopok or Ďumbier. Part of the exchange were also workshops on the topic of environment and sustainability.
The project was created as a response to staggering statistics regarding the lifestyle of young Europeans. Many of them suffer from lack of physical activity and spend most of their time doing sedentary activities. The aim of the project was to increase active time of young people by introducing them to hiking. For many participants, YHIKE was the first experience they had with hiking and even though it was a little challenging for them, they managed to climb Ďumbier 2,043 m) and even Chopok (2,024 m) mountains. By the end of the week, participants felt great motivation to continue hiking a make their daily lives more active than before!
Workshops on the topic of sustainability, environment and development of green and digital skills
During the YHIKE exchange, participant spent every day planning and organising different workshops on topics such as environmental protection, sustainability, development of green skills, etc. They were divided into groups based on their representing countries and their task was to lead a 90 min. workshop. Activities included elements of non-formal education, securing a friendly and relaxed atmoshere which gave every participant and opportunity for self-realisation and acquiring new skills and knowledge. On the 4th day, youngsters went on a “Herbal hike” during which they were asked to get familiar with the local flora using an application PlantNet. The mobile application is used for discovering and recognising new plants and creating a gallery of all collected plants.
EUverest Challenge
At the end of the week, participants had a chance to learn some tips about hiking preparation and how to organise their own hikes. During the workshop, they learnt how to navigate using a map, calculate azimuth and what possible risks they can face in nature and how to prepare for them. Finally, they were all given some time to plan their own hikes, testing their newly acquired knowledge. The whole group also entered a challenge named EUverest, which ensures the sustainability of the YHIKE objectives and will motivate young people across all Europe to be more active. The challenge was published by the European Commission and it is open for everyone. #euverest
The YHIKE project enabled a group of 25 young people to develop skills such as teamwork, adaptability, flexibility, leadership and management skills. They acquired knowledge on sustainability and green skills, improved they physical abilities and learnt about hiking preparation and how to safely behave in nature. Furthermore, they got to spend one week in a beautiful and pristine country of Low Tatras in Slovakia.
This project was supported by the EU programme Erasmus+ in the field of youth.
