Projects

CURIOSOIL focuses on enhancing soil education, addressing the critical need for a better understanding of soil amid increasing human pressures on this essential resource.

The project, co-funded by the European Union and led by the University of Aveiro (Portugal), aims to deepen public comprehension of soil dynamics, establishing a connection between individuals and soil using hands-on experiences.

ECOLISE role at CURIOSOIL is coordinated by Abdul Otman.

WAVE is a European funded ERASMUS+ project, run by 5 partner organisations based in Romania, Turkey, Lithuania, Portugal and Belgium (ECOLISE). WAVE’s mission is to take action against climate change, encourage environmental sustainability and give a voice to the youth by providing them space and tools to become active citizens. WAVE will develop the active participation competences of 180 young people while empowering them to understand, adapt and promote a more sustainable style of living.

The 180 young people will create monthly podcasts to promote the 3 topics. The group will explore how to use various media channels for promoting the voices of youth. ECOLISE will run a WAVE ambassador for 5 youth workers based in Belgium for a year, July 2024 to July 2025, after an International Onboarding Training in Portugal in August 2024.

ECOLISE role at WAVE is coordinated by Sara Silva in collaboration with Inspire.

The Communities for Local Green Deals – COM4LGD project recognizes the intersection of the climate crisis and environmental crisis with the social and political polarization and addresses it by strengthening community-driven sustainability, advocacy, and local governance across all 27 EU member states. Through Transformative Social Innovation, we foster deep debate, scenario planning, and gender-inclusive decision-making.

As the EU prepares its vision for agriculture and food (due February 2025), we are ensuring grassroots voices shape the agenda. Our policy positioning process, launched in December 2024, brings together community-led initiatives (CLIs) to co-create recommendations based on real-life experiences.

Through collaborative discussions and deep dives into key issues, like access to land, seeds, and biodiversity, we will produce a policy document that highlights solutions from the ground up. An ongoing dialogue with policymakers will ensure these insights lead to real change.

ECOLISE role at COM4LGD is coordinated by Katerina Boucoyannis in collaboration with Advocate and Enable.

The project is on a mission to create a more sustainable future by highlighting the role of women in agriculture and rural areas. FLIARA will boost understanding of the needs and challenges facing women leading innovative environmental and rural development practices in 10 EU countries (Spain, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Germany).

The project also aims to create a Community of Practice with 20 innovation Ambassadors at the center. The CoP comes together at 4 in person events, as well as online, supporting women innovators and stakeholders to interact and learn together. Additionally, the project has a consistent research component, feeding into public policy recommendations to better support women innovators in agriculture and rural areas.

ECOLISE role at FLIARA is coordinated by Anastasia Oprea.

SPARK, brings together a diverse consortium of 20 organisations under the umbrellas of Oxfam and the Climate Action Network Europe (CAN Europe). The project raises awareness, increases capacity, and supports EU citizens, particularly young people, to build public support for ambitious climate change and development policies which have gender equality at the core. As part of its role in the project, ECOLISE delivered street actions under the umbrella of the European Day of Sustainable Communities, the Time for Collective Action Manifesto and an annual policy event.

The consortium’s joint actions have led to at least 30 million people becoming aware of climate change, development and gender equality. The resources created by this creative consortium are available in the website’s resources page.

ECOLISE role at SPARK is coordinated by Sara Silva in collaboration with Inspire and Advocate.