Rotary Club Oldenburg-Ammerland (D1850, Germany) organized a great RYLA seminar in November. It was entitled “Sustainable Development Goals – the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations”.
The 27 participants aged 16 to 28 experienced a packed seminar weekend, during which they were made familiar with the SDGs of the UN in a special way. One focus of the seminar was the software-supported sustainability simulation game “Sustain2030”. In interactive scenarios dealing with the topic of sustainability, the participants slipped into the role of politicians, commercial companies or climate activists. They learned directly what effects their actions have on society.
Creating awareness for EndPlasticSoup
In a second thematic block, they dealt with Rotary International, the Rotarian goals and in particular with the project “End Plastic Soup”. Finally, the participants developed their own project ideas, which they presented in the plenum. “These project proposals to end plastic soup are of a high standard.” commented Dr. Wilhelm Lamberts, who organized the seminar with a lot of Rotarian support. Rotary and Rotaract will try to realize some of the ideas, like bins in classrooms to collect plastic waste, a computer game for primary schools and camps to educate “plastic scouts”.
The young people who traveled from all over the northwest of the republic of Germany were satisfied and gave the organizer positive feedback. “The seminar exceeded my expectations. Now I’m going home tired but happy,” said one of the participants.
RYLA EndPlasticSoup in April/May 2023
EndPlasticSoup now plans an International RYLA to EndPlasticSoup in April/May 2023. We will publish more information about the program, cost and how to subscribe.
By conducting these so-called RYLA seminars (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards), Rotary International is pursuing the goal of promoting young talent and future leaders. The offer is suitable for young people between the ages of 16 and 30. This experience creates contacts and networks that often last a lifetime.
