In a collaborative effort, the social enterprise Mediterranean Communities (ComMedi) and Kolitsa Language Centre recently hosted a bilingual event focused on climate change. The initiative invited teenagers and children to come together, discuss climate change issues, and express their thoughts through creative writing, all in English.

With 28 participants spread across three groups, the event successfully produced 20 short stories, various slogans, and helpful tips on how children perceive climate change and what can be done in their everyday lives to address this global issue.

The primary goal of this initiative was to foster dialogue. The children, as both communicators and receivers, transferred their personal views from classroom discussions to paper, as evidenced by their creative writing stories.

An equally important aspect of the dialogue was the role of the children as recipients. ComMedi and Kolitsa Language Centre organized this event with international stimuli from English resources. The children were introduced to new perspectives on the topic using comics and animations, communicating terms and ideas such as climate migration, extreme weather events, and desertification, both globally and locally.

The children created their own stories, wrote a brief guide with tips and steps on addressing climate change, and independently sought out information sources on the topic. However, the most significant aspect was their participation in the action and their understanding of this information.

For ComMedi, Kolitsa Language Centre, and all the participants, this event was just the beginning. The initiative was coordinated by Thanos Kyratzis of ComMedi and Alexandra Kolitsa of the Kolitsa Language Centre.