Austrian rural youth gains price for sustainable initiatives

Austrian rural youth gains price for sustainable initiatives

The Landjugend Austria emerged in July 2023 at an international project in the Ehren Valley Education Center in Klagenfurt am Wörthersee with great commitment and creative ideas. Around 60 young people from nine different European countries worked intensively on topics related to the circular economy for a week. The focus was not only on food production, but also on aspects such as food processing, sustainable consumption and the return of packaging materials to the production cycle.

This inspiring project week was awarded the Austrian Youth Prize in the “European Initiatives” category, which underlines the high commitment of this young generation in rural areas. State Secretary Claudia Plakolm emphasized that young people are increasingly critical of their own consumption. "The rural youth represents a best practice example for others," said Plakolm.

award for a pioneering project

The project "Grow - Eat - Repeat. Circular Economy of Food" is particularly remarkable because it deals with both theoretical content and practical approaches. The participants collected inputs from ministries, organizations and agricultural companies in order to develop constructive measures for their home countries. "The experiences and the newly closed friendships that we take from this intensive week are priceless," said project managers Florian Laßnig and Daniela Hinteregger.

Josef Moosbrugger, President of the Austria Chamber of Agriculture, emphasized the importance of small -scale agriculture and its role model function in the use of resources in Europe. "The committed way of how the rural youth lives the circular economy is forward -looking. This commitment must be recognized," he added.

In total, the rural youth had almost 6,600 lessons in the Young & International area. This was done in the context of over 450 agricultural internships abroad, an initiative that is strongly supported by Erasmus+ and the Ministry of Agriculture. "We are proud of these successes and the positive development of our members," said Federal Leader Markus Buchebner.

The award with the Austrian Youth Prize not only strengthens the self -confidence of the rural youth, but also shows that young people can play an important role in the development of sustainable solutions in rural areas. This price is a clear sign of the relevance of your work and the future challenges you want to master. Further information is here available.