Erasmus+ KA154 Youth Participation · companion site
Dive into Action
Young people turning environmental awareness into civic action.
Seven countries. One famous beach. A youth movement that collects its own evidence, talks to power, and checks that promises are kept.
Take the plunge ↓ 🤿 Scroll down to dive · grab the litter on the seabed · bring it back up to the bucket 🪣
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The idea, in one breath
Young people don't need another presentation. They need skills, evidence and a public voice.
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The change journey
Eight strokes, one direction
Every phase of the project is one stroke deeper: from noticing a problem to changing how a community handles it.
Observe
Youth councils form in every country and look hard at their own rivers, parks and coasts.
Understand
Local Blue Labs: participatory events where young people map problems with real people around the table.
Co-design
The programme of the Greek academy is co-written by the young people themselves.
Act
Blue Action Academy on Elafonisos: scuba pathway, a measured Simos Beach restoration, hands in the sand.
Measure
CoastScan citizen science: transects, counts, honest data. No claims without evidence.
Communicate
Data becomes stories, maps and the Simos Blue Charter, written by youth, backed by numbers.
Influence
The Simos Blue Forum: decision-makers respond on record and sign commitments in public.
Continue
Back home: second dialogues, local replications, and audits of every promise made.
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What actually happens
Five things you'd see if you were there
The highlights of a 15-month participation process, most of which happens in the seven home communities.
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Scuba pathway
A full, professionally supervised route towards an entry-level diving certification, opening the world they are defending. From first breath underwater to certified diver.
up to 24 novice divers
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Youth Environmental Councils
Seven youth-led councils with real decision rights, elected leaders and their own local agenda.
all countries
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Local Blue Labs
One big participatory event per country: mapping walks, litter snapshots, and a first face-to-face with a decision-maker.
175+ locals
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Simos Beach action
A zoned, measured beach restoration with before-and-after data and traceable waste, not just full bags.
measured
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Simos Blue Forum
Young people present evidence in public; authorities respond on record. Wellbeing day included: blue body, blue mind.
open to all
The part most projects skip
Every commitment gets a name, a date, and a youth auditor.
A public Commitment Tracker follows what decision-makers promised, at one month and three months. Kept, in progress, or broken: the community sees it.
Coordinated from Denmark, hosted in Greece, powered by all seven.
🇩🇰Global Youth BridgesDenmark · applicant
🇬🇷Why Not AMKEGreece · host
🇷🇴ARYASRomania
🇧🇬VIGORBulgaria
🇮🇹Youth MosaicItaly
🇪🇸AMADISpain · Mallorca
🇷🇸BK ŽupaSerbia
The story behind the idea
Why this project
Dive in Action did not start as a form to fill in. It started on a beach, with people who had worked together for years and a problem they could no longer ignore.
From a shared beach to a shared mission
The teams behind this project have known each other for years. Many of us met through earlier Erasmus+ programmes, and that experience taught us how young people learn, decide and act together.
During a previous training programme on this same beach on Elafonisos, we saw something that stayed with us. The litter we collected on the sand was only part of the story. Below the surface, the pollution was worse, and almost invisible.
The moment it clicked: tyres, bottles and nets pulled from the sea during the team's earlier programme on Elafonisos
Talking it through, one thing became clear: this is not only about Simos Beach or Greece. The same problems appear in the seas, lakes, rivers and coastlines of every one of our countries. So we started researching together, and the evidence on this page is what we found.
We did not want one more project that stops at awareness. We wanted to turn environmental knowledge into participation, cooperation and real action. That is how Dive in Action was born.
The gap: aware, worried, unarmed
The problem is not that young people don't care or don't know. It is that concern has nowhere to go.
33%
of young Europeans (16-30, EU-27) put environment & climate among the EU's top priorities, second only to the cost of living
documented buffer: engaging in collective environmental action is associated with better mental health in climate-anxious young adults (US study); individual gestures alone did not show this link
The Mediterranean is Europe's most litter-pressured sea, and the gap between where its beaches are and where EU law says they should be is still roughly tenfold.
229 kt
an estimated 229,000 tonnes of plastic leak into the Mediterranean every year
Each partner country has its own water and its own numbers: a harbour, a lake, four rivers, a bay, and the island where all seven meet. Click a pin to see the organisation, the ecosystem, the evidence and the project activity in that country.
Mission mapN ↑
Side by side
Bathing waters rated "excellent", 2025 season
Share of officially monitored bathing sites with excellent water quality. Dashed line: EU average (85%).
Sources: European Parliament Youth Survey 2024 (FL013EP, Ipsos, n=25,863) · Hickman et al. 2021, The Lancet Planetary Health · Schwartz et al. 2022, Current Psychology · IUCN Mare Plasticum 2020 · EEA Zero Pollution dashboard 2025 · EEA European bathing water quality in 2025 · FES Youth Study Serbia 2024 · Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia 2024 · State of Green · EYDAP · UNESCO MAB · Balearic Decree 25/2018. All source links appear directly under each chart and inside each country panel.
The people behind the project
More than 20 people helped prepare and write this proposal, and the same people will help deliver it. Every participant of the mobility takes an active role as a decision-maker: discussing, deciding, acting and carrying the results home.
Zoi and Mary are board members of Global Youth Bridges and the people behind the original idea. Their connection to both Denmark and Greece built the first bridge of this cooperation and helped extend it across the other European countries.
Christos Papatheodorou is the founder of CP WHY NOT and a professional diver. His experience shapes the safe preparation of the diving activities, our understanding of the underwater environment, and the link between diving and marine protection.
Dimitris Maniatakos
Dimitris Maniatakos, a friend and long-time collaborator of Christos, joins the activity as well. He is a certified national trainer in Greece and has completed the SALTO Training of Trainers for Erasmus+ programmes. He contributes to non-formal learning, participatory methodology, learning outcomes and the overall quality of the Erasmus+ experience.
Cristiana Onea brings more than eight years of Erasmus+ experience, and ARYAS holds an Erasmus+ accreditation in Romania. She contributes know-how on Erasmus+ procedures, the management of European actions, quality assurance and the sustainability of results.
Viktor Djakof
Viktor Djakof, professional photographer, joins the action with his drone and full equipment, so that every moment of the week is properly captured and shared.
Lora, Ira and Viktor are the co-founders of VIGOR. They met the rest of the team on a previous programme on Elafonisos and became part of the group the idea was built around. They bring their youthful perspective, their energy, the shared experience and a close understanding of what young people need.
Ioana and Sonia are the co-founders of Youth Mosaic. Their organisation runs sport and participation activities and supports positive activism through real actions. When we shared the idea, they were among the first to go looking for data and evidence, giving the concept its documented, workable shape.
Miguel Ángel is the president of AMADI YOUTH and comes from Mallorca. Growing up on an island coast has shaped how he thinks about protecting a place, its sea and its community. He met the team on a previous beach clean-up programme and brings that island perspective, hands-on clean-up experience and the link between environmental care and local identity.
Marina is a professional Erasmus+ and CERV trainer and an experienced writer of European projects. She contributes to the preparation, the educational methodology, the implementation, the Serbian national event and the follow-up of the results. Detailed responsibilities will be set out in the partnership agreements.
This is why. Ready to see how it becomes action on the water?
One island week, six national events, one shared method. This page is the practical side of Dive in Action: what happens, where, when, and how every participant helps decide it.
The project response
The confirmed frame of the project, exactly as submitted to the Erasmus+ National Agency.
Consortium7 organisations in 7 countries (Denmark, Greece, Italy, Spain, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria)
National activities6 one-day national youth participation events in Denmark, Italy, Spain, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria: waterside clean-up and participation actions at each country's local waters; exact dates and venues to be announced
Transnational activityYouth Participation Mobility, Elafonisos, Greece 23-29 June 2027, 7 activity days, all 7 countries
Participants37 young people travel to Elafonisos (5 or 6 per country, 14 with fewer opportunities, plus 3 facilitators); each national event gathers 10 young participants and up to 5 invited guests
Overall timeline
1 March - 22 June 2027PreparationShared methodology and prepared participants
23-29 June 2027Mobility on ElafonisosHands-on know-how gained
July - August 2027Preparation of the national actionsSix complete national action plans
September - December 2027National eventsAll six events delivered
January - February 2028Evaluation and synthesisShared conclusions and European proposals
March - May 2028Dissemination and closureVideos, interviews, campaign and final results
Dates as recorded in the Erasmus+ KA154-YOU application of the consortium.
The building blocks
How local participation becomes one European action. Shown as a logic, not a calendar: the sequence of the national events is still being scheduled.
Youth take the lead
Young people in all 7 countries shape the activities they will run, with their organisations behind them, not in front of them.
Six national events
One-day waterside clean-up and participation events in Denmark, Italy, Spain, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria: 10 young people and invited guests at each country's local waters.
Elafonisos mobility
23-29 June 2027: 37 young people from all 7 countries meet in Greece for 7 activity days of shared environmental action.
Evidence to power
Findings become recommendations that decision-makers hear directly from young people.
Bring it home
What is learned together travels back into all 7 communities before the project closes in May 2028.
Elafonisos, Greece: where the seven journeys meet, 23-29 June 2027
The Elafonisos programme
Six building blocks confirmed by the consortium for the mobility week. The detailed session plan and the certified providers are being finalised.
A week where everyone decides
Do, not watch
Participants run the activities themselves: the diving sessions, the Simos Beach clean-up, the coastal scanning and the public event.
Decide together
Every participant of the mobility takes an active role as a decision-maker: daily discussions shape what the group does and how.
Dive to understand
The diving lessons open the underwater world, so pollution can be seen with your own eyes instead of just described.
Measure to convince
The data collected on microorganisms, microplastics and cigarette waste becomes the material of the public awareness event.
Carry it home
The six national events transfer the experience and the results into all seven countries.
Wondering where all this comes from? The story, the evidence and the people are on the other page.
Seven organisations, one shared plan. Each partner joins with documented experience from its own community, and what no youth organisation should improvise is handed to licensed professionals.
How the consortium fits together
Denmark coordinates: Global Youth Bridges is the applicant and coordinating organisation.
Six partner organisations join from Serbia, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece.
Six countries host national youth participation events (Denmark, Italy, Spain, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria); dates and venues are still to be announced.
Greece hosts the common transnational activity: the Youth Participation Mobility on Elafonisos, 23-29 June 2027.
The point of the structure: local participation in each country feeds one shared European environmental action, and what is built together travels back home.
Global Youth Bridges
🇩🇰 Denmark · Applicant and Coordinating Organisation
A young Copenhagen non-profit whose team combines two data scientists, a project manager, a wellness professional with a physical-education background and an engineer.
The team's documented environmental volunteering (beach clean-ups, urban waste-reduction, tree planting) and Erasmus+ participation. As applicant, they coordinate the consortium. Together with the other partners, they contribute to the preparation, delivery and follow-up of the national events and the Elafonisos mobility; detailed responsibilities will be set out in the partnership agreements.
National youth participation event in Denmark
CP WHY NOT
🇬🇷 Greece · Partner Organisation (Why Not AMKE)
Environmental non-profit built around volunteer clean-ups, reforestation and environmental education, led by an environmental educator (MSc Public Health & Environmental Education) with a professional videographer and an events coordinator.
The large-scale Marathon Lake clean-up and a continuing Simos Beach clean-up initiative. As the Greek partner, they support the hosting of the Elafonisos mobility. Together with the other partners, they contribute to the preparation, delivery and follow-up of the national events and the Elafonisos mobility; detailed responsibilities will be set out in the partnership agreements.
Hosts the Elafonisos mobility, 23-29 June 2027 (no separate national event)
Founded 2015 in Curtea de Argeș; holds an Erasmus+ KA150-YOU accreditation with a strategy focused on ecology and sustainability. Team includes a statistics and data specialist.
Six+ coordinated Erasmus+ youth projects (including ECOnecting the World). Together with the other partners, they contribute to the preparation, delivery and follow-up of the national events and the Elafonisos mobility; detailed responsibilities will be set out in the partnership agreements.
Sofia sports-and-youth NGO founded by sports scientists (National Sports Academy), with a former competitive swimmer and a media creator on the team.
The founders' sports-science degrees and years of grassroots sport and youth work. Together with the other partners, they contribute to the preparation, delivery and follow-up of the national events and the Elafonisos mobility; detailed responsibilities will be set out in the partnership agreements.
National youth participation event in Bulgaria
Youth Mosaic
🇮🇹 Italy · Partner Organisation
New association from Bondeno, a rural town near Ferrara, created by sociologists and youth workers to give opportunities to the young people who stay.
The team's participation in over forty Erasmus+ projects as group leaders and facilitators. Together with the other partners, they contribute to the preparation, delivery and follow-up of the national events and the Elafonisos mobility; detailed responsibilities will be set out in the partnership agreements.
National youth participation event in Italy
AMADI YOUTH
🇪🇸 Spain · Partner Organisation
Palma de Mallorca youth association (2025) led by a teacher with a Master's in Educational Technology, with a chemical engineer (UCL / Imperial College London) as sustainability lead.
The team's professional profiles and lived Erasmus+ experience. Together with the other partners, they contribute to the preparation, delivery and follow-up of the national events and the Elafonisos mobility; detailed responsibilities will be set out in the partnership agreements.
National youth participation event in Spain
Biciklisticko Sportsko Udruženje Župa
🇷🇸 Serbia · Partner Organisation
Cycling sport association (2019) from Aleksandrovac working with children and youth; its project manager brings national-level youth-participation experience, including a leading role in the assembly of the National Youth Council of Serbia.
Her professional record as an Erasmus+/CERV trainer and project writer. Together with the other partners, they contribute to the preparation, delivery and follow-up of the national events and the Elafonisos mobility; detailed responsibilities will be set out in the partnership agreements.
Three competences are deliberately NOT assigned to any partner, because none can document them. They are contracted to professionals:
🤿 Licensed dive centre
Every diving decision (training, ratios, sites, weather go/no-go) sits with a licensed provider operating under Greek recreational diving law.
🔬 Marine or environmental scientist
Supervises the coastal-scanning protocol and checks every scientific claim before it is published.
🛟 Lifeguard & first aid
Guarded swim zones, first-aid coverage and an emergency plan, written down and drilled, not assumed.
Confirmed by the Erasmus+ application: each organisation's name, country and formal role, the six national events and the Elafonisos mobility (23-29 June 2027). Descriptions of experience are drawn from each organisation's official Erasmus+ Partner Identification Form (PIF) or partnership dossier; nothing is claimed beyond what those documents evidence. Detailed task divisions will be published once the partnership agreements are finalised.
