Youth, Environment and Creativity Project

Youth, Environment and Creativity Project | JEC

Nowadays, climate change constitutes a defining and fundamental issue of our time and we are at a decisive moment (increase in global average temperature, at least 1.1°C). The consequences of climate change are global in terms of effects and scale. Without immediate action, it will be much more difficult and costly to adapt to the consequences of these changes. On the national level, the lack of sanitation kills, hinders the socio-economic development of Mali and contributes to environmental degradation. It is therefore a triple disaster, at the same time health, economic and ecological.

This is how the Youth Environment and Creativity (JEC) project was launched in April 2023 by the Kôrè Cultural Center for a period of 3 years in order to contribute to reducing the effects of climate change in Mali through different forms of artistic expressions and linked to the societal values of Mali (Maaya).[1]

In this regard, any effective and sustainable intervention requires engaging Malian youth (65% under 25 years old) to raise awareness. This project focuses on the AMCS concept and tools [2] to positively influence behavior related to the issues and challenges of climate change.

Presentation of the JEC project

The JEC project consists of activating awareness and initiating a change in the behavior of children and young people with a view to considerably reducing man’s negative impact on the environment. This through artistic and creative education on environmental issues and the adoption of good practices for safeguarding the Niger River, but also the creation of a label of green festivals in Mali. This project, linked to the ”Art and Education” component of the Kôrè Cultural Center (CCK), is based on strategies adapted to our local realities with an adaptation to the 3xR principle (Recycling, Reuse and Waste Reduction) .

The JEC project will positively influence and engage 20,000 children and adolescents to raise awareness of the adoption of good environmental management and protection practices in the Ségou region. It will also make it possible to raise awareness and mobilize 200,000 people on the protection of the environment, including the degradation of the banks of the Niger River, and to label 30 green festivals in Mali.

[1] Maaya is an integral concept of humanity based on the relationship between the individual and the community) to educate children and young people in citizenship and societal values of Mali

[2] Art and Maaya for Social Change.

The program is structured around the following axes:

• Creation and dissemination of social art tools to educate and mobilize children on sorting, recovery and recycling of waste in schools and in public spaces;
• Organization of an ecological boot camp each year with school and non-school youth to educate them on environmental challenges and issues;
• Organization of a conference on the multiple functions of the Niger River in this case, its navigability, the causes of its degradation, its environment and its pollution;
• Labeling of around thirty green festivals in Mali based on objective criteria on compliance with environmental preservation standards.

AMCS Concept

The AMCS concept consists of using different forms of arts to educate on environmental challenges and issues, while drawing inspiration from the societal values of Mali (Maaya). It makes it possible to educate on waste management through the mobilization and dissemination of social art tools on a large scale in order to promote the adoption of good practices and the commitment of actors focused on local solutions.

The JEC project is implemented in collaboration with the Festival sur le Niger Foundation as part of the Kôrè Art and Culture Group (GKAC).