In May 2023, a group of youth workers from Luxembourg participated in the Erasmus+ training course Gender-Driven Sustainability, hosted in Benalmádena, Spain. The training brought together youth professionals and activists from different parts of Europe to explore the powerful connection between gender equality and environmental sustainability. Set against the backdrop of a Mediterranean town surrounded by both urban beauty and natural landscapes, the training offered a deep space for learning, sharing, and rethinking youth work practices. For the team from the Foreign Students of Luxembourg organization, this was not just a project about climate or gender—it became a journey into understanding human rights from a new angle.
Luxembourg, although small in size, holds a complex social reality. In May 2023, young people in the country were dealing with a range of challenges that were often invisible in public debates. With nearly half of the country’s population being of foreign origin, many youth lived between cultures, languages, and legal statuses. For many foreign students and immigrant youth, access to education, resources, and participation was not equal to that of others. Social integration remained difficult, and many reported feelings of exclusion, particularly in public policy spaces like sustainability, urban planning, or environmental education.
At the same time, the country was making efforts to address environmental goals through national strategies and green innovation. However, these policies often focused on technology, carbon emissions, and industry, with little space for a rights-based or intersectional approach. The environmental movement in Luxembourg still lacked strong links with questions of equality, inclusion, and representation. Climate action was happening—but not always with all people at the table. In youth spaces, many girls and gender-diverse youth felt unseen. Those with migration backgrounds often felt that sustainability topics were not designed for them. The need to connect environmental justice with human rights became more visible every day.
The training in Benalmádena helped the Luxembourg team see these issues more clearly. What stood out most was how deeply the project connected personal experience with global systems. The sessions on gender-based vulnerability and the gender-climate nexus showed how women, girls, and marginalized groups often face the greatest risks from environmental problems—and yet are left out of decisions. Examples from Latin America, North Africa, and the Balkans gave context to the Luxembourg team’s own challenges. They could now see how lack of access to clean air, housing, or green spaces is not just an environmental issue—it is a human rights issue.
The training also included sessions on advocacy and communication, helping participants learn how to speak about intersectional topics in simple, clear language. Through storytelling exercises and community roleplay, the Luxembourg group practiced how to bring these messages to youth spaces back home. The emotional energy of the project made an impact too. Being surrounded by people from different backgrounds, all working toward the same goal, created a strong feeling of belonging. This sense of shared purpose inspired them to create something similar within their own multicultural youth community.
When the team returned home, they launched a new initiative called Rights to Green. The goal was to connect foreign students and young people from underrepresented backgrounds with the world of sustainability, through a human rights lens. The project started as a monthly series of workshops in youth centers and schools. These sessions explored basic questions of climate justice, gender inclusion, and youth participation. Each event was co-led by young people with diverse identities—girls, non-binary youth, refugees, students without permanent residence—who shared their own environmental stories and ideas.
The project created a space where young people could ask questions, reflect on their experiences, and design small actions that felt relevant to their lives. Some chose to focus on access to green spaces, others on food sustainability or climate migration. What united them was the belief that sustainability must be inclusive to be effective. One group created a poster campaign on the metro system, promoting clean transport as a human right. Another designed a zine that told stories of young migrants and their connection to nature in their home countries. These creative actions helped build confidence and made the topic of sustainability feel more personal and accessible.
As the project grew, Rights to Green partnered with other youth-focused organizations, including social workers, local environmental NGOs, and teachers. Some schools adopted the workshop model into their civic education programs. Educators found the intersectional format useful, especially when discussing human rights, environment, and democracy. In one secondary school, students organized a debate on whether clean air should be a protected right under Luxembourg’s constitution. The project also attracted attention from local decision-makers, some of whom were invited to youth-led panels to hear ideas from students about more inclusive climate planning.
One important result of the project was the development of a bilingual resource kit in French and English. This guide included practical methods for running inclusive climate activities, storytelling templates, and policy ideas for making local sustainability plans more equitable. The resource was shared with schools, libraries, and even a few government offices. For many young people who participated in the project, it was their first time speaking publicly about both their identity and their environment. This double empowerment made the experience especially powerful.
Beyond individual impact, the project brought a cultural shift to how sustainability was discussed in some youth spaces. Words like “climate justice,” “inclusive action,” and “gender equality” became more familiar, and the idea of climate as a human right started gaining ground. Youth workers in the Foreign Students of Luxembourg network began including human rights education in their green projects, and some planned to develop new Erasmus+ initiatives based on what they had learned in Benalmádena.
Looking into the future, the Luxembourg team believes that youth work must continue to connect environmental action with social justice. Climate change is not neutral—it affects people differently based on their gender, race, class, and legal status. By including these perspectives in youth work, a more powerful and honest path toward sustainability is possible. Youth have the creativity and the courage to bring these issues forward—but they need space, trust, and visibility.
The training in Benalmádena proved that real change starts with understanding and grows through collaboration. From that moment in Spain to local actions in Luxembourg, the journey continues. Young people today are not waiting to be invited into the conversation. They are already leading it—with open minds, strong hearts, and a deep belief that the fight for the planet is also the fight for rights, dignity, and equality for all.