This summer, young adults can again discuss and reflect on ways to live sustainably at the "Eco Summer Camp". The one-week exchange focuses on socio-ecological transformation on a large scale and individual solutions on a small scale. The meeting will take place from August 18 to 25 at the Lassalle House in Switzerland and is under the motto "From wild consumption to responsible engagement" this year.

"In concrete, personal terms, the revolution that the world needs often falls very hard for most people. Pure knowledge does not help to bring about great changes. That's the starting point of the Eco Summer Camp: How can we get the socio-ecological transformation that we know is necessary, moving?" says Valerio Ciriello SJ, who leads the camp. "Each of us knows behaviors that we should actually stop or change. And yet we don't do it. The head alone is not enough, not even for us Jesuits. And you can't force changes in people's hearts, neither through insight nor through regulations or coercion." Instead, Ciriello relies on encounter and exchange at the Eco Summer Camp.

In exchange with outstanding experts

The Eco Summer Camp is designed as an interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and cross-generational sustainability week. Together with outstanding experts, participants have the opportunity to discuss current global ecological and socio-economic challenges. Sustainable strategies for addressing these challenges and ways to change one's own habits are explored in the camp.

The program includes lectures and workshops, as well as walks, excursions, various dinner and cocktail formats, podium discussions, campfire talks, and reflection offers. The goal is to have as much encounter and exchange on an equal footing as possible, in both directions: the experts on one side and the participants on the other have something to say, and the Eco Summer Camp wants to offer the space.

Students can earn ECTS points

The Eco Summer Camp is also a summer school. This gives participants the opportunity to earn 4 ECTS points (European Credit Transfer System). However, acquiring ECTS points is not a requirement for participation. Non-students are also warmly welcome.

Partners include the Center for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Bern, the Swedish Newman Institute, the Lassalle Institute, and the Research and Training Institute ESSR of the Jesuits in the Philippines, which promotes ecological sustainability and social justice.

More info:https://www.jesuiten.org/news/mach-mit-beim-eco-summer-camp-2024