YES! Young E Citizens for a Sustainable European Coastline

Solway Firth Partnership hosted 10 young volunteers for 3 weeks as part the YES! project delivered through the European Union ‘Youth in Action’ Programme. The Solway Firth Campus brought together young people from across Europe so they could learn about the area and promote opportunities for young people to get involved in raising awareness of European coastal issues.

Organisations from 4 European partner countries – UK, France, Italy and Greece – are working together on the YES! project to inform and inspire younger members of the European public about key environmental challenges, the impact of climate change and ways in which they can become involved. The YES! project aims to develop video, photography and interactive website features which will be of practical application to the Solway Firth Partnership.

Visiting both sides of the Solway, the participants were introduced to local environmental issues ranging from warming seas and non-native invasive species to erosion of heritage features on the coast. Many organisations and individuals helped to reveal the varied aspects of the Solway Firth from wildlife at Grune Point, Skinburness, to community led regeneration at the Mull of Galloway.

The volunteers learnt about the need to gather information to help decision makers with their tasks and were introduced to projects which demonstrate best practice by involving young people. The ‘Shore Thing’ project is an example of an activity which encourages young people to survey rocky shorelines and record climate change indicator species. Another example was provided by members of the Scotland’s Coastal Heritage at Risk Project (SCH@RP) team from the SCAPE Trust who gave expert guidance on their project to record and monitor heritage features.

Glasgow University delivered a workshop about developing a marketing campaign and with assistance from John Wallace, Pile-on Productions, the participants story boarded and helped produce three short films to promote positive action for Europe’s coasts.

Coastal Heritage:

Marine Litter:

Marine Indicator Species:

Solway Firth Partnership would like to thank all those who assisted with the Solway Firth Campus by giving their time and showing young people from across Europe our amazing coastline.