Since 2012, when the Health4Youth project was founded, it aimed to make young people aware about the importance of a healthy lifestyle, from a physical up to a psychological level. As water is a basic element of life, the Health4Youth team, with the collaboration of the Environmental Working Group, decided to plan an entire day dedicated to it on March 22nd, in honor of World Water Day. Great initiative, for which they get also the United Nations partnership.

World Water Day takes place once a year on March 22nd, since 1993. This single day celebrates something that is constantly in our lives : WATER. The importance of this awareness event is huge because it tries to promote in 24 hours a way of thinking and of acting we should  always adopt. This is why during the year The United Nations inter-agency coordination mechanism for freshwater and sanitation (UN-Water) provides ideas, resources, projects and more to inspire the celebrations of March 22nd around the world.

Water Day is observed shining the spotlight on a different issue every year. “Water and Sustainable Development” is the theme of 2015. It is about how water links to all areas we need to consider for creating the future we want (health, nature, urbanization, industry, energy, food, equality).

Since the event has also become a popular Social Network trend, Health4Youth decided to promote online awareness campaigns to celebrate Water Day. Join them in this initiative by:

– organizing a one/half day event with workshops and discussions about one/all these topics: water and health, water and hydration, water and sport activities, water as economical, political and social elements in conflicts around the world, water and pollution, experiments with water, water and clean water, water and current situations, etc.

– creating a flashmob in your city to make people aware of the importance of water;

– taking selfies, pictures, videos in your personal and original way with elements that refer to your connection with water or just express a message about this topic you would like to share

“The involvement of Health4Youth on this day is due to the relevance of the topics covered by World Water Day, to the closeness of the issues with our project and to the desire to get knowledge. As the initiative will be held all over the world, this will be an outstanding occasion to connect each other in the name of water’s importance in our health.” said Christian Spagnol, event manager of Health4Youth.

In March 22nd, AEGEE-Udine and AEGEE-Ljubljana will collaborate to organise a Water Day Event in Nova Gorica. A concrete realization of these ideas, a day of discussions and workshops about water and the issues connected with it. Everyone can participate!

If you want to take part in such an important initiative, make suggestions or simply get more information, write to health4youth@aegee.org!

Written by Karina A. Silivas, AEGEE-Udine

Healthy food means wellness and happiness. That is why our network has been concerned about this topic since 2012, when the Health4Youth (H4Y) project was founded. This initiative, aimed to make young people aware about the importance of a healthy lifestyle, gained a lot of success and it is proud to introduce its second generation.

The Health4Youth, estabilished in 2012, is a project of AEGEE-Europe oriented to inform youngsters through non-formal education techinques (such as conferences, training courses, exchanges and seminars) about the importance of a healthy lifestyle starting from a balanced diet up to a sufficient physical exercise.
The first generation that represented this project reached important goals, that is why the AEGEEan is proud to introduce the second edition of H4Y with its new team: Joanna Pankowska, AEGEE-Warszawa (Project Manager), Marina Boychuk, AEGEE-Warszawa (Secretary), Alfio Bonaccorsi, AEGEE-Catania (Content Manager), Barbara Anžič, AEGEE-Ljubljana (Event Manager), Christian Spagnol, AEGEE-Udine (Event Manager), Sylwia Lelonek, AEGEE-Wrocław (Event Manager), Mar Valero Mas, AEGEE-Alicante (Impact Measurement Responsible)
e Melani Kalev, AEGEE-Paris (Public Relations Responsible).

These eight guys come from different countries and academic backgrounds, but they all share the interest for the ‘healthy lifestyle’ topic and the idea that “healthy does not mean ‘eating only carrots’ or ‘doing sports 24/7’. If your body is fit but your mind is not, and vice versa, you cannot really call it being healthy. That is why, one of the topics we will focus on is proper relaxation, to keep away bad vibes, to have energy to do the things you love to do, to have a positive outlook on life”, they state. These words underline the real goal of this project and its members, which doesn’t focus only on physical wellness, but also on psychological one. This concept was actually expressed a long time ago in a latin aforism of the poet Decimo Giunio Giovenale: “mens sana in corpore sano” (translation: a sound mind in a sound body).

The second generation of Health4Youth is really motivated to make this edition of the project a real success by following the former team’s footsteps. That is to say learning from their strenghts and their experience, but also by introducing new fresh ideas: are you curious about the future plans of Joanna Pankowska’s crew? Well you need to be patient because the topics of the second edition of H4Y are still TOP SECRET: do not worry they will be revealed soon! What we do know is that the team is looking for a really motivated new member for an important task: the Fundraising manager position.

So if you are interested to fill this position or simply to get in touch with the H4Y team and be updated about their activities, send them an e-mail at health4youth@aegee.org or follow them on Facebook.

Written by Larisa Smajlagic, AEGEE-Verona