From Climate Concern to Action: Youth EcoVoices Digital Café in Latvia

Climate change is not an abstract issue for young people. It is something they increasingly recognise in their surroundings, from warmer and less snowy winters to droughts, flooding and changes in local ecosystems. But recognising these changes is only the beginning. The bigger question is: how can environmental concern be transformed into meaningful action?

This was at the heart of the Youth EcoVoices Digital Café, organised in Latvia by EFE on 30 May 2026 as part of the Youth4GreenPolicy project.

The online session brought together 18 young participants, supported by youth workers, for a four-hour participatory dialogue on climate change, sustainability and green citizenship. Rather than functioning as a webinar or training, the Digital Café was designed around youth-to-youth dialogue, giving participants space to share their own experiences, concerns and ideas. The wider Youth4GreenPolicy methodology places young people as the primary voices in these sessions, moving through four rounds from personal experiences towards identifying concrete actions. 

The conversation began with participants reflecting on how environmental change is already visible in their everyday lives. They mentioned longer heatwaves, flooding, shorter winters with less snow, droughts affecting crops, forest pest outbreaks, lower river levels and worsening air quality. At the same time, their emotional responses differed significantly. Some participants described anxiety about the future, while others deliberately focused on solutions and saw the challenges as motivation to act. 

Sustainability itself was understood not simply as an environmental concept, but as a personal value connected to responsibility, balance, reduced consumption and care for future generations. Participants also connected environmental sustainability with cultural heritage, expressing concern about losing snowy winters, biodiversity, traditional foods, small family farms and untouched forests. 

Do young people feel their voices matter?

As the discussion moved towards green citizenship, one of the strongest disagreements concerned the influence young people actually have.

Some participants felt that youth voices are becoming more visible, particularly through social media. Others argued that opportunities such as youth councils and consultations can sometimes feel symbolic, especially when young people do not know these opportunities exist or cannot see how their contributions influence decisions.

The discussion also highlighted different perspectives on the relationship between environmental and economic priorities. Some participants felt that sustainable choices and environmental regulations can increase costs for families, while others saw green jobs, renewable energy and sustainable development as economic opportunities rather than competing priorities. 

Despite these different perspectives, participants broadly understood active citizenship as something that combines everyday choices with collective action, including responsible consumption, volunteering, advocacy and voting.

Knowing about the problem is not enough

A recurring message throughout the Digital Café was that young people often care about environmental issues but do not know where to start.

Participants identified lack of time, financial limitations, uncertainty about available opportunities and feelings of powerlessness or overwhelm as important barriers to participation. They also highlighted gaps between being comfortable with digital technology and knowing how to use it effectively for advocacy, including creating content, fact-checking information, recognising misinformation and understanding algorithms. 

This led to a clear request for youth organisations: offer more opportunities where young people can actually do something.

Participants proposed practical activities such as community clean-ups, recycling campaigns in schools, tree planting, sustainability activities and initiatives to improve local green spaces. They also highlighted the importance of mentorship that can help young people transform an idea into a real initiative, while involving them in decision-making from the very beginning rather than treating them only as beneficiaries. 

One particularly promising idea was a youth-led school sustainability initiative, where young people would become ambassadors and work with younger pupils through interactive environmental activities. Pupils could then develop ideas for making their schools greener and present their solutions to teachers and parents. Participants saw peer-to-peer learning as especially valuable because younger pupils may relate more easily to slightly older young people, while youth ambassadors themselves develop leadership skills. 

One participant captured the spirit of the discussion simply:

“I know I could do more, but I think I’m doing more than my peers, as an example, I’m here today.”

The Youth EcoVoices Digital Café demonstrated that young people are concerned about environmental challenges and want to contribute to sustainable solutions. What they need are more accessible pathways to participate, opportunities to lead their own initiatives and genuine possibilities to influence decisions.

The Latvian session is part of a wider European dialogue within Youth4GreenPolicy. Insights gathered through the Digital Cafés across participating countries will contribute to the project's comparative analysis, inform future training activities and support the development of youth-focused green policy recommendations. 

The message from was clear: young people already have the awareness and ideas. The next step is creating the opportunities, support and space that allow them to turn those ideas into action.

Youth4GreenPolicy – Engaging Youth Voices in Europe’s Sustainable Future

Project No. 101254165 — Youth4GreenPolicy — CERV-2025-CITIZENS-CIV

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.