Balkan Beats 39 - Terra by Balkan Hotspot

Balkan Beats

TERRA TERRA

#39

FREE PRESS

A BIMONTHLY MAGAZINE BY THE VOLUNTEERS OF THE UNITED SOCIETIES OF BALKANS

Editorial

The 39th Edition

TERRA TERRA by Isciane Lallement and Clara Rodier

“Planet is burning!” This is a sad and alarming statement that comes to our ears every day now. From our perspective, it looks like every aspect of the environment is falling apart. And it is true: the earth is attacked. Its forests are burned. Its children are suffocating. Its waters are poisoned. There is a feeling of emptiness when it comes to change. Our lifestyle is wrong, it needs to evolve, we need to take measures we are not ready to take, to sacrifice things we are not ready to sacrifice. Or maybe are we?

Mistakes were made. Things were destroyed. Living beings disappeared. This is, indeed, problematic. But problems can be solved, habits can be changed. What we can destroy, we can save. Power does both. There are many solutions we can, each and every one of us, adopt in order to make it all better. Individual effort is not meaningless if everyone tries hard enough. The first step towards a better future is to understand the impact of our actions, and learn how to correct it. The past is also there to teach us. So what are we waiting for?

Balkan Beats, a part of Balkan Hotspot

Balkan

Hotspot is the European Solidarity stant changes in the Balkan and Eastern EuroCorps (ESC) of “United Societies of Balkans”, a pean region and under the need for the creation NGO founded in Thessaloniki in 2008 by a team of a better social environment. of active young people. Key areas of the organization’s activities conThe Balkans and Eastern Europe are geograph- cern the defense of human rights, the organizaical regions with many cultural features which tion of youth exchanges and training courses, offer a broad spectrum of actions and youth which will bring young people from Balkans and involvement initiatives. The organization was Europe together, the organization of local educacreated as a response to the pressure of con- tional seminars and multimedia production. United Societies of Balkans is a Non Governmental Organization, founded in Thessaloniki in 2008, by a team of active young people. The organization was created as a response to the pressure of constant changes in the Balkan and Eastern European region and under the need for the creation of a better social environment. Key areas of the organization’s activities concern the defense of human rights, the organization of youth exchanges and training courses, which will bring young people from Balkans and Europe together, the organization of local educational seminars and multimedia production(webradio, videos, documentaries).

Main goals of the organization • To promote the values of non formal le- aring,volunteering, active citizenship and democracy for the creation of a better future for European youth. • To promote human rights, solidarity and respect for diversity. • To build healthy cooperation bridges between countries of the Balkan area and that of Eastern Europe with the rest of Europe. • To locate and multiply the special cultural attributes of our societies. • The break down of prejudices and stereotypes between Balkan countries.

UNITED SOCIETIES OF BALKANS, NGO

9, Alamanas str., Agios Pavlos, Thessaloniki

Property of Balkan Beats The United Societies of Balkans, NGO, does not necessarily share the opinions expressed in Balkan Beats. It is illegal to reproduce any part of this publication without referring to the source.

www.balkanhotspot.org

This magazine is distributed free of charge.

Tel./Fax: +30 2310 215 629 | www.usbngo.gr

Contents

Contents Volunteer Life INSIGHT

Saving turtles in Turkey

Greece, the land of paradoxes

Local Life THESSALONIKI

Love Your WildLife

Out Of The Borders BATTLE AGAINST OVERCONSUMPTION

Mix Fix

TOWARDS BETTER SELVES

Sacrificed

How Junk Mail Impacts the Environment

On my scale

Blue Gold

To beef or not to beef

DAMAGE OF PROGRESS

Is Nuclear Energy The Solution To The Climate Crisis?

The ghost city Anniston BALKANS

Bad Air in the Western Balkans

Volunteer Life insight

Saving turtles in Turkey

by Giovanni Stanislao

I was running in the airport, I had never been so late for a flight in my entire life. When I arrived

at the gate it was already closed, and I thought I just lost my connection to go from Istanbul to Mersin, where my ESC project was going to take place. I basically begged the flight manager to let me in, after a while she let me through and I was able to sit on the plane a few minutes before the departure, sweaty and exhausted from the stress.

I was sure I was going to bed as soon as I arrived at the house, that I actually reached really late in the evening. My plan was to meet all the volunteers already working there only the next day. But I was wrong. Someone suggested going to the beach and seeing a turtle laying eggs. At that moment, all my physical and mental tiredness disappeared. That day, my head didn’t touch the pillow until the next morning, around 8am.

was lucky enough to volunteer during the beach in Kazanli, a small village on the Turkish most interesting period of the year. When sum- coast, to dig huge nests and hide their eggs unmer begins, female turtles come at night to the der the sand. Around July, all the mamas are

insight

Volunteer Life

gone and the little turtles start to come out Arya, the first turtle I found by myself, I’m sure to reach the sea, where they will live for many she is somewhere in South America living her years before coming back to that very same best life now). beach where they were born, to lay eggs and Living on the beach made me discover an continue the reproductive cycle. amazing ecosystem. Like in a Miyazaki movie, Staying there from June to August meant that there was a whole world underneath, full of livI got to see all this happening right in front of ing creatures crawling, breathing, hunting, playing between sand dunes and little bushes. Not my eyes. only turtles: during our nights there we would Our accommodation was an apartment in one often meet a hedgehog trying to hide from our of the 20 old buildings right on “Kazangeles torchlights, lizards and snakes running around, beach”, a mix from Kazanli and Los Angeles, all different kinds of birds, a little chameleon as we liked to call it with a bit of irony. With hanging from a branch. Sometimes at sunrise night shifts of 5 hours, during “mama season” it was even possible to see dolphins close to the work would consist in patrolling the beach to protect the turtles and the nests from stray dogs or people. But the “baby season” was the most exciting part.

remember the first group of baby turtles: when we were still having trouble finding them, only a few hatchlings were on this big beach full of bushes and dunes. It was hard, we had an expert in following traces but us volunteers were there only to watch with admiration as we didn’t know how to manage these things yet.

That night, we felt that those three baby tur-

tles, the firsts of the season, were a huge deal; we were all extremely excited and happy. The number was going to increase really soon, but we would not believe our mentor when he was making fun of us for giving names to every single baby. “Soon you will lose count and you will stop!”, that’s what he said. And he was right. After a couple of weeks we were picking up baby turtles like cherries, hundreds and hundreds of them in one night (but a special mention for my

Laying eggs

Volunteer Life insight

Dead Caretta Caretta

the shore. At some point, we had problems catch and eat the turtles we were releasing to with a family of foxes that mistook the turtles the sea. We all took it as a personal insult: it we were trying to save as a huge free buffet. became the symbol of death for the little cute we loved so much, pushing us to pasBut our biggest enemy was the population of turtles sionately fight back (disclaimer: no crab was crabs on the beach: we could see them, makharmed for real during the summer). ing fun of us without even moving, standing still between the waves or under the sand to Obviously, it’s just nature. And nature has a good sense of humor, since some species of turtles have crabs in their adult diet.

What we really had to fight with was human behavior.

The main problem was that the little turtles, distracted by the lights of the city and of the streets, would get attracted away from the sea. Something that would lead to their death once the sun would rise in the morning. That’s why,

insight

after collecting them in boxes, one of us would go in the water with a big torch in order to attract them again all together. The sensation of hundreds of turtles crawling to you and walking on your feet to go away and swim is something unforgettable.

But we also had to be careful and check that

Volunteer Life

But while doing this, everyday someone was

stopping by to thank us. The language barrier was not important for them, they would try to speak Turkish or Arabic knowing that we would not understand, expressing their gratitude toward us for taking care of their place.

people would not disturb the animals in any way. Sadly sometimes this was difficult if not impossible. Easier when we had to deal with drivers illegally using their motorcycle on our beach, harder when we had to bury a huge dead turtle that was stabbed in the belly probably by a fisherman as a reaction for “stealing” the fish.

Not only this: kids from the area would often come and help with the trash or even with the turtles, or just to play volleyball with the volunteers. Some of us would get an invitation to watch a football match in the house of a teenager from there, just because we were fans of the “right” Turkish team, Galatasaray.

In general though, I was surprised by the locals. Part of the job was cleaning the beach during the afternoon from the trash and the tons of plastic (I’m sure my friends will agree with me when I say that nobody could ever miss this part of the experience).

A group of local volunteers would guide us through their culture, their food, their traditions, eventually becoming our friends: by day we would play Tavla and drink the best Turkish coffee I’ve ever tasted, by night we would laugh and joke while looking for turtles on the beach.

Chelonia Mydas

Volunteer Life insight

The patrolling was a special bonding experience. At first, we were complaining about working at night, as we could not have time and energy to do activities during the day. We believed this was keeping us from connecting and socializing with each other. But we soon realized that it was exactly the opposite: the shared feet pain from too much walking on the sand, the fatigue of this intense and tiring job, the discomfort caused by the extremely hot weather: those things were for sure part of the reason why, in the end, we felt such a strong connection between us. Living

together, doing every single day the same things, cooking for the others, traveling, killing time with card games during the hot afternoons, eating cereals during “mola”- break in turkish- making a common tattoo with some close friends (turtles, obviously!). All that gave me a group of friends that I will miss for a long time.

This experience also changed me on a personal level. I found out that it’s important to communicate with so many people from different countries and culture, to give a little piece of yourself to them, and even though I still have troubles talking about my personal issues and feelings, I think I started to learn how to do it there, in Kazanli, during those walks on the beach. Like a group of baby turtles, we started and

shared this all together. Like the turtles, we had to go through some tough moments as if we were walking down the beach trying to reach the sea. But in the end we managed to touch the water. Together until that moment to eventually separate like turtles, and go our own way, coming back to our lives. But with a luggage of new experiences, amazing memories and a true connection to a place that gifted us with this amazing and unique summer.

And the passion we were putting in saving Who knows, maybe, exactly like the turtles we these beautiful animals will probably stay forever. saved, one day we will all meet again in Kazangeles.

insight

Volunteer Life

Greece, the land of paradoxes

by Roberto Gentile

“It was saturday, the 5th of february. Three in the afternoon of a normal day. I had the idea to take a coffee, so I got dressed, took the house’s keys and went to the first coffee bar I met on my way. I looked for a free seat and sat down. A waiter came towards me: “Can I check your vaccination?”, he asked. “Yes, of course,’’ I replied. He checked. Then said: “This certificate is invalid. You cannot stay”. Here starts my journey. The main character of this story is Diogo Vi- “You cannot stay.” The waiter said. larinho, 25 years old, graphic designer from “But I had my vaccine in July”, I went. Portugal. He has been volunteering at Balkan Hotspot since October 2021. “Yes, and now it’s expired. You cannot stay.” This story will see him involved in a series of Despite his rudeness, I kept calm and told him:

challenges just to get a simple thing: the AMKA “NO WAY!!! IMPOSSIBLE!!! I had my vaccine 8 NUMBER. No worries, I will explain everything months ago!” to you. And here I found out the problem: in Greece the Let’s go back to the story. Here’s again Diogo vaccination certificate is valid for 7 months. telling us his drama: In my country and in almost every country in Europe, it is valid for 9 months. The immediate consequence of this discovery was the awareness of having lost part of my freedom. I felt a lot of fear of missing out: imagine seeing people going out, planning trips or even smaller things like a simple movie at the cinema: you are there, listening to them, but you cannot go with them. And this is really frustrating.

And it wasn’t completely my fault, because I Diogo Vilarinho

was vaccinated, and in my country, Portugal,

Volunteer Life insight

my certificate is valid and that’s why my plan was to take the booster once back in my country. (USB) had their own certificate expired. ThereBut then, eventually, something happened: fore we were all in the same situation. almost every volunteer from my organization “What was the next move then?” I asked him.

“I talked with the mentor of my project, Urania.

She told me to go to the closest KEP office to get AMKA.

KEP stands for “citizens service center”: this office is one of those places full of stereotypes, which you think you know even before entering. One of those sad places where you expect to see old and ruined furniture and staff over 60, also old and ruined. And then you enter and you realize that’s exactly what it is. Once there I told the employee, as well as the only person present in the room, that I needed to get the AMKA. The employee, a very silent woman, looked at

me with the eyes of those who have been doing this job for too long, with the eyes of those who have lost hope and feelings due to this job.

Then gives me pen and paper and with a really low voice starts saying, in a row: write your name, write your mother’s name, write your father’s name and then write your email. In 7 days your AMKA will be activated. Okay, I say, I wrote down everything I had to

and I left the office.

Invalide Certificate

I didn’t know the lady was lying. It’s friday, the 18th of february, 13 days later.

insight

Volunteer Life

I went to the pharmacy to see if my AMKA is

because my vaccine was Johnson & Johnactivated and there they told me: “Yes, it’s valid! son, that means that I had just one dose, that Do you want to book an appointment?” I nod means that “the system” - as they love to call my head and cheer with my arms in the air. it - doesn’t count my booster as a booster but But here something weird happened: the em- as a simple, normal second dose. ployee, who is about to make an appointment so I kindly asked her to modify this information for me, starts saying: “your certificate will be valid in order to book an appointment with the right after 14 days from the day you take the vaccine.” information, and her response was: “Okay, but book you have to wait for your AMKA to “What? I know that for the booster I need to to be activated.” wait just one day.” “Yes, but the system says that this is your sec- Wait. ond dose.” Wait.

“Second dose? the system? I don’t understand, this is my booster.”

“Then you have to go back to the KEP office, and ask them to update these information in the system”

This is never ending, I thought. But okay, let’s

WHAT?!?! At the pharmacy they told me that it’s already activated. Why is she saying that?

“No. It’s not activated!” she kept saying after

my insistence.

go back there at the KEP office to check what “Okay, but you told me it was necessary to wait they wrote. 7 days for it to be activated, and 13 days have gone by. How long will I have to wait?” As soon as I entered, the lady screamed at me: “YOU NEED TO HAVE A TEST TO ENTER HERE!”

I said that I just needed to know if they wrote

a second dose in the system, and she replied back: “You need to have a test to enter here!”

In this country, sooner or later, you’ll need a

test to make a test.

Eventually, the lady accepted my request and

showed that yes, the system says second dose

KEP Office Thessaloniki

Volunteer Life insight

I ask her how it’s possible that everyone has a “Few days”. I leave the office stunned, confused, ready to give up.

But I gave myself one more chance to fix my

different version, that everyone says the opposite from one another. And she replied: “It’s not because of us, it’s the system”.

At the time of the interview, Diogo has not yet seen his AMKA number activated.

destiny. I went to the first pharmacy to ask how Therefore the story cannot be said to be over. long I should wait to see my AMKA activated - If Nevertheless, I ask him what he has learned it’s not clear yet, I don’t trust the lady at the sad from this situation. KEP office. And the pharmacist sentenced: this His answer, as true as it is touching, ends might take a couple of months. his journey: A COUPLE OF MONTHS. “I have simply learned that Greece is the counAt first, it was 7 days. Now it’s “a couple try of paradox. Ah, also that you cannot go of months”. against the system”.

Thessaloniki

Local Life

Love Your WildLife by Julien Pablo

Do you know the national park of Axios ? Near to Thessaloniki, The National Park of Axios is an important place for wildlife thanks

to its unique ecosystem due to a good combination of three rivers that meet the Delta and finally end up in the Gulf of Thessaloniki. This region shows a huge biodiversity, especially a huge variety of birds. You can meet shorebirds and seabirds in the same place.

Here, I met Penelope from the NGO Action For

animals with any problem from all of North Wildlife. I asked her to explain to me what the Greece, the island and central Greece. Our organisation does and something more about main purpose is to take care of them in order to the local wildlife. be released into nature.” - Penelope

“We are Action for WildLife, an NGO that runs Action for WildLife is a local organisation re-

a wildlife hospital. We are situated in North lying on volunteer work so most of the people Greece. We receive injured and offended wild working here do it for free. Ten people work everyday in the facility to save these animals’ lives and some volunteers come once or twice per month to transfer animals or bring food. In total, around thirty people support the organisation in some way.

Action for WildLife

They also receive volunteers from all around the world through different programs: some come independently to help and others are recruited through the European Solidarity Corps program.

Local Life Thessaloniki

heron-4143271

es with this kind of facilities, mainly located in South Greece, Athens or even further. Because “It is really important, because it’s the only one there are just very few places that can treat in North Greece. There are just few other plac- wild animals, most of the time people just leave

Why is this shelter important ?

Thessaloniki

Local Life

a very simple step that can give a huge help them to die because normal veterinarians don’t to wildlife.” know how to treat them. They cannot help them In the purpose to educate people on what they because very special knowledge is needed. can do, the staff also visits schools and orgaSo we have a veterinarian and biologist that nise field trips to the facilities. They explain to have experience on wild animals working with children what they do and how they can help to us. People who bring here an animal they found save wild animals. injured have the opportunity to understand what happened to it and learn that it’s often hu- It’s also important to protect the National Park of Axios because it’s a very important ecosysman fault if an animal is injured. tem for various species like ducks, pelicans, There are so many things people can do to and herons which nest in this specific area. The help: for example putting stickers on the win- park is also a destination of migratory birds dows, so the birds don’t fly towards them, it’s that stop here and can be admired during cervery simple but not everybody knows that. It’s tain times of the year. The population of some

Flamingos taking flight from a lagoon near the Loudias Estuary

Local Life Thessaloniki

of them is reducing: for example the number of storks is decreasing because of the rice fields. More fields mean more pesticides and because of them animals have to leave and move their nest because they cannot find the food to sustain themselves.

How many animals do you take care of in a day ?

“In

winter we have around 250 animals, in summer more than 500. June and July are the worst months, we can receive even twenty or thirty new animals per day. This is because from May to August they start the reproductive period and the babies are more vulnerable. So we get a lot of baby birds and mammals that fall from the nests. They’re often injured or they lost their parents and it’s impossible to get them back to the nest.

It’s important to take the habit of taking care of

wild animals. We often think of the endangered species but we rarely think about the other species and at the end we forget them.

“We get rare birds too, for example we have a

black stork here with us. They are quite vulnerable, the population is getting really reduced. So for some species that come here to be treated and get back to the wild it’s really significant to be healed in order to avoid the risk of extinction.

Common species are hosted too, like the doves: when someone brings a dove, which of course it’s not an endangered species, they can still understand why these animals are vulnerable and why it’s really important to educate people about it. Even if they found a common animal it’s really important for people to come here and understand their important role in the ecosystem.

It also takes a lot of time because if you have So now when you see a wild animals injured

a baby, you need at least one or two months to on the street or anywhere please take care of get them bigger and to be released. It’s also a them., if can’t help them directly, think about orbig procedure, because it’s not only to feed, but ganisations like Action for WildLife, because: also to see if they can fly or walk. “Everybody can do something, everybody can It’s important to teach them how they will sur- help wildlife. You don’t have to come here to vive, because that is something that their par- help, there are many things you can do in events show them in a normal situation. But in eryday life. Show that you care for the envithis case we need to do it and it is difficult, so ronment and nature. It’s important nowadays it needs a procedure to rehabilitation in steps especially in this moment when everything is and this takes a lot of time.” so vulnerable.”

battle against overconsumption

Out Of The Borders

How Junk Mail Impacts the Environment

by Simona Šekurovaitė

It’s no mystery that junk mail has a terrible impact on the environment

Pollution is the release of harmful substances

Many people don’t realize that junk mail is

very polluting, and people get annoyed when see their junk mail delivered to their mailboxes, but don’t think about just unsubscribing, people think they’ll just take junk mail and throw in the trash and nothing bad will happen when they do. Do not recommend due to pollution of the environment. I will explain in more detail how all this affects the environment, the air, and how it can all be stopped, and find alternatives without harming the environment.

Deforestationscence

https://www.cna.com.tw/news/ firstnews/202111190205.aspx

into the air, water or soil. Various pollutants can irreversibly affect entire ecosystems, human, plant and animal life. Children and the elderly are particularly sensitive to toxic substances. Most contaminants accumulate in the body gradually. This means that as many pollutants as possible can cause smog, toxic pollution, premature extinction of the environment, and it can appear human health problems such as cancer, aneurysms, and climate change in the heat of the sun can burn from too little moisture.

For example - Why the air in morning is fresh

and dust free than the air that we experience during afternoon and evening? Obviously due to less human activities during night time than day time. During night time there is less emmission of dust particles and gases released by human activities. During the time the air becomes cool and less polluted so in morning we can experience fresh air but afterwards due to our activites the air gets polluted. If you see the

Out Of The Borders battle against overconsumption

differences of air in morning u can notice how can stop the matter. Many people don’t want to take up this “job” because they don’t see the human are spoiling the air quality day by day. point in stopping it, think nothing will happen if Sometimes it is enough to add a STOP will just drop it in the trash or burn it.

sign to mailboxes

Did you know that unsolicited paper mail kill

I would like to provide some alternatives on how to stop junk mail in your inbox:

about 100 million trees worldwide each year? 1. Ask advertisers to publish digital magazines And that means The world’s temperate forests on their websites; absorb 2 billion tons of carbon annually. Creating and shipping junk mail produces more 2. Unsubscribe from subscriptions you are not greenhouse gas emissions than 9 million cars. interested in. About 28 billion gallons of water are wasted to produce and recycle junk mail each year. 3. Ask to send current news by e-mail

Sometimes placing a “STOP unsolicited mail” 4. Paste a sign with the name on the mailboxes

sticker on your mailbox it is enough to save - Not interested in advertising moving 40kg of paper per year. If all Europe would stop unsolicited mail the The saddest thing is that there is no law in EU would save 1 bilion € only in collection and force in Europe to ban the filling of unsolicited treatment costs and 10 million tones of paper letters in mailboxes, only the consumer himself to the environment.

Recyclable

https://medium.com/@AspenInstitute/recycling-isnt-garbage-ccb5fc34ee73

battle against overconsumption

Out Of The Borders

Blue Gold by Clara Rodier

Climate change has an impact on people’s lives in some parts of the world, they are facing the early effects of climate change. The second part of the 6th IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report, published on Monday 28 February, exposes the reality of an ongoing climate change, the consequences of which are already measurable on humans and ecosystems including the water availability which is an essential human need. A part of our ecosystem is already permanently damaged. This is the case for example with corals or glaciers. From

space, we can notice that the planet looks more blue than green. According to Cieu (a center of information about water), “the water covers 72% of the world’s surface,” and at the same time in some parts of the world half of the population is enduring an extreme water

Two women walking to find water.

crisis without being able to drink clean water. According to the sustainable and development goals created by the United Nations in 2016 the point is to “achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”., “1 in 4 health care facilities lacks basic water services.” In the video, on

@ Unicef/UN0199521/Noorani

Out Of The Borders battle against overconsumption

youtube published by Our Changing Climate we learned that current estimates predict that “by 2040, up to 20 more countries could be experi- Also, we learned in the series documentary called “Explained” on Netflix in the episode encing water shortages.” about “World’s Water Crisis” In partnership with In fact, 97.2% of earth liquid is salty water. Vox Media Studios and Vox. It show that agriFreshwater accounts for 2.8% of the world’s culture (70%) and industry (22%) consume and total water. Within this small percentage, po- waste a lot of freshwater”. We need to rethink lar ice represents 2.1% and available freshwa- our way to consume water to manage in a better ter 0.7%. The percentage of freshwater is only way the water crisis which has already start. around 3% for what we expect 9 billion people on earth by 2050. The problem that occurs is In 2019 the New York Times published an article written by two journalists Somini Sengupthe way we consume water. ta and Weiyi Cai. According to researchers at As we know, climate change is a vicious cir- the World Resources Institute. “The world is cle, it expects to make freshwater scarcity even heading for a major water shortage, by 2030, worse for the next decade and it’s already hap- an estimated 470 million people will face water pening in some parts of the world and im- scarcity, with consequent public health and social impacts.” pacting lives.

World Ressources institute Date

@ NYTimes

battle against overconsumption

WaterAid

In the report published on the 6th of August

Out Of The Borders

@ WaterAid/Abir Abdullah

survive. UNICEF said that “200 million hours wom2019, the “World Resources Institute” warned en and girls spend every day collecting water.” us about water scarcity. Currently, around the world, “seventeen countries are in a situa- Water is a human’s right and a human’s need. tion of extremely high baseline severe water We all need water in order to stay alive. But stress,” which means that they are consuming what happens if water becomes rare? It became the new gold, a blue gold. Water scarcity almost all the water available to them. is leading to a water conflict. It’s the case for a The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are water conflict between India and Pakistan that the most water-stressed regions on the plan- happened in the past and continues to happen. et with 12 of the top 17 most water-stressed countries. Including Qatar, Israel, Lebanon We have already started lacking water in some etc…. They are consuming on average over parts of the world. It influences some deci80 percent of their total water resources per sions for families to leave their countries, their year. According to UNICEF, “Four billion people homes, because of the insecurity that climate (almost two-thirds of the world’s population) change brings with extreme weather, floods, experience severe water scarcity for at least and drought. The tension over water increases one month each year.” And “Some 700 million all over the globe. On December 7, 2020, wapeople could be displaced by intense water ter was listed on the Chicago Stock Exchange, it was the first time ever that water went to scarcity by 2030.” trade. Water will become the new petrol, the According to the article Women and water new gold. The water crisis will bring conflict, by water.org, the water crisis will affect hard- injustice, and discrimination all over the world. er women. Women are the ones in charge of What we need is to learn how to consume less bringing the water for their families in order to water worldwide.

Out Of The Borders Damage of progress

Is Nuclear Energy The Solution To The Climate Crisis?

by Yusuf Taşkıran

Have you ever thought about how to manage the energy needs with the population rising in

the world? Energy is one of our basic needs in our daily life. As the population in the world is rising, the demand for energy in the world is increasing. Countries are developing various projects to provide this energy. So, which is the cleanest and most reliable source that can provide energy needs? In this article, I would like to focus on nuclear energy. Have you ever thought about what nuclear energy is? Is it an energy source that should be preferred today? Is it a real solution for climate change? What are the negative consequences for the environment?

Nuclear Sight

Damage of progress

Chernobyl banner

Out Of The Borders

Nuclear energy is a type of energy obtained

solutions to climate change, in order to limit from the nucleus of the atom. It originates from greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. the splitting of uranium atoms – a process called fission. This generates heat to produce Advocates of nuclear energy state that nuclesteam, which is used by a turbine generator to ar energy has a very low carbon emission rate, generate electricity. and that it is possible to obtain quite a lot of energy in nuclear power plants compared to Speaking about its preferability, nuclear energy others. But is this enough for us to trust nucleis one of the most discussed energy sources ar energy? Of course not. today. While on one hand nuclear energy is defined as a necessity by some societies, on the If we consider the negative consequences of other hand it is defined as the most dangerous nuclear power plants, the main problem is the way of generating electricity. Those who advo- storage of radioactive waste. Every nuclear recate nuclear energy are defending the idea that actor generates high levels of radioactive waste climate change can be prevented thanks to it. that will continue to be deadly for centuries. But is it actually true? In addition, an error that may occur in a nucleConsidering the nuclear disasters in the past, ar power plant may cause radiation at a level it is quite difficult to make a definite decision that can affect the entire environment. Furtheron this issue. Of course, our common goal is to more, the installation costs of nuclear powfind an energy source that will urgently produce er plants are very high. It also requires a very

Out Of The Borders Damage of progress

Nuclear Cans

ly designed experiment at the power plant. As a result of the mistakes that occurred during the test, there was a big explosion in the reactor. The radioactive material in the reactor’s core spread into the atmosphere and spread all over Europe with wind and rain. It has affected the lives of many living things by mixing with agricultural crops and drinking water.

Another

Nuclear

important catastrophe to be mentioned in this context is the Chernobyl disaster. It occurred at a nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union on April 26th 1986 and is one of the greatest disasters in the history of nuclear power generation. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor was one of the projects that the Soviet Union was most proud of, however, as a result

of a human mistake, it turned into a disaster that affected all humanity.

long construction process and a huge amount of water to cool down the power plants, that’s also why they are usually built on coastal areas. In addition, Plutonium is generated as a by-product of nuclear energy, and used to build mass destruction nuclear weapons, like the nuclear bomb of Hiroshima. The nuclear attack on Hiroshima has had serious negative consequences for the environment and human life. It is impossible to support this today when the world still faces the threat of nuclear war.

The Chernobyl disaster occurred due to a poor-

radiation has contaminated thousands of square kilometers of land. It also significantly increased the rate of cancer. The accident is known as the accident in which the largest amount of radioactive material was released into the environment in the history of nuclear energy. After the explosion, everyone living in and around Pripyat had to leave the

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city. All the surrounding animals were killed and buried to prevent the spread of radioactive pollution. Today, the city of Pripyat has turned into a ghost town. No one lives in the city anymore. Also, there are still many unanswered questions about the Chernobyl disaster.

Today, many countries have decided to termi-

nate their nuclear programs and turn to alternative energy sources, worrying that another accident like Chernobyl may occur. But some actually decided to go against the tide and build their first nuclear power plant, like the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which is planned to be built in Turkey. Turkey has been governed for years with an understanding that has been

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ruled by profit, destroying nature every time, and politics outweighed justice. Today, as a result of any accident that may occur in Akkuyu, the entire Mediterranean region is put at risk.

Gregory Jaczco, a former chairman of the Federal nuclear regulatory commission: “Nuclear is just not up to that task from everything I have seen and experienced with this industry, I think that’s a fool’s errand, and I think it will fail the planet when it comes to dealing with climate change…’’

When we consider all these, nuclear energy is

not a reliable source of energy in a world where the climate is deteriorating. Nuclear energy is not a solution to climate change. If millions of dollars spent on saving old nuclear power plants, building new ones or researching new reactor types will be invested in renewable energy, energy efficiency and storage, it will be possible to find solutions to climate change faster.

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Hiroshima, after the nuclear bomb attact

Nuclear Power Plant Building in Turkey

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Anti-nuclear power movement’s smiling sun logo

Out Of The Borders Damage of progress

The ghost city Anniston

by Anastasiia Hrechka

Anniston, Alabama, 1979: „While looking around, the abandoned houses draw my attention. Whole neighborhoods are dead, people that I know are dead. Either dead or sick - cancer, paralysis, memory loss are a few of the illnesses strolling around. I am surprised by the amount of empty and moribund zones. On my way I enter the local church and a shiver runs down my spine. The emptiness and stillness chase me out. I continue discovering the town. The streetlights are dark. No red, no green, no yellow. I don’t know what to do, I want to disappear. I pass a backyard stream, it’s red, blood red…“ This story is fictional. Nevertheless, this is a

They are either oily liquids or solids that are colreal description of how it was, of how Anniston orless to light yellow and were used in hundreds became a ghost city as a result of PCB-release of industrial and commercial applications. into the air and water by Monsanto. And yes, “Monsanto admitted to poisoning residents of Between 1935 and 1971 Monstanto dumped Anniston with PCBs”. But what is Monsanto tens of thousands of pounds of PCBs into streams (that’s why they were blood red) or and what are these plaguy PCBs? buried them in and around the city. Monsanto used to be the world‘s largest seed company. While in the 70s Monsanto was And guess what?! In 1979 PCBs were banned a chemical company, in the 80s it began to in the US, but it was already too late. Simultransform into a seed company. In 2018 Bayer taneously, Monsanto closed their chemical company in Anniston but years later people bought Monsanto. from there are still sick. Even small amounts of Monsanto took over the Swann chemical com- PCBs harm the developing nerve system of fepany in Anniston in 1935 and started producing tuses and children. Mental illnesses like attenPCBs and other substances. PCBs are mixtures tion-deficit disorders or cancer, paralysis and of up to 209 individual chlorinated compounds. memory loss are a few of the possible conse-

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quences of a PCB-poisoning. Whole neighbor- ple left the town because of the fear of death. hoods were erased because people died. Peo- Empty houses remained.

Red Stream

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Unfortunately this is not the first time catastrophes like this have happened. For years Monsanto fooled people, made them believe things that they shouldn’t believe in. Through propaganda and communication advertisements they described a utopia - a perfect world where chemistry contributes to universal well-being: This depot stored an array of toxic industrial chemicals in Anniston.

“Without chemicals life itself would be impossible.”

And yes, Monsanto long knew of the severe

damage it caused. But they chose to get caught up in their narrow-mindedness and ignorance, while the residents of Anniston stayed behind with irreversible consequences: their blood had the highest recorded levels of PCBs in the whole nation, maybe even in the whole world.

“Terry Baker died at the age of 16 from a brain tumor and lung cancer caused by PCB exposure.” -David Baker

Without chemicals, life itself would be impossible.

Lost in desperation and hopelessness the inhabitants of Anniston didn’t know how to act. But in 1998 a community against pollution was built. That’s how the chemical company was forced to clean up the mess they caused. But they didn’t.

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Environmental activist David Baker stands over the grave of his brother Terry, who died.

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Johnnie Cochran, a lawyer, agreed to help the residents. He said: “There is always some study and they’ll study it to death, then 30 years later

The best way to tame a wildfire is with chemicals.

Agent Orange kills.

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you’ll find out it’s bad for you. We know it’s bad like this should not happen again but probably will. We learn from mistakes, they say. But do for us RIGHT NOW!”. we actually? Even though they won the case, the results SOURCES: were unsatisfactory. Sick children got 2000$, despite the fact that they had to live with their https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/harrietwashington/ monsanto-anniston-harriet-washington-environmental-racism illnesses until the end of their lives.

The story of the ghost city Anniston is terrify-

ing and scary. It’s influencing people’s lives up until now. Still, it’s just one of many examples of human cruelty, of human ignorance and arrogance. This is not the first and not the last example. Incidents, or better said catastrophes

https://www.mathieuasselin.com/monsanto https://cban.ca/gmos/issues/monsanto/ https://youtu.be/zJH8VYwzN0w https://www.epa.gov/pcbs/learn-about-polychlorinated-biphenyls-pcbs

Balkans

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Bad Air in the Western Balkans

by Milica Velimirovic

Worryingly, poor air quality in the Western Balkans puts the region at the top of the list of

the most polluted places in Europe. Estimates from the European Environment Agency say that 30,000 people die prematurely every year due to air pollution in the Western Balkans. Air pollution leads to increased mortality, shortened life expectancy, an increase in the number of chronic diseases, as well as climate change itself.

Let’s look at when and how it all started. The The use of coal for the operation of thermal period after World War II was marked by the accelerated growth of the world economy. The increasing use of natural resources, mostly coal and oil had very negative consequences for health as well as for the environment itself. At the same time, the reconstruction of the collapsed states in the Balkans began, most of which provided their energy needs from thermal and hydro power plants.

Aerial view of the thermal © Reuters Images/Dado Ruvic power plant in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina October 18, 2021. Picture taken with a drone on October 18, 2021.

power plants has created a problem that has accumulated today. Long-term energy dependence on these energy sources in most Western Balkan countries have created a problem for today’s generations. The topic of air pollution has become a major one in this region in recent years, and citizens themselves are increasingly aware of the consequences it has.

When

it comes to environmental problems, there are often attempts to hide data on certain real situations. Whether the goal is to protect someone’s private interests or to avoid punishment, such acts often have serious repercussions both for the citizens and for the environment itself. According to the Aarhus Convention, citizens should have the right not only to be informed about environmental issues, but also to participate in the decision-making process in the directly affected regulatory area (European Commission, 2020).

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Photo of - Photo of Sarajevo 14 jan 2020.

How often this convention is not respected and can best be seen in the example of air pollution and its consequences. A campaign was formed called The Balkans United for Clean Air and it aims to inform Western Balkan citizens on the causes and consequences of air pollution, and the possible solutions.

In 2021 climate protests broke out in waves

around the region, the largest of these were in Serbia, my home country. These protests were peppered across the five largest cities; Belgrade, Novi Sad, Cacak, Nis and Valjevo and brought together people from all walks of life to protect that which we ultimately all relied upon - the environment.

As I write this, Serbia ranks 25th in the world

Photo of Polluted Belgrade

in terms of air pollution. A devastating and very worrying reality sets in when we understand that it is one of the smallest countries in the world and its global footprint is disproportionately negative to its size. Yet, the official response has been persistently ignorant, calling the climate activists’ calls for more

Balkans

View of Pljevlia and the existing power plant

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regulation on industrial by-products, flue gas also has health recommendations and can and tighter transport controls ‘the statements show you the steps you can take to avoid getof ideological enemies’. At the forefront of the argument in favor of ignorance comes the idea that the increase in pollution is largely due to the variations in seasonal particulate matter and changes in air circulation pathways. The government’s policies, on the other hand, are seldom criticized.

Steps of action

•Check the air quality. There are some apps

that can provide you information about air quality in any city. Such as AirVisual. This app

Protest for clean air, Belgrade,

source: N1, 2021

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Protest for clean air

ting sick. Depending on the air quality situation you can advise sensitive groups to stay indoors.

•Educate

yourself and people around you about the topic. The goal is to raise awareness There are no real limits that can stop the air. of how air pollution affects our environment We may have borders, they are real in the way to stop humans, but not nature itself. In the and health. whole world you can see and feel the change. •Be an active citizen. Go on the protest, be in- We call it climate change. Before you even volved in the decision making process. Believe think that this problem doesn’t affect you, take that each one of us can make a difference. this matter in consideration.

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Sacrificed

by Isciane Lallement

Avoid palm oil. That is what every responsible consumer has been trying to do for the

last decade. We associate it with fires in the rainforest, sad animals’ faces, special mentions in advertisements. But palm oil is not the only one to blame: the mass production always has a cost. Coconut, olive, Emu oils… All of these are worshiped and used everywhere, sometimes sold as an ideal alternative to palm oil. They are in every cosmetic product, in our plates, in our hair, on our skin. The demand goes higher up each year, but we do not pay the price: others do. For now.

Our current society has the particularity to wrong, dangerous and hurtful, we just say we give everyone access to everything, daily. have no control over it, individually. Humankind Even if people know that over-consumption is has created and taken habits into comfort, and

Palm Oil Production

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this luxury is all the last two generations ever knew. That is what makes it so hard to fight.

Animals.

They are part of this world just as much as we are, but still they are sacrificed. Not only Oil is one concrete example. It has become a animals, but also plants, insects, life in all its prime resource for centuries. We use it everyshapes is threatened by the culture of oils. where, everyday. ach year, more than 2.6 millions of birds The demand for palm oil has increased from Ewere vacuumed to death during olive harvest 2M tons for the year 1970 to 71M tons in 2018. in Spain. In 2020, the rainforest was threatened by huge fires. It took weeks to end it. This was consid- Coconut’s mass production requires the use of ered a catastrophe. What we consider less, is number of pesticides and chemical fertilizers the massive deforestation provocated by the that are responsible of soil’s weakening and difculture of palm trees. In 2009, over 270 000 ferent species’ threatening. hectares of Indonesian forests were cleared for the sake of palm oil. This was the highest num- Among the species threatened by the mass ber ever registered in this area. If it went down culture of palm oil, the orangutan, the sumatran ever since, we still lose the equivalent of 300 Elephant, tiger, Rhino, but also the pangolin and soccer fields of rainforest each hour. Of course, the hornbill. Some of them have reached a critthis has a dramatic impact on countless levels, ical level of extinction threat and urgently need but the one we will focus on here is this one: measures to be taken in their favor.

Vegetal Oil Production World.

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Sacrificed

For taking part in that slaughter, For contributing to those numbers, For choosing to ignore so many things, For feeling so bad, so helpless and so small, Without ever changing anything. For the species that have gone extinct, With or without our help and for those who will, one day, follow

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For walking on the same path I want so much to avoid,

For all the times where I gave in And I will again For hiding behind the fact that I am not the only one

For all of us I am sorry. This has to change. I will. Will you?

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On my scale

by Lena Foligné

“I’m not going to change the world ! It’s no use on my own ! ” Have you ever heard that? I have! Do you agree? Personally, no. But what can you do to actively participate every day?

You can start by doing selective I will share with you little and yet so simple collecting, which is, when you know and things that I changed a few years ago in order do it properly super easy but useful ! to contribute to the well-being of our planet and therefore also to mine!

But why? Because it helps to safeguard natural

resoures and to combat pollution. In addition, First, to give some context, I think it is import- it promotes the production of new products ant to inform you that I am from France, so and energy savings in the interests of susthe context is different from Greece, but we all tainable development. have the same earth as home! How can you do it?

Here is the answer ! So better to have a reusable fabric bag !

Better for the environment, more stylish and

prettier than a plastic bag and the cherry on the cake: the end of the annoying plastic bag that breaks, it is so much stronger!

tri sélectif article

The images speak for themselves…

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reusables bags

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Mix Fix towards better selves

Easily changeable in your daily life and making

a huge difference, favor reusables bags.

To further limit plastic use, you can also buy Use Ecosia! It is a German search engine that in bulk, thanks to that you can even choose the donates 80% of its profits to quantity you want, buy a canteen and a thermos for your drinks! You can even use it when non-profit organisations working on reforestayou go for a coffee to take away . tion programmes.

Think about it : you can turn off the water in Nothing changes, you continue to do your re-

the shower and when you brush your teeth. It search BUT you are helping for planting trees will even be good for your water bills! without even realising it.

towards better selves

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Mix Fix towards better selves

Cleaning vinegar

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ecosia

Now, I will share with you some of my recipes for some household products.

A miracle product that you can use for virtually anything is ……. WHITE VINEGAR! It is the magic product for cleaning the house anti-limestone and disinfectant, it replaces all the polluting household products of supermarkets.

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Optional : essential oils of your choice - con-

sequently you can choose the smell you want.

And it is also so much more economical! How to do it? Heat up the water. Pour it into the bowl. Grate the 50 grams of soap into flakes. The fin-

I agree that the smells may be disturbing but I

er it is grated, the more easily the soap dissolves.

you only need orange and lemon peels!

a spoon. It is important that the soap is completely dissolved in water.

Did you know that you can do your own laundry detergent?

Then add the sodium bicarbonate and stir with a spoon until diluted.

have a solution:

You only need : 50 grams of laundry soap into flakes 2 tablespoons of sodium bicarbonate 1 litre of hot water

Pour the soap into the hot water and mix with

Finally, once the whole is well liquid and homogeneous, add the essential oil. A dozen drops will suffice. All you have to do is let it cool down and put it in a can or a bottle.

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amonechelle

“I am going to change my world ! My family, my friends, my colleagues… We are all needed !“ There is so many other products that you can do by yourself, if you are interested you can have a look at my friend’s Instagram :

I shared with you a few simple tips to increase your participation for the well-being of our planet. If you are interested for doing more and more household products on your own or even skincare one, do not hesitate to use Ecosia to do your research.

It is in French but you can easily understand Small actions on your scale but huge help for the videos and even learn another language.

our home.

towards better selves

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To beef or not to beef

by Raphaël Pons

“The subject of the zero waste initiative often comes up when we talk about pollution

but we sometimes forget that farming and livestock production have a significant impact on the ecology. Indeed, animal production is one of the most harmful for the planet, currently more than 75% of agricultural land in the world is reserved for livestock, livestock that must be fed and that will serve to feed ourselves. Our carnivorous way of life is destabilizing ecosystems through greenhouse gasses, deforestation, water pollution, climate change and animal abuse.

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The impact of livestock farming has colossal consequences on water due to the high consumption of meat and egg production, which is much higher than the consumption of cereals and legumes, overconsumption is not the only problem Beef: 15415 litres / kilogram 1644 litres / kilogram

Pork: 5988 litres / kilogram

litres / kilogram

Nuts: 9063 litres / kilogram 322 litres / kilogram

Cereals:

Chicken: 4325 litres / kilogram Eggs: 3265 litres / kilogram Milk: 1020 litres / kilogram The human body does not need to consume

so much animal protein, reducing this overconFruit: 962 sumption would be beneficial for the planet and your body. Vegetables:

If removing all animal matter from your diet is not

for everyone, I suggest some meatless recipes.

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Zucchini fritters with mint

ingredients For 20 fritters 600 g zucchini 2 eggs 1 large onion 1 handful of coarse salt

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½ sachet baking powder 1 bunch of parsley 12 mint leaves 4 tablespoons of flour 50 g Parmesan cheese pepper and salt

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Mix vigorously. Heat the oil in a saucepan, form peanut oil preparation: Sprinkle a handful of coarse salt over the grat-

balls of dough with 2 dessert spoons. Drop into the hot oil and drain.Serve with a crisp salad.

Surprisingly, the flour added after the wet vegetables never forms lumps.

ed courgettes placed in a colander to drain. Falafels Leave to rest for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, grate the onion, chop the parsley and mint. Squeeze ingredients: the courgette flesh between your hands to re500 g dried chickpeas, lease all the water. Transfer the drained courgettes to a salad bowl. Add two eggs, the on- soaked the day before. ion, the herbs, the flour, the parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. 3-4 cloves of garlic.

baking:

½ onion.

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1 tbsp bicarbonate. 1 tbsp golden sesame seeds. 1 bunch of parsley (or coriander or mint, or both). 2 tbsp cumin. 2 tbsp coriander powder. ½ tsp paprika. pinch of cayenne (optional). Pepper and salt. Instructions: Soak the chickpeas in water the day before,

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Add salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, coriander powder, cayenne and bicarbonate, Add coriander, parsley and mint. Blend in small batches ; Scrape down the sides

and blend a second time until you get a texture that is neither too thin nor too thick, between couscous and a paste, the mixture should hold together but not be like hummus.

Pour the mixture into a bowl. Do not hesitate to

remove the large pieces of chickpeas.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 1

hour. Heat oil in a frying pan over low heat, for example with a deep fryer.

Form the falafel into balls, having first wet your

hands so that the dough does not stick to making sure to cover them well. Drain and rinse your hands. the chickpeas. Dry them with paper towels (they must be wiped dry), put the chickpeas in a Dip the falafel balls into the hot oil. As soon as food processor. Add the onions and garlic cloves. they turn golden on one side, turn them over.

U SB TEA M Anastasiia Hrechka | 18 years old

Isciane Lallement | 23 years old

Favorite topics are sexuality, LGBT rights and mental health

Favorite topics are video games, literature and history

Lena Foligné | 22 years old

Clara Rodier | 22 years old

Favorite topics are Psychology, art and travel

Favorite topics are photography, literature and cinema.

Giovanni Stanislao | 31 years old

Michelle Wischnepolski | 18 years old

Favorite topics are cinema, culture and social issues

Favorite topics are feminism, psychology and other cultures

Roberto Gentile| 26 years old

Raphaël Pons | 22 years old

Favorite topics are storytelling, culture and art

Favorite topics are cooking, sports and Asian culture

Diogo Vilarinho | 25 years old

Simona Šekurovaitė | 21 years old

Favorite topics are art, design and photography

Favorite topics are psychology, religion and travel

Julien Pablo | 23 years old

Milica Velimirovic | 20 years old

Favorite topics are video games, music and pizza

Favorite topics are music, books and history

General Directors: Editors: Aristodimos Paraschou Isciane Lallement Christian Cibba Clara Rodier Graphic Designer: Alexandros Tagaridis Find us: www.balkanhotspot.org Usb_ngo.gr

The volunteers responsible for this publication are hosted in Greece in the framework of the European ERASMUS+ Programme, European Solidarity Corps. This project has been funded with support from the European Commision. This publication [communication] reflects the views of only of the author, and the Commision can not be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Balkan Beats 39 - Terra

Articles inside

On my scale

To beef or not to beef

Sacrificed

Bad Air in the Western Balkans

The ghost city Anniston

Blue Gold

Is Nuclear Energy the solution to the Climate Crisis?

Love your wildlife

Greece, the land of paradoxes

Saving Turtles in Turkey