On 12 and 13 April, young people and adults belonging to the Ecoteam within the Jesuit schools of French-speaking Belgium worked on the ecological transition process of their schools, at the Collège-Saint-Paul in Godinne.

"How many people do you think are enough to change a society?", Adelaïde CHARLIER asked the students in her introductory speech to the Ecoteam days. " 3,5 %. It is enough for a school of 500 students to be a very active minority of 12 students to make things change. The young Belgian activist, who heads the Youth for Climate Belgium movement, launched the Ecoteam days with an invitation not to wait to convince everyone to take action, "the best remedy for despair".

150 young people from 12 to 17 years old and about thirty mentors from nine Belgian Jesuit schools gathered in Godinne to meet, learn and get inspired. Based on the pedagogy of Catholic Action "See, Judge, Act", these two days were introduced by a climate fresk. The next morning, a striking conference on climate justice was given by Nicolas van NUFFEL, president of the Belgian climate coalition: this allowed the students to grasp the magnitude of the challenge that awaits them, to be carried into their schools and beyond.

After that, the students were able to draw inspiration from the "secret boots" of other schools: organising an Ecoteam week, a cycling challenge, doing the carbon footprint of their school, obtaining the sustainable school label... then moving on to practical workshops: from sponges made from old socks to calculating one's carbon footprint, via the loudspeaker and the irrigation of low-tech seedlings.

And since the aim was to make these days a starting point, they ended with a time of review and brainstorming on the next steps to be taken in each school, with the organising powers (Authority responsible for the educational activities carried out in one or more schools for which it is responsible.) coming specially to listen to the pupils. "Enthusiasm", "inspiration", "awareness" came up a lot in the sharing of emotions, but also the joy of meeting, sharing and even dancing together during a folk ball.

The final word? A speech by F. Xavier de BÉNAZÉ sj (delegate of the EOF Provincial for Ecological Transition) on hope, a puzzle of their commitments showing Pope Francis' "Laudato si'" and the planting of three fruit trees symbolising the students, OPs and alumni working side by side to make their school grow towards a true ecological conversion. In short, this first edition of the Ecoteam days was a great success and marks the beginning of a beautiful tradition.

Emmanuelle HUET
(in charge of the ecological transition of the EOF Jesuits schools)