When everyone can make use of a space, a product or a service, no matter their physical or mental disability or impediment.
Accessibility applies to buildings, but also to entire cities, products, services, or natural environments. Something is accessible when people with varying disabilities can use it or enter it, either by themselves or with the help of an accessibility measure. Buildings equipped with wheelchair access and braille information for the visually impaired, for instance, are accessible!

The process that happens when an object or material is broken down through natural chemical processes, such as through bacteria, or in water.

For example, if left outside the fibers in cardboard will eventually be dissolved by microorganisms, until the original cardboard turns into a substance that can be absorbed back into our soil.
In order to protect our environment, many manufacturers are now rethinking the making process of some materials that are traditionally harmful to the ecosystem. For example, plastics are traditionally made from non-renewable materials such as fossil fuels, but there are now many alternatives to re-design plastic production, which causes the plastic end product itself to become biodegradable.

A system where resources are continuously used over and over again, like in a circle, and where as little as possible goes to waste.
This means, for example, repairing, recycling and reusing existing objects and materials, but also sharing things like household and garden equipment among several people, for example in a community or a neighbourhood. In this way, less carbon emission and less pollution happens, since objects stay in the cycle and are not just thrown away after one use. A circular economy is very different from a linear economy, in which the consumption path is a simpler line that goes straight from production, usage, and eventually disposal of objects.

Rights and duties that come with being a full member of a country: a citizen.
As a citizen of a given country, you have certain rights that are set by the country’s government, such as the right to hold a passport, to participate in the political life of the country by voting, or to access its health system.
Citizenship is not the same as nationality, which tells which country you are from. Remember: you can have citizenship of one country, but carry the nationality of another!

A very old form of government of a nation, whose name comes from Ancient Greek and means “rule by the people.”
In a Democracy, the people of a country directly participate in the election of their own government through a process of voting, so that the chosen government thus reflects the opinions and choices of the people. The opposite of Democracy is a Dictatorship or Tyranny, where it’s just one person who makes all the rules. Democratic principles do not only work in political contexts, but also apply to our daily life: we use everyday democratic decision-making to solve conflicts or make decisions for a group of people, like a company, or simply your family or school.

It means that everyone is free and able to express their ideas and opinions without having to be afraid for prosecution, censorship, or punishment.

It is an essential part of a democracy: in order for a country’s government to fairly represent its people, the people of this country need to have free access to relevant knowledge and information, and need to be able to freely express their own opinions. Freedom of speech is included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It’s the energy gained from renewable, eco-friendly sources in nature, for example through solar panels, windmills, and hydroelectric installations.

Green energy is not dependent on fossil fuels that will eventually be depleted, and it is therefore a much more sustainable choice. If you are producing more green energy than you are using yourself, such as electricity gained from solar panels on your roof, you can also help others use renewable energy even when they don’t have their own installations for harvesting energy from nature.

Countries have the duty to protect the Human Rights of their citizens, either by passively respecting their freedoms (for example, the right to free speech) or by actively promoting their rights (for example, by making sure their citizens live healthy lives).

The Kyoto protocol is a large, worldwide climate agreement that was adopted in Kyoto in 1997, and officially went into effect in 2005.

The goal of the protocol was to commit countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, based on the knowledge that these emissions are a big cause of global warming. Currently, 192 countries are “states parties” to the agreement, this means that all these countries formally committed to work towards its goals. In 2005, the Paris agreement was adopted as a successor to the Kyoto protocol.

Literacy refers to a person’s ability to read and write, or generally, to independently process information and produce new one.

There are different degrees of literacy, or its opposite, illiteracy. For example, a person can be capable of understanding and producing simple words and sentences, such as street signs, but might struggle with communication beyond this basic level, as would be necessary for many types of employment: this is referred to as ‘functional illiteracy’. Having any level of difficulty with literacy can have serious effects on a person’s wellbeing: it can lead to feelings of social exclusion, issues with finding and keeping a job, or less access to proper health care due to not being able to understand necessary information about one’s health.

Natura 2000 is a network of protected natural areas across the European Union focusing on areas that are crucial for the conservation of animal and plant species.

For example, it has a special emphasis on migratory birds that travel across the continent and beyond, and birds that are particularly threatened. Natura 2000 does not only include areas on land, but also marine habitats. As of 2021, the network already covers 18% of Europe’s land, and 8% of its marine territory. The Natura 2000 Viewer is a tool made by the European Environment Agency, in which you can browse all the sites in the network on a map of Europe.

There is a part of the Earth’s atmosphere in which there is a high concentration of ozone; we call this the ozone layer. It works as a sunscreen for the earth: it blocks between 93 and 99% of this radiation, which would otherwise be very harmful to life on earth. Over the last hundred years, the ozone layer gradually became thinner because of our use of certain harmful chemicals, such as those in styrofoam. Since the world’s leaders started to recognize this issue, action was taken by banning some of these harmful chemicals, which has led to the ozone layer repairing itself again.

A quotum is an amount of something, either as an absolute number (e.g. x amount of something) or as a relative number (x percentage of a total amount).

Quota – the plural of quotum – are often interpreted as a maximum or a minimum amount of something: for example, the European Commission sets maximum quota, or Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for fishing to indicate how much a country is allowed to catch of a particular fish species. This helps balance out economic gain with preservation of the marine ecosystem. Quota are also often used to support gender equality: a company can set a minimum amount of women it wants to appoint in various ranks, which helps counteract gender discrimination.

This list includes not only animals, but also plants and corals. Determining whether a species is threatened is done based on criteria such as a species’ known population size, its geographical distribution, and how fast it declines in numbers. Some species are doing really well – they are listed as ‘Least Concern’. Species that are vulnerable according to these criteria, are running a high risk of extinction, or are critically endangered already, are officially regarded as ‘threatened species’. Currently about 35,500 species, or 28% of the world’s species, are threatened. This includes 26% of all the mammal species, 33% of reef coral species, and 14% of all bird species.

A type of education in which students are learning crafts, trades, or particular technical skills, to prepare them for specific professions.

Often, vocational education is paired with apprenticeships in small or large companies, stores or artisan workshops, where students can learn practical skills in the workforce with the help of an instructor. The Sustainable Development Goals Goal 4 on Quality Education includes increased investments in vocational education, so that as many adolescents and adults as possible have access to training in applied skills, which will help them to become economically independent individuals in the societies they live in.

This word literally means a fear of what is foreign, or of foreign people or objects, which is a core element of racism.

When directed at people, xenophobia can lead to discrimination, hate speech and violence. Xenophobia can also mean that a social group is so opposed to ‘foreign’ influences in language and traditions that this group completely retreats into its own cultural bubble. Although this type of xenophobia is often not directly violent, it nonetheless leads to loss of contact between individuals and groups, which can eventually result back in stronger racism.

Youth in Action is the branch of Erasmus+ – the European funding program for education, training, youth and sport – that focuses on youth engagement across Europe.

It provides funding and exchange opportunities to help young Europeans develop skills, competences and confidence to become active and engaged citizens for tomorrow’s world. This includes, among others, the European Solidary Corps.

Zero Waste refers to the goal of reusing and recycling all objects and materials that we use, so that no waste ends up in our environment.

It applies, among others, to industrial activities: ideally, companies would make environmentally conscious choices in source materials, production processes and packaging, so that no waste ends up in our oceans or in landfills. Of course Zero Waste is often difficult – it is therefore regarded as a goal or guidelines, rather than a target we absolutely should and can achieve. You can also adopt parts of it in your own lifestyle. You can start by avoiding to bring waste into your own home, for example by going to package-free stores, or by taking your own reusable bags to the grocery store. You can also recycle as much as you can – check out the recycling guidelines of your own town or country to see what you can do yourself!