ESC: Juventude, Ambiente e Aventura 2023

Onda Verde – Associação Juvenil de Ambiente e Aventura, was founded in 1996, in Avintes, Vila Nova de Gaia. It has more than 900 members, most of them youngsters. The main objectives of the organization are: to defend and preserve nature, to occupy young people's free time with sports activities, to make youth more sensitive to environmental problems, both rural and urban, and to encourage them to be active in this field. In the International field, we have been active since 2002, and we have already participated in more than 100 Erasmus+ and EVS/ESC projects (be it Exchanges, Seminars and Volunteering Projects). Our activities are dedicated not only to members of the organization, but also to the local community. In our organization dynamic, many activities are carried out in Schools, promoting Environmental Education and the practice of Sports. Seasonally we carry out more outdoor activities, such as: canoeing, rock climbing, slide, paintball, hiking, etc. The monitoring of volunteers, the creation and promotion of activities, the management of projects and other issues related to international projects are already common practice among members of the organization. We have had success stories with the volunteers we received and where strong bonds of friendship are created that still persist today and some volunteers even chose to return to Portugal, after finishing their project and making their lives here. We are Members of the Board of FAJDP - Federação das Associações Juvenis do Distrito do Porto (President Marco Santos is from Onda Verde), of CPADA - Confederação Portuguesa das Associações de Defesa do Ambiente, of FNAJ - Federação Nacional das Associações Juvenis, of FABP - Federação dos Arqueiros e Besteiros de Portugal, of FCMP - Federação de Campismo e Montanhismo de Portugal and of FPCUB - Federação Portuguesa de Cicloturismo e Utilizadores de Bicicleta, among others.