Transition Ecologique et Développement Durable des Associations

Associations can contribute to the requirement for social inclusion formulated in the Green Deal by supporting their audiences in strengthening their autonomy and cooperation which make possible to collectively face the consequences of climate change. To have effective action with the public, leaders and teams must be confident with the issues, the possibilities for action and the tools to implement to support their ecosystem. The project comes from a common observation by the partners of a growing demand for information and tools to foster an ecological transition. this demand is coming from the staff, beneficiaries, public and partners. A survey conducted by APES in 2018 revealed that 86% of associations want to take into account the environmental impacts of their activities, by improving their ecological practices (see the document here : http://apes-hdf.org/page-24-237-0.html#menu) - Nearly 50% believe that they lack knowledge on how to get things done. Around a third mention a lack of human and/or financial resources, skills and a lack of support to take action effectively .

To meet these needs, the TEDDA project proposes the creation of tools to raise awareness and to improve the capacities of associations to sustainably engage in their ecological transition in their activities and in terms of resources, energy, waste, purchasing and sustainable mobility. These associations will become ambassadors for ecology to their beneficiaries, who are the final targets of this project. The operational objectives of the TEDDA project are the followings: - To raise awareness and to acculturate the staff of the targeted associations to environmental challenges and the ecological emergency; - To promote changes in sustainable and eco-responsible practices in associations (saving resources, reducing waste and energy consumption, opting for choices in purchases, food and sustainable mobility policies, etc.); - To improve the skills of participants in order for them to be able to mobilize their public and partners in awareness-raising actions and eco-citizen practices; - To raise visibility of European actions in favor of the ecological transition.

Our activities aim to support employees and volunteers of small and medium-sized associations in leading sustainable changes in practices in their structures. Phase 1: Identify, analyze and model reference frameworks to strengthen the commitment of associations in eco-responsible change from December 2021 to July 2023 (use of project communication tools; share of stories and experiences; implementation of a methodology to overcome the challenges of transition and the need for ecological reconversion , ...). Phase 2: Initiate changes in practices and the adoption of daily practices at organizational level from February 2022 to June 2023 (dissemination of a specific publication presenting the role models to associations, to national and European networks and decision-makers; evaluate the games and the training booklet in the 3 project contexts,...) Phase 3: Contribute to the integration of eco-responsible practices within associations networks and to a change in the outlook of decision-makers from June 2022 to the project's end (provision and facilitation for the appropriation of the project intellectual outputs ; encourage sharing of experiences from organizations which have experimented the tools and methods.

The project have produced several tangible as well as intangible results : - Production of educational materials useful to those involved in acculturating themselves to environmental and climate issues. - Production of tools promoting changes in practices and which encourage associations and stakeholders to actively engage in the ecological transition. - Website hosting the project tools and 20 articles and publications. - Awareness and/or improvement of knowledge of global warming and means of action. - Ability to estimate the carbon footprint of organisation's activities and to assess the collective efforts to be made to reduce it. - Increase in the skill development of association staff to initiate lasting changes in their professional activities (knowledge of good practices and access to a methodology). - Reach out to the key decision-makers at local, regional and national European levels, through dissemination events and the white paper. - Raise awareness of the citizens.