Roots and Routes – Walk and Run for Biodiversity, A collective experiment by EU Climate Pact Ambassadors

Roots and Routes – Walk and Run for Biodiversity, 

A collective experiment by EU Climate Pact Ambassadors

27th September 11h00 – 15h00, Kockelscheuer

 

What if we started rethinking the way we see Nature, even through the small actions of our daily lives? What if, instead of seeing Nature merely as an economic resource, a landscape, or a place for recreation, we began to recognise it as the same complex web of life of which we are part of?

Could learning to read and recognise Nature — its subtle signs, rhythms and interconnections — be a precondition for learning to live alongside it in a more sustainable way?

These some of the questions behind ‘Roots & Routes’, the Walk and Run for Biodiversity we are inviting you to join and actively support.

Here is some background. 

We are Simone and Tiziana, two EU Climate Pact Ambassadors of Luxembourg and part of a community of passionate volunteers working to create positive change in our society and communities in response to the ecological and climate crisis.

“Roots & Routes – Walk and Run for Biodiversity” is our way of responding to a growing need: finding new ways to reconcile our everyday lives with Nature and put this change in mindset into practice.

Too often, we simply live alongside Nature or use its resources without really noticing the living world around us. Roots & Routes invites us to turn our eyes to what surrounds us and reconnect with Nature with greater awareness, curiosity and understanding.

Our shared love for sport and Nature inspired us to create this event in Kockelscheuer, one of the important natural areas of our city. But we wanted to go beyond simply enjoying a beautiful landscape and having a healthy, active day together.

That is why Roots & Routes combines movement, community and experiential learning with opportunities to meet and learn from botanical, forestry and water experts, while also enjoying delicious and sustainable food prepared with care and scientific knowledge by our friends at Microtarians and MUSE.

Alongside a healthy run or walk together, participants can choose to explore the living world around us with experts and, for the youngest, through a biodiversity Bingo game: to give names, observe details, recognise species and discover the many forms of life that share this space with us.

Because perhaps learning the “words” of Nature — being able to name what we see, understand it and recognise its value — can be a first step towards greater awareness and, hopefully, more coherent action.

Roots & Routes is an invitation to start looking at Nature differently: not simply as something around us, but as something we are part of.

Perhaps, in the medium-long run this change in perspective can also change the way we act: becoming more responsible consumers, more conscious producers, and more engaged citizens. It can encourage us to question the choices we make, to ask more of the systems and organisations around us, and to contribute more actively to shaping the decisions that affect our common future.

But the event is also something else.

It is an on-the-ground test of what a sustainable sporting event could look like..

From anticipating key decisions during the planning phase, to exploring innovative food and waste solutions, designing effective and inclusive communication, and building partnership that are coherent with the purpose of the event, we are trying to challenge some of the usual routines and limitations of the system and demonstrate what a truly sustainable event could look like in practice.

This is why this event offers a first important on-the-ground experience and testing opportunity for the many young volunteers involved in the Erasmus+ project Allez l’Éco, becoming an essential learning experience within its training programme.

And this is why we are particularly glad and proud to have natur&ëmwelt as our main partner, together with the EU Climate Pact, and to bring together local actors who believe in sustainability as a whole — embracing the richness and diversity of our community.

The very word ecosystem comes from the Greek oikos, meaning “home”. Perhaps this reminds us that sustainability is ultimately about how we inhabit our shared home: recognising the dignity and value of all living beings, and paying particular attention to those who are most vulnerable and fragile.

We have chosen a location that allows participants and volunteers to reach the event by public transport, and we are actively encouraging them to do so in order to reduce the carbon footprint associated with travel.

We have also carefully selected partners who can provide catering based, as much as possible, on local supplies, while planning food requirements in advance so that the offer can respond as closely as possible to actual demand.

Our young volunteers will help ensure that food waste is minimised and that any remaining waste is properly sorted. We will also prioritise reusable materials and objects created through upcycling techniques.

It is a concrete opportunity to turn our values into action and explore, together, what a more sustainable sporting event can look like in practice. 

Responding to the ecological crisis is not only about knowing more. It is also about learning to transform the way we see what surrounds us, reconnecting with it and experimenting — together — with new ways of putting our values into practice. 

This is the journey we invite you to join: on the 27th at 11h00 at Kolcksheur.

Register now, connect with the EU Climate Pact Ambassadors community and be part of a real-life collective experiment.

— SImone & Tiziana
EU Climate Pact Ambassadors and co-creators of Roots & Routes