Greece
The occasion was the West Lesvos 2nd Annual Coordination Meeting, from 16 to 18 June 2025, when all the organisations involved in the Sublime project met to discuss the work done so far and all the next steps awaiting civil society organisations and local administrations involved in this complex undertaking.
Which one? The most important of all, because it affects everyone, everywhere: achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Starting from the key role that local communities play in this challenge.
If we talk about European cities and islands located along borders as “ambassadors” of sustainable lifestyles and climate action, with the very name SUBLIME, which stands for SDGs Uniting Border communities as Leaders of Inclusiveness, Mobilisation, and Empowerment, what better place than Lesbos to organise a meeting for discussion and planning?
The location on the island chosen for the meeting is Petra, which has been part of the municipality of West Lesbos since 2019, but has its own history and identity. In the beautiful conference room overlooking the sea, one need only look around to see the charm of an environment that speaks for itself.
The region is characterised by olive groves and low forests, mainly pine, but also oak, cypress and fruit trees. At the same time, the island faces significant impacts from climate change, from rising temperatures to more frequent extreme weather events, which exacerbate existing socio-economic vulnerabilities in a region that faces economic, political and social challenges on a daily basis. Lesbos has faced extreme heatwaves and forest fires in recent years.
No one is immune: extreme weather and climate-related disasters have a negative impact on the lives and livelihoods of Greeks on the island, including tourism and olive oil production, as well as refugees and asylum seekers in transit.
A project such as SUBLIME, which promotes active citizenship, offers educational experiences and encourages concrete actions for climate and gender justice, fostering appreciation of diversity and active citizenship, works precisely on community awareness. All phenomena are connected, and the only way out is to involve local communities. It is precisely from the “borders” that the situation appears all the more complex and clear.
The meeting reinforced the partners’ awareness that global challenges require a deeper understanding of the complexity of the United Nations 2030 Agenda and seizing the opportunities offered by climate transition and gender equality. By involving both citizens and policy makers, the project envisages change spreading from the local to the global level.
From Italy and Poland, Austria and Malta, Bulgaria and Romania, Slovenia and Hungary, welcomed by the extraordinary hospitality of Greece, it was possible to take stock of the knowledge acquired in the first year, deepening collaboration and planning high-impact campaigns for the second year, all immersed in the unique cultural and environmental richness of the island.
The work of the Eressos association on the island of Lesbos
Reflections on research, youth empowerment and the presentation of communication tools, as well as visits to local organisations working on sustainability and working on the Kamalé Youth Climate Project, which will see Sublime supporting activities involving young people from all over Europe, as well as setting the first SDG goal: Climate Action (Goal 13).
It is time to leave Lesbos, between the land and the sea. A border that is both a gateway and a sentinel of global change; a privileged observatory from which to understand how we inhabit an ecosystem where climate, social justice and migration are all interconnected challenges that can only be overcome by starting afresh with citizens and young people assisted by local administrations that must be supported in every way possible.