When people talk about climate change, the conversation often sounds huge, abstract, and far away from everyday life. Swamp Savers flipped that feeling completely.
In late summer, an international group of young people gathered in Cottbus, Germany for an Erasmus+ youth exchange focused on something surprisingly powerful: wetlands and peatlands, ecosystems that quietly do a lot of heavy lifting for nature. Over the course of the project, participants combined hands on environmental work with workshops on biodiversity, climate protection, and civic engagement, and left with more than photos and memories. They left with the sense that real change is built step by step, together.
Why Swamp Savers matters?
Wetlands and peatlands are often misunderstood landscapes, muddy, wild, and easy to ignore. But they play an important role in the natural balance of water and biodiversity, and they remind us that protecting the environment isn’t only about big technologies or distant policies.
That’s what made this project special. It didn’t just talk about sustainability. It let us practice it.
What we did on the ground?
Swamp Savers was the great mix of learning and doing. The practical part of the exchange brought everyone outside and into teamwork mode quickly. Activities included building and placing nesting shelters to support local wildlife, exploring composting and sustainable practices as everyday skills, and supporting wetland and peatland restoration work by helping nature recover its natural water balance.
There’s something genuinely uplifting about spending the day outdoors with people you met only recently, and by the end of it feeling like you’ve known them for much longer. The work was sometimes physically demanding, but the atmosphere stayed light, full of jokes, encouragement, and that quiet pride that shows up when a team gets things done.
Workshops that stayed practical
The learning sessions matched the spirit of the fieldwork: clear, engaging, and connected to real life. Participants explored biodiversity and why habitats matter, climate protection and the role of nature based solutions, civic and political engagement and how to communicate, participate, and support positive change in your community, plus team dynamics and intercultural cooperation.
Green travel: choosing the sustainable route
Sustainability didn’t start at the project location. It started with the way we traveled.
Our Croatian group organized the journey in line with green travel guidelines and chose an Interrail pass and bus as the most suitable and sustainable option. We departed from Zagreb Main Station on the 28th of August and arrived in Berlin on the morning of 30th of August. From Berlin, we continued to Cottbus the next day.
Traveling by train and bus wasn’t just a transport decision. It became part of the experience: time to connect, reflect, and watch the landscape change as we moved across Europe.
A small challenge on the way back, handled together
Not everything goes perfectly when you choose long distance train travel, and our return trip reminded us of that.
One station before Graz, the “train” group was asked to leave the train due to a rescue mission and directed to a replacement train. That train was already scheduled to arrive later and was then delayed even more. Although the crew had planned a one hour buffer in Graz, the delays meant they missed the last train to Zagreb that day.
With no Interrail days left and waiting overnight at the station not being a safe option, the crew solved the situation the best way they could. A friend picked them up by car in Zidani Most, Slovenia and drove back to the Croatian seaside.
Want to join a future project like this?
Erasmus+ projects like Swamp Savers are ideal for anyone who wants to learn through experience, meet people from across Europe, and be part of something that matters.
Sometimes, the best way to protect the future is to step outside and start building it, one day, one team, one action at a time.
Find more project pictures and stories by following our Instagram account: strive.hr