Digital Competences for Green Impact - La Palma (Spain)

We at Young Effect just got back from an Adult Education program the Canary Islands, where we teamed up with Asociación Gaia Tasiri. We were there as part of the Erasmus+ Adult Education framework, diving deep into the project "Digital Competences for Green Impact." It is one thing to read about the European Union’s twin green and digital transitions on a laptop in an office, but seeing how digital innovation can actually protect local ecosystems on the ground changes everything.

From the moment we arrived, our hosts Numa and Sole welcomed us into an educational model they’ve been perfecting for years. Their assotiation, Gaia Tasiri focuses on deep, long-term impact. Since 2017, they have trained over 35 adults and young people with fewer opportunities in immersive programs lasting more than six months (volunteering programs and European Solidarity Corps among other projects) 

Our days were spent out in the field on the beautiful island of La Palma, getting our hands dirty and learning directly from the local environment. We studied syntropic ecosystems firsthand, exploring how diverse, natural layers work together to regenerate the soil, and we got to know the island's unique endemic species and plants. Visiting the local agricultural school and embedding ourselves in La Palma’s close-knit community life showed us how deeply connected these people are to their land, and how vital it is to preserve it.

But a huge part of our experience was bridging this boots-on-the-ground teamwork with modern technology. As Young Effect, we had some intense group debates about the power of connections through digital tools like social media and websites. Let’s face it: if you want your environmental projects to actually scale and reach everyone nowadays, taking technology into account isn't optional, it's mandatory.

We also discussed using data-driven tracking and predictive models for climate adaptation, which naturally led us into the argument: "AI: yes or no?" We didn't shy away from the hard facts. AI and massive server farms pollute immensely and consume staggering amounts of energy. The real takeaway from our debate was that since technology is here to stay, we need to master it responsibly to maximize our green impact rather than avoiding it.

Between learning about sustainable ecosystems from Numa and experiencing the inclusive community work with Sole, we left La Palma with a real, human understanding of how digital competence and environmental action must coexist to change communities for the better.

Project Context: Erasmus+ Adult Education 

Name of the Project: Digital Competences for Green Impact

Host Partner: Asociación Gaia Tasiri 

Core Topics Met: Digital transformation, community outreach, local biodiversity/endemic species, data-driven climate tracking (predictive models), the environmental ethics of tech/AI, and inclusion of vulnerable adult learners.