After almost a year of preparation, the Climate Change Train Project: Greece-Turkey 2010, finally came to fruition on the 17th of September. Lasting 6 days it will certainly remain – at least for all of those who participated – the greatest achievements of Challenge Europe and a great example of Climate Advocates' determination, devotion and cooperation.

The project idea was born in Thessaloniki inspired by the railway connection between Northern Greece and Istanbul. The idea was simple and the symbolism grand: gather a group of Greek and Turkish Climate Advocates to travel from Thessaloniki to Istanbul by train engaging with local communities along the way to show that climate change crosses borders, and that to prevent it, people and countries need to join forces and work together.

The project idea was welcomed by the Greek Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks and the Hellenic Railway Organisation who fully embraced the initiative and were a great help to the Advocates gaining necessary permissions for the trip. One of the Ministry officials commented: “it is exciting to see young people using platforms like this to highlight the importance of cooperation on global issues that affect us all. This is an inspiring initiative that we are happy to support”. More partners became eager to join up: the Prefecture of Evros, in Northern Greece, lead by the Prefect himself, offered ample support to the Alexandroupoli end of the journey, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and many more. The logo of the project was created by Greek artist Nikos Kokkalis, friend of the Advocates who was delighted to get involved.

The core team of Climate Advocates that collaborated for this project were Christina Kontaxi from Thessaloniki, Antigoni Mixafenti from Karditsa, Katerina Lygkoni from Athens, and Dimitris Riggas and Eleni Christopoulou from Corfu. They were joined by two of the new advocates, Litsa Makri and George Chakiris, and on Friday 17 September, they set out on their train journey to meet the Turkish Climate Advocates Berrak Kanbir, Semra Sacici, Tuba Yağmur Güçerdem, Hasan Türk, Esra Çimen, Işın Ünver, Büke Çuhadar, Ali Selim Aytuna and Eyüp Kızılçay in Istanbul.

Please follow this link to read the travel journal of 2 of the Advocates on the journey.