O.A.ZA. Sustainable Development of the Community

The NGO O.A.ZA. was founded in 2012. with the goal of actively contributing to its local, but also a wider community. We want to raise youth awareness about sustainable development, encouraging them on personal growth and active participation in the local community. The main goal of O.A.ZA. is to help young people’s personal development for the greater benefit of local society and the world; this encompasses development in physical, psychological, economical and spiritual spheres. We want to help youth develop into holistic, well rounded adults who will be able to evolve into responsible individuals that can take over leadership and make positive contributions to the development of society. The type of leadership we want to inspire in young people is servant leadership, which requires leaders to cultivate humility and respect for others – according to this principle the leader is the caretaker of people. We are planning to accomplish the above-defined goals by exposing youths to various programs and experts in different fields and by filling their leisure time in constructive ways through exchanges, volunteering, and different forms of non-formal and informal learning. Specifically, we are “modeling” young minds trough a two - step approach: first, we are helping them develop a proper value system and become wholesome persons trough workshops, personal coaching and mentorship, and volunteering in activities of our organization. The second step is to empower them to address burning local and global issues trough four fields of activities: Personal Development; Ecology; Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Efficiency; Employment and Entrepreneurship. Apart from several elementary and high schools, some of the organizations with whom O.A.ZA. is cooperating are: • HZZ – Hrvatski zavod za zapošljavanje (Croatian Employment Service) • The Ministry of Entrepreneurship • The Ministry of Education • The Education Agency • The city of Zagreb and its offices for: Education, Energy and the Protection of the Environment • GIZ - Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit • EWEA – European Wind Energy Association • UNDP – United Nations Development Program • UN – United Nations • WHO- Worlds Health Organization • APYN – Alcohol Policy Youth Network • EEHYC – European Environment and Health Youth Coalition