Article 8: EnviroMORE Festival (November 22 and 23, 2024)

The EnviroMORE Festival was more than just an event—it was a vibrant celebration of action, innovation, and hope for a greener future. The name "EnviroMORE" was carefully chosen to highlight (often overlooked, yet equally important) aspects of sustainability that go beyond the usual buzzwords like plastic and recycling. Over two exciting days, we brought this vision to life!

Hosted at the Goethe-Institut Cairo in November 22 and 23, the festival welcomed over 200 visitors to celebrate the incredible achievements of two impactful projects: Be2aty and Floating Forward.

Day 1 (Friday, 22 November 2024): Workshops, Panels, and Inspiration!

The day began with six dynamic workshops, each exploring various sustainability topics that sparked fresh ideas and energy. The workshops covered themes such as food waste, sustainable schools, finance and budgeting for beginners, and creative tinkering with waste materials.

The highlight of the day was a youth panel discussion featuring our inspiring participant Azza Mohamed, who presented her project, “Rebloom”—a sustainable sanitary pad made from cotton and bamboo leaves. Alongside her, Ahmed Makboul from the Floating Forward project shared his experiences. Together, they discussed their journeys in environmental action and the challenges they faced with their projects. Their empowering stories left the audience feeling inspired and hopeful for the future of environmental activism.

Meanwhile, the exhibition space was filled with excitement as 14 participant projects—seven from Be2aty and seven from Floating Forward—took the spotlight. Although only a few examples of 31 other inspiring project ideas, each project demonstrated the creativity, passion, and potential of the participants behind it. This, in turn, left everyone excited for what’s to come.
As the day came to an end, attendees grabbed popcorn and enjoyed a fun and thought-provoking movie screening, wrapping up the first day on a positive note.

Day 2 (Saturday, 23 November 2024): Celebrating the Participants

The second day shifted the focus to the inspiring participants from Be2aty and Floating Forward. It began with a World Café session, designed to encourage participants to share insights from the past year and network with peers from the other project. This session fostered connections and mutual learning. Afterwards, we hosted a hands-on segmentation and pricing session to support participants with practical tools to advance their projects.

The festival concluded with a heartwarming closing ceremony to celebrate the achievements of both projects to date. The room was filled with pride and joy as partners, teachers, and participants marked their accomplishments together, surrounded by friends, family, and supporters.