MOSAIC - The training kit for Euro-Mediterranean youth work

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find, the more interesting and useful the activity will be; therefore it may be worth
spending some time with them beforehand, so they know where and what to look for.
When you set the task of creating a collage, you do not need to give them too much
guidance on the exact theme: allow them to use their own research to decide how
they wish to go about designing it, and which messages they want to emphasise.
If you have the opportunity, you could invite a local expert on cosmetics and the
environment to speak to the group beforehand. This will give them more of an orientation,
and help to guide their researches.
Variations
Groups could be set the task of investigating different specific aspects. For example,
groups could focus on the plants used to manufacture cosmetics (such as jasmine);
the testing of cosmetics on animals; the chemical additives used in the manufacture
process; the human rights records of the companies involved; waste disposal; and the
loss of biodiversity.
If the research element is difficult, you can focus on the local history aspect and make
this an activity consisting mostly of interviews with older citizens, with the collages
representing the findings.
Ideas for action
Encourage participants to make a pledge to themselves about their behaviour as a
result of the activity. The pledges could be kept private (for example, written down
and kept private) or they could be made public and put up next to the collages.
If they did not look at human rights in their research, encourage them to follow up some
of the companies identified at the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre:
www.business-humanrights.org/Categories/Sectors/Consumerproductsretail/Cosmetics.
Suggestions for follow-up
Look at some other activities on the environment in this T-kit, for example No. 24
“Responsible tourists” or No. 14 “Mapping the globe”. The second of these activities
explores the connections between environmental issues and human rights.
Further information
Looking after ourselves is an important part of our everyday lives. Whatever our nationality
or place of residence, we all care about our health and appearance. This has been the case
for centuries. The Ebers Papyrus from ancient Egypt describes 700 medicines and 811
prescriptions that can be extracted from plants, animals and mineral resources. The diversity
of Euro-Mediterranean biology and geography offers both natural healing and beauty, but the
local knowledge required to make use of it is in danger of disappearing.
Local knowledge refers to the knowledge, know-how and practices that have been maintained,
developed and transferred (normally orally) by peoples who have had a long history of interaction
Natural beauty