Ambassador of the Animals: Greening canteens for a better future

Imagine how amazing it would be if you came to school or work and all you could find to eat in the canteen were plants! Imagine if you didn't have to ask "Is this vegan?" almost on a daily basis, and if you didn't have to be surrounded by dead animals while eating.

This is exactly the goal of Dyrenes Alliance's latest project, Animal Ambassadorhas.

In this project, we focus on canteens in Denmark and help them become greener and more animal-friendly. We know that there are many young people out there who are passionate about making a difference for animals and the planet, and we want to make it as easy as possible for them to make the biggest possible difference. Therefore, we will start by holding workshops, mainly in secondary schools, both to spread knowledge about veganism and animal rights among young people, and to get in touch with students who are already on the vegan journey and would like to be part of our Animal Ambassador youth community. Here we work together for greener cafeterias and a better world. 💚 

The Animal Ambassador is launched

On January 25th, I was at Gefion gymnasium in central Copenhagen, where I held our very first workshop. And even though it was early in the morning, the students were very engaged. We had a lot of good debates and deep conversations, mainly about the ethics of eating animals, which many of the participants had never really considered before. And we could see that many, though not all, were very receptive to (and even agreed with) the message that a life without eating animals is not only possible, but also important and necessary. 

"A very good and interesting presentation that forced the students to actively relate to some of their own values, which is what we want in philosophy."

- Jon, philosophy teacher at Gefion gymnasium

The following week, the next workshop was held. This time the trip went to Roskilde Festival Højskole, and the approach was a bit different. The workshop focused more on activism and the different kinds of activities you can be involved in as an activist at Dyrenes Alliance. We talked a lot about animal rights, as that is the reason why we do activism, and everyone was on their feet and engaged right away in the activities we had prepared. We did spectrum lines, role plays and debates in small groups and the students found it both enjoyable and informative.

"I think the workshop was good and versatile, and that the students themselves were very much involved. I think they were sufficiently enlightened and provoked."

- Freja, teacher at Roskilde Festival Folk High School

We are so excited that our first two workshops have been such a success! It's truly amazing to see young people debating, and even coming to the conclusion that there might actually be a different and better way of living that doesn't involve killing animals.

We look forward to many more workshops to come!

You can also book a workshop here or read more about the Animal Ambassador here: