This summer, Julien and Emilie Montoya, and their three children Paola, Elio and Luis, prepared to leave their home in France, to set off on a two-year journey across the Middle East and East Africa. Their aim? To discover the diverse range of local cultures, rich natural landscapes, and inspiring stories and initiatives of these regions’ citizens.
Fully equipped with an off-road vehicle and expedition trailer, the family are living self-sufficiently in terms of food and accommodation, planning also to use renewable energy sources to reduce their environmental footprint. Their adventure commences in the Middle East, before joining the African continent and travelling eastwards, where they will eventually arrive at their final destination – Cape Town, South Africa.
Along their route, they are stopping to visit environmental initiatives, aiming to highlight the inspiring local actors who are key levers of environmental, social and economic development in these regions. Among them, they are planning to visit UNESCO Green Citizens projects – a UNESCO initiative highlighting local citizen-led solutions to target climate change in their own regions across the world. All being well, they will visit Turkey, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Keep an eye on their journey to discover which UNESCO Green Citizens projects they will visit!
Through this journey, they hope to encourage open-mindedness, spirit, adventure, and to propel action. Above all, to raise their children’s awareness of the richness of our planet and open them up to different cultures and ways of thinking, with the hope that this experience will help them to become true citizens of the world.
