We've had a turbulent year. But I just don't feel like writing in detail how shitty this year was... each one knows his own unique "highlight" this year.
It was also turbulent for us and we did not make as much progress on a number of important points as we would have liked. We had to cancel a campaign with which we were registered on Betterplace and which had already been prepared, because of a new law which mainly affects grassroots initiatives like ours. Since financial support has also been largely absent so far, there is still a lack of funds to run YLP full-time without living in self-imposed poverty as before (who still wants to make a difference is cordially invited). Nor have we been able to find more helpers to help us make the world a better place for all of us. Production of the videos is also currently stagnating, as most of the time has gone into the expansion of social media channels, the development of themes and the website as well as the blog.
However, there were not few successes for YLP itself, and this was due to the sparse population: -) This year we managed to preserve a very large and for biodiversity important wild bee aggregation (similar to a colony but without bee colonies) in cooperation with the Lower and Upper Nature Conservation Agency of Berlin. For our work on the "Simply Explained"topics and videos, we are the winners of the dm Honorary Prize, which was also awarded by the German UNESCO Commission, the NABU and the German Child Protection Association, among others. A variety of topics (e. g. public welfare, whistleblowers and forests) have been added or elaborated and our blog has undergone a fundamental revision and expansion. Also this year I could fall back on dear people who know a lot more about websites than I do... they do it professionally. So it came that I got a lot of support to prepare the pages for social media channels and to make minor beauty corrections. Thanks to the diligent helpers who did this for free.
What about next year? We want to further improve the topics and their clarity. In order to be able to live from something, we want to offer WorkShops on our topics... but later more if there is also concrete information and not only wishes: -) The SEO, i. e. search engine optimization, is very big on the plan in 2017. and, and, and, and...
What remains for us at the end of 2016 is to thank you for your loyalty, for encouragement, for your thanks and criticism, for giving strength and constructive words. For the feeling that the YLP does exactly what it is supposed to do. Have a great celebration, slide well but not literally into the new year and may the coming year be a year of peace for all of us.
Best wishes for the year 2017 to you
Nic and Kathrin
Translated with: https://www.deepl.com/translator