Transparency
Our financial statements are filed annually with ANAF and are public. We show our activity report and contracts to anyone who asks.
About Asociația Grupul Verde · an NGO in Vrancea, Romania, since 2021
We started with one classroom and a stubborn idea.
The idea: a child in a small town in Vrancea deserves the same chances as one in Bucharest or any city in Europe. The projects with Fondation Orange, the UNESCO nomination and the youth-built living labs all started here.
- Vrancea · Romania
- Since 2021
- CIF 44109108
- UNESCO King Hamad ID 407
Our mission
Turning pixels into oxygen.
It sounds like a slogan. For us it is a daily method: we use technology — code, robots, AI, sensors — to reconnect young people with the natural world. A teenager who builds an air-quality sensor sees their town differently.
Free, for every child — whatever their postcode
Digital and green, never apart
Rooted in the community, not parachuted into it
The people behind the numbers
From children to grandparents.
Asociația Grupul Verde means workshops where generations work at the same table.
Children and adults at the same workbench
Digital for every generation
Technology reaches every village
The promise
Five years on, no child has ever paid a single leu to learn with us.
And that is exactly how it will stay. Funding comes from grants, partners and people who believe — never from the pockets of the families we serve.
Cost 0for every family — free, always
01 · What guides us
Four principles we don’t negotiate.
Accessibility
Technology should not be a privilege. Our materials remain open and free — in schools, online, for every family that cannot afford more.
Partnership
We work with local authorities and schools, not over their heads. Real partners show up in November too — not just for the press release in June.
Sustainability
Our real indicator is retention — how many young people come back — not how many events we ticked off. We count returns, not attendance.
02 · The journey · 2021 → today
Five years, told honestly.
- 2021
The first club
Asociația Grupul Verde is founded in Vrancea County. A handful of volunteers, one room, borrowed laptops. The first Scratch club for children aged 7–14. Online courses also begin for schools in 9 cities (Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Sibiu, Brașov, Baia Mare, Constanța, Timișoara, Arad and Oradea): by 2026, 1,600+ young people in 18+ schools. See the map.
- 2022
City Hall says yes
The local authority starts co-funding — a sign that the project belongs to the community, not just to us. The network of schools begins to grow.
- 2023
Robots, sensors & girls in tech
Marty robots and Arduino enter the classroom. TechWomen Empowerment Hub launches, aiming for 55% girls in every cohort.
- 2024
The flagship project
Digital Education & AI Training Hub, funded by Fondation Orange, becomes the largest cohort — 360+ beneficiaries. Young people move from courses to technology they build themselves.
- 2025
The town’s first hackathon
EduHack — the first local civic hackathon. Young people prototype solutions to real community problems. City Hall reviews a prototype.
- 2026 — today
UNESCO calls
The “Green Futures” application is officially nominated for the UNESCO King Hamad Prize (ID 407). GreenCode for Fairer Futures starts with WECF. Vision 2035 takes shape.
03 · The people · Team & volunteers
Behind every number, a person who stayed.
Coordinators, mentors, teachers and volunteers from Vrancea and beyond.
Founder & president
Partnerships, funding, Vision 2035
Programme coordinator
AI literacy, Marty robotics, living labs
Environment coordinator
BGCI, iNaturalist, Subcarpathian expeditions
Volunteer coordinator
560+ young people, 38+ schools, 11 localities
Frequently asked questions
Everything you want to know about us.
What is Asociația Grupul Verde?
Asociația Grupul Verde is an NGO from Vrancea, active since 2021. We offer free digital education (Code.org, robotics, AI literacy, youth-built technology) and environmental programmes (BGCI, iNaturalist) for children and young people. We have trained 560+ young people in 38+ schools across 11 localities in Vrancea.
How much does it cost to take part in Asociația Grupul Verde programmes?
Nothing. No child has ever paid to learn at Asociația Grupul Verde. All courses, equipment and certifications are free, funded by European grants (Fondation Orange, WECF, the local authority) and private donations.
Which international certifications can be earned?
Certificates of participation from Asociația Grupul Verde and, in Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps projects, Youthpass — the European document that records the skills gained in youth exchanges, volunteering and solidarity projects.
Who can take part in the programmes?
Children and young people from Vrancea aged 7 to 25, whatever their background. The programmes are free, with a focus on inclusion: 55% girls in tech cohorts and programmes in villages with limited internet access.
How can I support Asociația Grupul Verde?
Through a direct donation or by redirecting 3.5% of your income tax, volunteering as a coding mentor or nature guide, or an institutional partnership. Every contribution goes straight into the classroom.
What’s next
The next steps, for every age.
From 2027, the Green Innovation Hub launches seven initiatives, from babies to older people — brought to Vrancea from European models that have worked.
Green Innovation HubLaunching 2027Vrancea ReadyEuropean model: A digital twin of the locality.EnvironmentAll agesTechnology & AI→
Green Innovation HubLaunching 2027Nature RestoredEuropean model: Listen to the Forest — AI acoustic stations.EnvironmentTechnology & AI→
Green Innovation HubLaunching 2027Clean Energy for VillagesEuropean model: The thermal imaging walk.EnvironmentRural→
Green Innovation HubLaunching 2027Media & DemocracyEuropean model: Journalists in the classroom.CivicAll agesTechnology & AI→
Green Innovation HubLaunching 2027Second ChanceEuropean model: The production school.EducationYouth & genderTechnology & AI→
Green Innovation HubLaunching 2027Inclusion for Every ChildEuropean model: One-to-one mentoring, for a whole year.EducationRuralAll ages→
Green Innovation HubLaunching 2027First StepsEuropean model: The book suitcase for babies.EducationAll agesEnvironment→The Green Innovation Hub: methodology, selection criteria and the full portfolio.
This is who we are
Now you know us. Shall we work together?
Portfolio 2026–2027
What we build next, with young people.
About us is part of the 2026–2027 portfolio of Asociația Grupul Verde: 43 programme lines in which young people build technology for nature, protected species, climate and democracy, with partners from Romania and the EU through Horizon Europe, LIFE, Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps and CERV.
European Solidarity Corps
Obtaining the ESC Quality Label
Asociația Grupul Verde is preparing its application for the European Solidarity Corps Quality Label, so it can host and send volunteers.
Target programme: European Solidarity Corps
Linked to: For funders, Contact
Technology, AI and resilience
AI for local climate resilience
AI models trained by young people on local data (temperature, rainfall, soil) that tell a community what to prepare before a heatwave summer.
Target programme: Horizon Europe · Adaptation Mission
Linked to: Agentic AI, Vrancea Ready
Open science and research
European Researchers’ Night + Researchers at Schools
Researchers in classrooms and an open evening where young people show their prototypes: robots, sensors, apps for nature.
Target programme: Horizon Europe · MSCA
Linked to: R&D Hub — Research & Innovation, Young Innovators Incubator
Living labs for nature and climate
Soil living labs: Continental, Black Sea (Pontic) and Steppic regions
Three of Romania’s biogeographical regions, one protocol: young people measure soil moisture and carbon with sensors they build.
Target programme: Horizon Europe · Soil Mission
Linked to: Nature Restored, Sensors in Protected Areas
Democracy, memory and citizenship
Remembering democratic transitions (1989)
Interviews with witnesses of 1989, recorded and transcribed by pupils into an open digital archive, compared with other countries in the region.
Target programme: CERV · Creative Europe
Linked to: Civic and legal education, Media & Democracy
Erasmus+ and mobility
Youth project with the Republic of Moldova / Ukraine
Young people from three neighbouring countries build a digital tool together for a shared problem: water, energy or reliable information.
Target programme: Erasmus+ (EACEA)
Linked to: Youth, gender & activism, Media & Democracy