Back to nature!
Start date: Apr 1, 2016,
End date: Sep 30, 2016
PROJECT
FINISHED
The nine days multilateral youth exchange project aims to reinforce in young people the sense of belonging to their different origins, in order to revalue and strengthen their European identity based on mutual intercultural dialogues.Every European reality is a common value, full of traditions and culture and must become again the engine of wealth and wellbeing at all level, to be rediscovered by young people, in order to allow the societies to revive. In this light, Back to the nature! aims to create awareness on how to reconsider the sustainable development of a territory as an alternative to youth depopulation of the rural area towards more industrialized ones, by paying attention, recuperating and promoting popular traditions and habits, more natural, healthy and responsible life styles, simple, daily actions, "forgotten" arts and crafts. Therefore the requalification of popular roots and traditions will be then the trigger to enhance the promotion of new forms of youth traditional-related entrepreneurship at every European level.The young participants, coming from various European countries, different in culture, background, religion and language will cooperate in an intercultural context, sharing, presenting and exchanging their own experiences, as such expanding their knowledge and horizons.For the entire duration of the exchange, following the project spirit, the young participants will be accommodated in complete harmony with the territory and the community. They will experience as form of hospitality a countryhouse accommodation (Camp’Live!) which will positively contribute to raise their sense of adaptability to a natural and untouched environment.Recovering the principle of non-formal education, which is at the basis of the E+ Programme, the exchange offers to the participants a different approach to the territory, where the integration of expert and common knowledge, observation and the continuous exchange between youngster will be the main means of mutual understanding. As the whole project is intended as an open-air laboratory for the participants, the active participation, ongoing dialogues, meetings and intercultural, informal activities, with other young Europeans, will offer them the opportunity to arise their awareness on their European sense of belonging and to play a positive and active role in the recuperation of their traditional culture.During these open-air laboratories, youngster will get the chance to learn and share culinary, traditions, crafts, farming, manufacturing, in addition to the daily habits of the inhabitants. Daily moments of sharing and debriefing will be scheduled among the participants divided in groups, in order to enhancing an in-depth exchange of synergic knowledge between the non-formal education and the game (edu-playing). Apposite space and time will be initially devoted to ice-breaking, team and capacity building. Then, in order to harmonize the internal dynamics, laboratories and activation plays (energizer), it will be proposed to stimulate the use of other communication codes such as movement. Every night an intercultural dinner will be organized in turn by participants from the same nationality, where they will have the chance to share the typical food of their regions and the traditional habits and consumption, music and dance.At the end of the exchange, youngsters will have gained the necessary experience and collected enought information to share and draft together and present to the local community a Village Plan. It is intended as a partecipative, strategic scheme of analysis and proposals, outlining the added values, the critical issues, the strengths and challenges for the common, responsible and sustainable development of a territory and its community.