Dreams of earth
Start date: Jun 1, 2015,
End date: Oct 31, 2016
PROJECT
FINISHED
Name of the project: DREAMS OF EARTH
The project takes place in Macerata, the general aim of the project is that of enforce, valorize and develop the voluntary service meant as motor of the sustainability.
Our EVS project will involve 4 volunteers coming from different countries (1 from Spain, 1 from France, 1 from Poland and 1 from Portugal), who will be inserted for 11 months, from September 2015 to August 2016, in the context of GRUCA´ work in the city of Macerata and its province. In detail, the volunteers involved working closely to GRUCA’s staff and they will have the opportunity to learn according with the methodology of the “learning by doing”.
The project is a chance to promote, to experience and to strengthen sustainable behaviour, active citizenship and alternative economic models which put human relations and an aware consumption as the basic principles of tomorrow's world.
The volunteer, according to his skills, helps GRUCA staff in the organization of seminary, workshops with childrens and disabled people and cultural events through non formal educational methods in the Ficana neighbourhood, one of the few examples of the ancient and traditional practice of building in earth or ‘cob’ in Italy. Ficana is an ancient village made of traditional earth buildings on the outskirts of the city of Macerata. Some houses are managed by GRUCA onlus: some of them are apartments for residential use used for EVS accommodation, the others are used like museum of the technical research and practical/professional training in the field of earth construction and associated traditional building methods. The volunteers helps the GRUCA staff to organize activities that promote the conservation of earth buildings in Macerata to encourage the revival of earth building techniques for repair of existing structures and new building construction and to investigate the potential of the material for low-energy, sustainable building. Volunteers will manage a bolg to promote their activities and the village of Ficana.
Also, the volunteers will organize environment lesson in mother tongue for the linguistic high school of Macerata. Finally they provide practical support volunteering some hours a week in the organization and management of an urban organic garden in Macerata, contributing to awareness-raising of concepts such as sustainability and food sovereignty which GRUCA onlus, in collaboration with other local organizations, is pursuing currently.
In all cases the volunteer will have the opportunity to develop his own personal project, contributing with their ideas and experiences to improve GRUCA activities. This project will grow proportionally throughout the months, during which, the volunteers will enjoy a language training to facilitate the communication inside and outside of the organization.