Background ISKCON Almvik is a non-profit organisation and a community founded 1994 and is situated on the countryside 60 km away from Stockholm, Sweden. There are approximately 40 adults and 30 children. The values shared by everyone in Almvik are that all beings are originally spiritual and the aim of human life is to realize our spiritual nature which is eternal, full of spiritual knowledge and spiritual happiness. We are stressing the three pillars of sustainability; economic, social and environmental and we also want to propagate these ideas in the society at large. Objectives of our project - To get a broad practical experience and learning about components in a sustainable future, living on the land. There is an increasing demand and market for locally grown ecological food . - The volunteers have learned to work with persons from different countries and they have acquired tools for, and have experience to, bridge cultural differences. Our social environment which is surcharged with tolerance and non-judgemental attitude towards gender, ethnicity, religious adherence, age, etc. have inspired the volunteers for international cooperation and will enhance intercultural awareness of the volunteers. - The participants have come out of their homes into a new situation and this has broaden their perspectives. Their self-esteem and self-empowerment and other key competences have grown. . Number and profiles of participants We had three participants at the ages 20, 21 and 28. One girl is from Turkey, one boy from Austria and one girl from Hungary. Description of activities - All activities has been in Almvik village, Södertälje kommun, Sweden, except the On-arrival-training and the Midterm Meeting which were in Stockholm and arranged by the Swedish Agency. - The volunteers were mainly engaged in different kind of farm work; with the cows and oxen, helping growing and selling vegetables, growing flowers, taking care of the fruit garden, picking fruits and berries. The first two participants, Julian and Rozsa, were also engaged in a special project decorating an entrance to our temple room. - There was an ongoing course in Swedish half an hour five days a week by a professional teacher in Swedish as Second Language. - All three volunteers participated in three workshops in vegetarian cooking, got dietary training, participated in different workshops such as Indian philosophy, archery, Conscious Communication and in traditional Hindu music, dance and chants. - There was a mentor for the volunteers who associated with them regularly, guided them throughout the whole stay in the village. The participants and the mentor together made a plan for the learning/activities and this was followed up throughout the whole period. Methodology Learning by doing. Vocational training and theoretical back-up. Interactive and student centered learning are important principles. We proceed from the individual and have long experience with people and learning. Results and impact - The participants got a positive view of a healthy way of living with much outdoor activities, a way of maintaining oneself through ecological growing and ultimately avoid unemployment and poverty. They have learned to work with different aspects of rural life such as milking and feeding cows, growing and selling vegetables, picking fruits and berries. - Two participants were improving their abilities in entrepreneurship, by completing the project with the decorating the temple entrance and making a power point presentation on the Hare Krishna movement in Sweden, which was shown on a meeting for 60 leaders in this movement in Florence, Italy in September 2015. - All three participants have had Swedish course 30 minutes, 5 days a week, and they have learned to communicate in basic Swedish, dialogue, reading and writing. - The Coordinating Organisation/Receiving Organisation has learned a lot in applying for grants and preparing for and receiving young people; engaging them in meaningful and learning experiences.. - The Sending Organisation has had an opportunity to improve their quality in sending a volunteer and receive a happy participant after the period. - There was a three full-pages article describing the situation of the volunteers in ALmvik in Länstidningen in Södertälje which has over 50000 readers. - Numerous guests visiting Almvik and have communicated with the volunteers. - One of the participants have moved to Sweden and has been employed within her profession and she will continue helping our community by decorating in her free time. Some of the co-workers in our community made friends with the participant from Austria and invited him to stay with them during the winter in India.