“Plastic is the new green” in Italy
“Social Integration”
Pignola, Italy
I participated in this project through the Greek NGO Praxisgreece located in Serres. The project was about the recycle and its importance for the protection of the environment but also about the participation and cooperation of young people from many countries and with different backgrounds in order to achieve some common aims like crafting items, developing workshops, making informative videos, and also speaking, discussing and cooperating with the local people of Pignola.
We had many different activities every day, all together or by forming groups of people randomly, or by nation or personal preference to a specific project. Some of those projects included recycling, informing the other national groups about the recycling and environmental policies of each group country, and playing smart learning games.
We also had the opportunity to visit the town of Muro Lucano, speak with the authorities of both Muro Lucano and Pignola, and also visit the beautiful archeological museum of Muro Lucano.
It was a great experience that has offered me the chance to meet, communicate and cooperate with many young people around Europe, make new friends, and discover different cultures. Through the course of the project, I acquired or improved many skills like multilingual competence (English and Italian), my social skills, my entrepreneurship skills like addressing problems, brainstorming, collecting and choosing data (data analisis), thinking of possible solutions, and last but not least the project offered me the opportunity to reflect on myself, my behavior, and my responsibility regarding the environment and also on my social relations and collaborations with other people with different opinions and perspectives about life.
I believe I have gained much from my application to this project because I improved myself in general, I learn new things and most importantly I gained experiences and memories that will accompany me for the rest of my life.
I would definitely recommend this kind of erasmus+ program to other young (or even older) people and I will be very excited if I will be given the opportunity to participate again in another young exchange erasmus+ project in the future.