“Waterfalls of sustainability” in Italy

”Waterfalls of sustainability”

Youth Exchange

9 to 17 August 2023

Pignola, Italy

It was a co-funded by EU, ERASMUS+ youth exchange project in what participated 14 young people from PRAXIS -Greece in Pignola (PZ) – ITALY from 9 to 17 August 2023. Ιt was a trilateral project with a group of Bulgarian artists, Italians and Greeks. The theme of the project is art and the environment. The title of the project is Title ”Waterfalls of sustainability”

The trip to Italy through Erasmus+ (and Praxis) was a great experience. Ιt gave me friends, knowledge, images, and many memories. During this trip, I came closer to nature and learned ways to protect the environment. In collaboration with the Greek group, but also with the Slovaks, Bulgarians, and Italians, we did activities that cultivated the ecological spirit and related to the recycling and reuse of recyclable materials.
During the program, I realized how important it is to protect the planet’s ecosystem, and I wondered if I was trying enough to contribute to it. At the end of the trip, we all applied the knowledge we gained about the protection and preservation of the ecosystem/environment, a fact that encouraged me to apply what I learned daily in my life.
Returning to Greece, I feel full and happy for what I experienced. I feel more active socially as I have learned to function with a collective spirit. Also, I adopted a philosophy according to which I respect the environment more and try to protect it every day, putting into practice what I learned. I am grateful for the opportunity I was given and for every moment I lived on this trip!

Nena Fwtiadou

This program proved to be a successful Partnership of people from different countries and with different cultures, which mainly concerned the interactive and progressively enhanced awareness of the Environment and its sustainability.
Through updates on current data, communication games, joint actions, interactions with the local population, under the guidance of the organizers, in the village of Pignola, a multicultural team with dynamics was created, with people from Greece, Italy, Slovakia and Bulgaria, which left its positive imprint and created ties with the villagers.
The marches to the waterfalls, the presentation of dances and traditions, the joint actions on the environment, the creation of events addressed to the local community, the musica partnerships and the presentation of our Choir, were all those ingredients that made this Program successful and everyone’s experience indelible.

Marinos Karpouzas

The youth exchange ”Waterfalls of sustainability” in Pignola, Italy was a unique experience and undoubtedly one of the best youth mobility programs I have participated in! Initially, the topic of the program was very interesting, given that our planet is plagued by various environmental problems and knowledge about ways to deal with them and protect the environment is beyond useful and imperative. However, the program did not stop at this.
At the same time, with the sessions we had the opportunity to attend the local festivals and explore southern Italy, getting a taste of the culture and civilization of this wonderful country. The picturesque streets, the exquisite architecture, the volcanic mountains and the endless blue of the Mediterranean create an enchanting setting that captivates every traveler and even more so every participant, who has the opportunity to explore these places together with 40 other young men and women from all over the Europe with interesting views, visions and a good mood for communication and fun.
For all these reasons, this ERASMUS project is a life experience for me and I would like to thank all those who worked for the program and gave us this unique opportunity.

Sofia Pykni

”Waterfalls of Sustainability” was my first chance of getting to know Erasmus+ programs at first hand and I have only good things to say about this new experience. Everything from meeting amazing people, exchanging knowledge about our cultural backgrounds to Italian food and accommodation was so new and exciting to me.
Moreover, I got to learn practical environmentally friendly practices through exploring the beautiful Potenza and Pignola and contributing to its green life (We even got to plant trees!).
This chance was the perfect opportunity for me to get away from my busy city and truly connect with others. I’m looking forward to applying for more Erasmus+ programs as I think that the informal and non-formal way of acquiring knowledge is so useful to understanding people and building communicational skills. Being a more introverted person throughout my entire life, I am so glad that I discovered and actually tried this whole new world of opportunities and community!!

Dimitra Kyrtsoglou

The project Waterfalls of sustainability was a fun 9 day full of expierince project .At first at 9 we arrived at the potenza where the greek group stayed for 2 days. Potenza its a very beuatifull place and i am very happy that i had that oppurtinity to see it. We stayed in a very clean and spacious rbnb equipped with sanitary items, the food was ok beacuse we ate every day an avereage pizza.
At Potenza we didn’t do any activities and it was kinda the days to know each other but it was very ralexing and beautifull days beacuse of the scenic and the Picturesqueness. After those 2 days we went to pignola where we stayed for 5 days. There we made lots of trips we went to some near villages to see tha bulgiarian and slovakian group dancing, we also one day went to a beautifull beach where we did some activities and played volleybal, and the last few days visited waterfalls , a pool and we planted a tree.
Overall it was a project full of places to see and full of expierineess and we learned so much about what other countries do for the sustainbility and how they recycle reuse how they are cleaning their countries and how its the right way to do it.

Dimitris Giaglis

About the activities the first day on 9 th of August the Greek team was at Potenza. There we had time to visit the town and meet one each other better. The next day on 10 th of August we met the other people from Slovakia and Bulgaria and the girls from Italy and focused on knowing one each other through interactive activities in a circle. Then Alexandra guided as to make 2 rows. The people who were sitting drew them who were standing up in front of them. The painters changed seat till the draw to be finished. The rest of the day we had lunch and time to visit Potenza at night and taste local wines at the wine festival.
During the third day we moved to Pignola a small village near Potenza, having activities about recycling, reuse, reduce on mixed groups at to get in touch with sustainability and meet the other participants’ better exchanging knowledge. On 12 th of August we had activities for sustainability and in the evening we were transferred to Moliterno where we attended at a folk dance festival.
On 13 th of August we visited Scalea beach where we had time for swimming and activities about sea turtles’ protection. The next day we visited the Savoia di Luciana where we attended again folk dancefestival of Bulgarian and Slovakian people and some Italian as well. On 15 th of August we had to prepare activities for the final event. We prepared a country song, had a protest catwalk about global fashion industries, dance activity and a game. We planted also a tree and presented our final activities towards people of Pignola.
The last day was spent at the pool near Pignola were we had our last moments greeting one each other and sharing our experience about the whole project.

Effie Siarava

My experience there was amazing and interesting, because not only I went on a trip to another country, (it was my first time that I go out of Greece) but also, I met new people, made new Greek friends, Bulgarian and Slovakian and we have done together common activities.
As for the project there were activities to get to know each other with the other countries and also one of my favorites was when we did research about a topic which was about the environment. Overall, it was a great experience and I would like to go on another project someday.

Kostas Arampatzis