25th of September to 4th of October, 2023

WHEN? WHERE? WHO?

We are inviting you to apply for a Youth Exchange on Natural Building and Social Inclusion, which will take place between the 25th of September and 4th of October 2023 (arrival and departure date included), in the village of Bozevce, Kosovo.

This Youth Exchange will host 30 young adults from Serbia, Kosovo, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and Turkey for 8 days to learn and discover about Natural building and questioning social inclusion within this field and beyond.

WHAT IS THIS YOUTH EXCHANGE ABOUT?

It is all about getting your hands muddy, learning about different aspects and techniques of natural building, meeting new people and sharing spaces with a big group and questioning building standards through social inclusion to make it a more inclusive world.

During those 8 days you will learn about the basics of natural building and why it makes so much sense. There will be space for practising various techniques such as earthen plasters and sculptures, woodwork, adobe bricks, perfect conditions for muddiness!

Further, then practise there will also be a more theoretical insight into the safety basics of construction and principles of natural building. Natural building is, you will see, very intuitive and playful!

WHO CAN APPLY?

Partner organisations: Fine Art & Craft Club (Serbia), GAIA Kosovo, VUK (Croatia), ADP ZID (Montenegro), PVN Albania, Bugday (Turkey).

This means that participants of this youth exchange should be residents of those countries. Each organisation will select 4 participants and 1 group leader.

Age limit: between 18 and 30

No specific experience is required, you should just have an interest in Natural building and that’s all!

English will be the common language, but even if you do not know it very well, don’t worry. The others will support with translation.

HOW TO APPLY?

We are still looking for participant from Montenegro, Croatia and Serbia.

Fill in the application form no later than the 30th of August 2023. Selected participants will be informed about the selection results by the 4th of September 2023.

Here you can see pictures from the previous Youth Exchange which took place last spring: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.5136676966401871&type=3

ABOUT BOZEVCE AND A GAIA

The Youth Exchange will take place in Bozevce village, where GAIA has been developing an educational program for permaculture and natural building. The place is still under (natural) construction, thus it represents a good example of a place which is being built with the help of international and local volunteers, experts and friends. Participants will be in common rooms, whether on the estate or close by with all the basic facilities. Food will be vegan and vegetarian options, mainly local products, very healthy and super tasty. There are cold and hot showers ☺, composting toilets, plenty of trees and fields, and many animals such as dogs, cats, chickens, geese and bees.

The village is situated in the Eastern part of Kosovo, close to Kamenica. There are around 50 people living there, no shop, no school nor a bar, only forests and fields 🙂

TRAVEL AND COSTS

This project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the EU, which means that travel and participation costs are covered. Participants will have to keep all the tickets as they will be reimbursed after the activity. The tickets will be reimbursed up to a maximum amount that depends on the country where the travel starts. To be eligible as a participant, your country of departure and arrival have to be the same.

MAXIMUM REFUNDABLE AMOUNTS

20 € for participants from Kosovo
180 € for participants from Albania, Serbia and Montenegro
275 € for participants from Turkey and Croatia

If possible, travel should be done using green travel to reduce the project’s environmental footprint

ABOUT WaaMooM PROJECT

We Are All Made Out Of Mud (WaaMooM) is a 2-year long Erasmus+ Capacity building project which involves 10 organizations from the Western Balkan region (Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro) and program countries (Croatia, France, Slovenia, Turkey, Serbia). The main topic of the project is natural building (eco-building) as an innovative approach to social cohesion and inclusion, development and youth empowerment. The approach is based on natural building techniques and different ways for engagement and learning through this practice. It also combines youth work, volunteering aspects and already existing tools and methods for inclusion and development of skills, knowledge and attitudes.