Youth Exchange on Permaculture in Bozevce, Kosovo
22-30 August, 2024
We are inviting you to apply for a Youth Exchange on the topic of permaculture, which will take place between the 22nd and the 30th of August 2024 (22nd and 30th August are travel days), in the village of Boževce/Bozhevc, Kosovo, a remote spot in the hills of Eastern Kosovo.
This Youth Exchange will host 20 young adults from 4 countries: Serbia, Albania, Kosovo and Austria during 7 days to learn about and discover permaculture. The Youth Exchange will include theoretical and practical parts, sessions to share about our perspectives and question the challenges we face, and by living in a natural and calm environment, participants will immerse themselves in exploring permaculture ways of thinking.
WHY PERMACULTURE?
Permaculture is a set of principles and practices that aim at creating regenerative systems. It is a design approach for sustainable human-environmental systems, which is quite broad so everyone can find aspects that interest them in its framework. Most people hear about permaculture connected to gardening, but it is more than a land-based design and it can be practiced on an individual or collective level. Permaculture offers a great set of skills and solutions related to environmental and social issues that are present globally.
Discovering permaculture can support us:
- in finding solutions instead of being stuck with scary problems,
- inspire us to work with our communities,
- to do, and create changes.
During this project, we will explore how permaculture methods and practices can be used for regeneration in different contexts, how rural areas are becoming important spots for activism and how to integrate changes in our everyday actions.
What is this YE about?
The overall goal of the project is to create an experience for young people where they will learn skills and knowledge that will help them make a change in their lives. Participants will discover the basics of permaculture through exchanging and learning in a non-formal setting. They will be confronted to think about the issues that bother them and to incorporate permaculture thinking and solutions to these topics. Participants will shift the focus from issues to the solutions that permaculture can offer.
PROGRAM
During the 7 days you will learn about the basics of permaculture thinking and why it makes so much sense 🙂
There will be space for learning about and practicing various aspects of permaculture, and living as a group will also support your learning. During the intense program, there will also be open spaces, presentations, cultural exchanges and thematic evenings, where you will be invited to share your skills and interests.
Who can apply?
People from 18 to 30 years old (group leaders can be above 30yo too) living in Austria, Serbia, Albania or Kosovo. Applicants should be motivated to learn, exchange about environmental issues, activism and permaculture. It is expected that participants create some type of follow-up after the YE. It is important that you are able to participate for the whole period of 23rd – 29th August 2024 (travel days 22nd and 30th August).
VENUE & HOSTS
The Youth Exchange will take place in Boževce village, where GAIA is developing an educational program for permaculture and natural building. It is not reachable by public transportation, but there will be a meeting point in the town of Kamenica where you will be picked up. 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 accommodated in a house with shared rooms. If someone wishes to sleep in a tent or have more privacy, there is a camping site.
Food will be vegan with vegetarian options, mainly local products, healthy and super tasty. There are cold and hot showers ☺, compost toilets, plenty of trees and fields, and many animals such as dogs, cats, chickens, geese, goats and bees. Participants will support the daily tasks such as cleaning the common spaces, supporting the cooking team in breaks, etc. The village is situated in the Eastern part of Kosovo, close to Kamenica. There are around 40 people living there, no shop, no school nor a bar.
Please tell us in the application form if you have any specific food allergies or other needs related to your stay.
How to apply?
In order to apply, please fill out this application form. The deadline for applying is 5th July 2024! You will receive an answer by the latest 20th July 🙂
Contacts:
- GAIA: [email protected] / [email protected]
- SCI Austria: [email protected]
- VCV: [email protected] / [email protected]
- PPNEA: [email protected] / https://www.instagram.com/ppnea/?hl=en
The project is covering all costs of the program (including food, travel costs up to a maximum amount per country, accommodation and content) through a European project grant by Erasmus+.
In order to minimize the environmental footprint of the project, all participants will be encouraged to travel with environmentally friendly means of transport (train, bus). Travel expenses will be reimbursed according to the Erasmus+ distance calculator rules following this scheme:
10 – 99 km 23 EUR
100 – 499 km 180 EUR (for non-green travel) 210 EUR (for green travel)
500 – 1999 km 275 EUR (for non-green travel) 320 EUR (for green travel)
Given the reduced distance between partner countries and the project location, we strongly recommend green travels and avoiding flights by using bus, car sharing or bicycle.
