Programme: Erasmus+ Youth, Key Action 1: youth exchange
Veneu: Hopeland, Argos, Greece
Dats: 20—30 October 2021
National team size: Vojtěch Žák (GL), Marta Valuma, Jasmin Plazek, Stefan Kurzbauer, Kateřina Gončarová
Please read the info-pack and apply via this application form
Participating countries: Greece, Latvia, Italy, Bulgaria, Spain, Romania, Croatia, Czech Republic
Hosting organisation: Roes Cooperativa
Photos from the project: here.
Project article:
“Boomerang“ was an ERASMUS+ Youth exchange project in Greece that lasted from the 21th to the 29th of October 2021 and included participants from 8 countries: Croatia, Greece, Lithuania, Italy, Spain, Romania, Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
The purpose of the project was to raise the employability of participants and make them change the perception of work from something that must be done just in order to earn money into something that can also bring them happiness and fulfilment.
Accommodation was placed in Hopeland/Elpidohori on the Peloponnese peninsula. This location supported a sustainable, green, as well as meat, alcohol, and drug free lifestyle. This atmosphere allowed for a deep connection between participants and a real community feeling as well as shifted all of their attention from outside world stressors to the activities and games held. Beautiful surroundings and plenty of opportunities for work/exercise/enjoy in the nature gave the participants a break from the fast tempo city life and refilled them with energy, good vibes and hope for the future.
A lot was learned as we got to participate in many educational games as well as experience making our own educational games in teams and trying them out with all 40 participants. Some of these games will be disseminated in all 8 countries and thus share part of the knowledge we gained through this project on the local community level.
The facilitators were very warm, approachable and competent, and made sure everyone was getting the most from the project by frequently asking participants what they would like to additionally learn or focus on in the following days. The dynamics of the project allowed for a lot of bonding moments between the participants as well as a lot of self-reflection and introspection aiding the participants’ personal growth and working skills for taking on future challenges in the work field.
We are very happy we got the chance to throw the boomerang, and even happier to have been able to catch it!
Project report:
Can you catch the Boomerang?
For “Boomerang” 40 people from 8 different European nations gathered in Greece to increase their employability by learning about their own strengths and weaknesses and discovering their goals in life.
As a part of this Group, we arrived in Hopeland on the 20th of October 2021. Hopeland is a magical place in the middle of nowhere on the peninsula Peloponnese.
Between olive trees and vineyards we found ourselves sleeping in mud houses and tipi tents. To become tough and enjoy the view of the beautiful night sky, we took cold showers outside.
The first few days we got to know each other and played games where we learned to adapt to different situations and requirements and trained our reflection skills.
One whole day we dedicated ourselves to an economic simulation where we paid each other for services or got grants from the “Government” for improving Hopeland. We also had to save money for our life goals(eg. having kids) and learned that you should always get insurance. After the simulation we developed our own educational games and implemented them during the project. One game for example focused on decision making and sent us on a journey through hopeland, where we were presented with moral dilemmas and ended up taking different paths depending on our answers. This taught us to trust our decisions and take our individual paths.
We are glad that we had the chance to participate in this exchange which was co-funded by the ErasmusPlus programme of the EU. During the project we threw the Boomerang. Now it is on us to catch it by implementing the learnings into our daily lives.
