ERASMUS+, Key Action 1: training course
Dates: 9—20 December 2024
Venue: Sainte Eulalie en Royans, France
Please read the info-pack.
Participating countries: Czech Republic, Poland, France, Italy, Portugal, The Netherlands
Hosting organisation: La Rapugada
Project report:
The date was written December 8th 2024 when part of our Czech team met in a bus going from Czechia to France. After sixteen hours on a bus, our journey brought us to a beautiful village not too far from the Alps called Sainte-Eulalie-en-Royans, where a twelve-day project awaited us. The place was surrounded by mountains and beautiful nature. The project was hosted by a French association La Rapugada alongside Le Nousistan and its focus was on collective intelligence. There were participants from different countries – from Poland, France, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands and Czechia.
Throughout the training course, we delved into topics about collective intelligence, how to collaborate in a group, solve conflicts, make decisions together and more. We learnt through a lot of activities, texts and even games as well as by practical experiences.
One of my favourite parts were cultural dinners, each night different country prepared a dinner. We got to try Italian pasta, French crepes, Dutch stumpott and more. We also had the honor to prepare czech food for everyone, which we took with proper care (and spent about 6 hours in the kitchen) and it was more than worth it.
One of the days, we visited a local Christmas market at a communal farm, where we learnt about the farm. As part of the visit, we were asked to organize and facilitate activities for the market. Divided into groups, we created stations where we crafted Christmas decorations, sang carols, and engaged in conversations with visitors. There was a festive atmosphere and it was a fun evening.
For many of us, one of the peaks of the course came during the second to last day, when we had a workshop on “Theatre of the Oppressed”, led by one of our facilitators – Lily. It is a very powerful technique that consists of numerous activities and we did a couple. It focused on collective work and self-expression.
I think I came into this course expecting to learn a lot of theory and information and even though I would have liked that as well, I think I brought away something a bit different. While spending time with twenty people, making dinners together, preparing activities and talking with foreigners, that I knew a little more with each day. I think I had, at least for a moment, understood what collective intelligence means and how we can use it.
I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have participated in this course, for all the knowledge I gained, the amazing people I met, and the facilitators who made it all possible.
Maya
