ERASMUS+, Key Action 1: training course
Venue: Kolding, Denmark
Dates: 25 October—2 November 2023
National team: 2 participants
Please read the info-pack.
Hosting organisation: Food Reformers
Project report:
The Transformation Europe Lab training course took place from October 26th til November 2nd in a lovely harbour city of Kolding, Denmark. The hosting organisation called Food Reformers welcomed 24 participants in total, coming from Denmark, Germany, Italy, Estonia, Greece, Portugal, Turkey, Bulgaria, Spain and Czechia. The project’s objectives were to introduce tools necessary to help building communities through non-violent actions and promote social responsibility.
Regarding our accommodation, we stayed at a cozy Breakfast&Bed villa in double or triple rooms with participants from another country to deepen the international experience. Our breakfasts, lunches, dinners, coffee breaks and all the activities were held in a local community space nearby our accommodation (approx. 10 minutes’ walk by foot). The food was genuinely delicious, despite the surprising fact that most of it was the so-called “surplus food” (a food that was meant to be thrown away but is still perfectly fine to eat). There were a lot of vegan choices, such as a vegan meat, vegan ham, plant-based milk etc. but also the non-vegans’ wishes were met.
The activities were based on the concept of non-formal learning which means that we were learning via games, group discussions, seminars etc. It often included teamwork and since all of us were from different backgrounds, it did help us to grow. We needed to create effective and successful strategies, understand other people’s needs, get better at active listening, learn how to give and receive feedback and so on. Additionally, despite the project’s intensity, I did appreciate the balance between activities and free time. This project was great to broaden one’s soft skills which are truly necessary for the 21st century.
There was also a great emphasis on reflection, so as a result, we regularly reflected in small groups on what we had been doing during the day. As I later understood, it is an efficient way to remember more, and it also helped us understand what we had learned.
I would also like to add some information on the hosting organisation. Food Reformers and its volunteers are a group of amazing people from all around the world led by Marco from Brazil and Lorenzo from Italy. Their aim is to deal with food wasting which is an ambitious goal, since this is a huge problem globally. Each and everyone of them is genuinely nice, they helped us a lot and I cannot recommend them more.
Natálie
