With the project “Discover EU Fields, we want to promote the civic commitment of young people with fewer opportunities followed by “Parcours Le Monde – Grand Est” on the theme of rural development and promotion. More and more of the young people we follow ask for an access to experiences like the ones of volunteering and European mobility ; and feel the need of a simpler way of living in a ever-changing world. 
This project has numerous objectives :
– making possible and easier for disadvantaged young people to take part in international mobility projects, especially for those who think that they do not have access to these types of experiences;
– promoting the exchange of good practices between European countries on the field of rural areas development as well as promoting the volunteering as an effective tool for positive changes;
– allowing young people to gain cross-functional skills, know-how and soft-skills;
– conveying values such as respect, tolerance, active citizenship and the feel of European belonging;
– promoting the intercultural exchange and the positive valorization of “diversity” notion;
– revealing the need of young people to durably engage in solidarity actions;
– provoking changes, raising awareness and empowering young people.
We foresee as expected impacts for young people, that they will gain self-confidence and adaptability and will experience what is to be committed. Moreover, they will gain new skills and know-how that will push them to find a job or to get back to school or training. Lastly, thanks to volunteering activities, young people will feel more involved in society, they will increase their participation and they will turn into active citizens able to act in concrete ways in the field of solidarity.
Activities
The project “Discover EU Fields” means to implement 6 activities : 4 volunteering activities involving 20 young people with fewer opportunities, who will then be able to benefit from an experience of international mobility ; and 2 Advance Planning Visits, enabling a member of “Parcours Le Monde – Grand Est to visit the place where the activities will take place.
This project will benefit young people with fewer opportunities followed by our organisation. They are facing difficulties in their daily life and in finding a job because of their geographical origins, family difficulties, economical difficulties, lack of qualifications, discriminations.
The first activity will take place in Romania, within the organisation “Curba de Cultura”, where 6 volunteers will get involved in organising cultural and linguistics workshops with children and young people from the surrounding villages.
The second activity will take place in Norway, within the “Bremanger Kommune”, where 4 young people will get involved in activities to raise awareness about the ecosystem protection and participate in activities for the development and promotion of the local rural territory with children and publics at disadvantage.
The third activity will take place in Croatia, within the organisation “Suncokret”, where 6 young people will participate in artistic, manual and sports activities organised for the marginalised young children and teenagers from the village.
The fourth activity will take place in Italy, within the organisation “Euro Sud”, where 4 young people will be involved in intercultural activities in a youth centre welcoming different types of public : disadvantaged young people, refugees, inhabitants from rural areas, homeless people, foreign students, etc.
Project management
Being the coordinating and sending organization, “Parcours le Monde – Grand Est” will manage the project “Discover EU Fields” in which 4 hosting organizations will take part : Curba de Cultura (Romania), Bremanger Kommune (Norway), Suncokret (Croatia) and EUROSUD (Italy).
All partners possess a sound experience in supporting young people with fewer opportunities and they will be able to enlist logistic and human means for the positive accomplishment of the mobility projects.
“Parcours le Monde – Grand Est” will mobilize her regional coordinator for the financial management of the project and the 2 projects managers for partnership management and the accompanying of young people during all stages of each project, individually and collectively. Partners will be responsible for welcoming, hosting and supporting volunteers during the mobility dates.
All partners engage to exchange the needed information by email, telephone and videoconference.
Updates between partners will be made at the arrival of each volunteer, at midterm and at the end of the mobility to point out the accomplishments, the difficulties and to evaluate the evolution of the volunteers as well as the work done by both organizations.
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My European Solidarity Corps
Mid May to Mid June
Hi. My name is Inès and I’m from France. I’m here for a short-term European Solidarity Corps with the association EUROSUD.
I arrived in Bari on the 14th of May. I didn’t know what to expect because that’s my first time in Italy.
After five days of self-isolation in my appartment in Triggiano (thanks Covid), I was free to discover the environment that would become my home for two months.
I learned about all the activities I could do here : work in a museum in Polignagno a mare, on a podcast, in a social restaurant, creating new activities, post on Instagram, developing a personal project… I was really excited about taking part in all that.
Then we put my schedule in place : I would be working two days a week in Associazione Divina Misericordia, in Triggiano (small town near Bari where Eurosud is settled), and three days a week in Pino Pascali Museum in Polignano a mare. On top of that I could take part in some activities like English lessons.
At the museum, I’m mainly translating booklets from English to French. But I have other ideas that I need to discuss with my supervisor, and I hope I will be able to put them in place. I also helped setting up an exhibition that month. That was really interesting because that’s the first time I’m working in a museum, and I had no idea that setting up an exhibition took so much work.
At the social restaurant, I’m helping with their social medias. There’s also another project there that involve creating an urban garden. I think it’s a really great idea and I hope I will be able to work on that in the following weeks.
That month, I also took part in a meeting in Bari for a European project called ‘Attracting Tomorrow’s Adults Today and Erasmus’ it included three French people, five Czech people and Eurosud. The main issued discussed during those few days was how to attract young people in small towns. It was interesting!
I also took part in a project aiming the reconnection between people and nature. We talked about what activities they could organise. Everyone had a lot of great ideas !
And during that time, I also discovered the region of Apulia. Like I said before, it’s my first time in Italy and I really didn’t know what I would find here. I had only some clichés in mind : pizza, Italians talking with hands and beautiful landscapes.
I can say that I’m not disappointed. With my roommate, we try to visit on weekends. And I had the chance to discover a lot during that month.
We went to Molfetta, Polignano a Mare and Monopoli. Three coastal cities not far away from Bari. I really enjoyed it : every street is charming and the nuance of blue in the sea is mesmerising.
We also went to Alberobello and Matera. Two very different cities but I liked them both so much. Both of them are designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and I understand why : Alberobello looks surreal with its Trulli and Matera is really impressive because of its location, its history and its caves.
I could not talk about me discovering Italy without talking about food. I tried several typical dishes and everything is so good that I don’t know how I’m going to survive without Foccacia or Panzerotti in France. Even though I miss my bread.
That first month was amazing because I discovered a lot of things and met new people. I’m looking forward to see what is waiting for me during my second month here !
Mid June to Mid July
In Italy time flies so quickly : I’m already at the end of my European Solidarity Corps.
I kept going two days in the social restaurant, to help preparing boxes of food and improving their social medias. Three days a week, I was going in the Fondazione Pino Pascali in Polignano. I translated explanations about exhibitions from English to French and I helped organizing workshops for kids. I learned a lot there!
We also took part in a project in Barletta. It was a project about entrepreneurship. We organized activities for the participants there and made sure that everything would go smoothly. It was a nice experience for me, and it pushed me out of my comfort zone.
I also continued to visit Italy and I must say that I visited a lot ! We went to Trani, Pompei, Foggia, Rome, Ostuni, and Lecce. I liked every city that I discovered there because every one of them has something worth seeing.
I could not be happier about my experience here. I came without expectations, but I learned a lot about new skills but also about Italian life and about myself. I know I will come back to share everything that I liked here with my loved ones.
