Theme: “Eco-Citizens: green actions for a world village” was a youth exchange that took place between 1st – 10th of August 2013 in Villa Torre, San Lazzaro, close to Ozzano Emilia, Bologna.

The project involved 24 youngsters coming from 4 different countries: Italy, Romania, France and Slovakia. The project “Eco-Citizens: green actions for a world village” was not seeking to make a step forward, but to step back. We rediscovered the beauty of  rural life, by following the harmony of nature.
We did all the activities through all kind of non formal learning. We used open space technologies, energizers, team building activities, role plays, and all kind of evaluation and reflection methods to increase the team building. We learned new things about different cultures, learned about the advantages of an eco-village, global warming, permaculture, recycling the garbage, about the importance of a solar panel and the most interesting was the experience of an eco-living. The main topics were based on: reducing energy use, creating sustainable local businesses, localizing farming and creating environmentally minded communities. We also visited the Dulcamara eco-village that is focused on producing and consuming locally, forging meaningful relationships and living as sustainably as possible. (Victoria Coseru)