How does Florence welcome creatives, trainers and youth workers?

This summer Florence is fully hospitable, sizzling and sustainable. :)

It’s been a real magic to visit Florence during a project Eco Toolbox – A Practical Approach to Sustainable Youth Work by a hosting organization ICSE & co in mid-July.

Team members of INAT Centre participated in a project with colleagues: youth workers and trainers from several European countries: Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey.

The organization ICSE & co was represented this time by incredible team members and facilitators: Janice, Elisabetta and Matteo.

ICSE & co is a non-profit that is involved since 2010 in project cooperation and planning in Italy and internationally. Their focus is in particular the youth sector and promotion of the international mobility opportunities for youth.

What did we learn?

The training was focused on providing sustainability solutions so as to increase the capacity of youth organizations which can adopt principles of environmental and social sustainability in their activities.

Activities included meetings with local organizations, handcraft activities and workshops.

All of us could see new faces of Italy, Florence and the Tuscany region that are not available to those who visit just like tourists.

We saw that the sustainability goes beyond ecological topics and that it can be also connected to the social, economical and cultural aspects.

Thus, youth workers had the chance to visit local communities where Italians gather: the youth still in education and young professionals.

We had the accommodation, meals and working sessions in a dormitory place that was the foundation of prominent Italian educator and philanthropist Don Bosco; just a walking distance from Florence city centre.

The outstanding Duomo and the historic city centre were close to us and we were excited to spend free time out and about; we would try out the best gelatto, pasta and other delicious Italian dishes.

We also meet fellow participants in an unconventional way: every country team organized the intercultural night with presentations of their city or country. The best part: food tasting and trying different beverages was included. :)

Despite incredibly warm weather all youth workers participated in activities to the full extent and with high morale.

Which stakeholders did we meet?

Likewise, we visited offices of our host organization – ISCE& co that is in the protected area of the UNESCO World Heritage. There we also met various stakeholders that tackle sustainability from different angles.

It’s been fascinating to hear about mechanisms which the local authorities in Florence implemented for the city where around 380k inhabitants live and around 3 million tourists visit every year.

We heard from ALIA employees about their waste management efforts in Florence and beyond. Also, they shared with us the creative campaigns on their social media channels that raise awareness about recycling and responsible waste management in the perception of citizens and tourists alike.

Some of us were fascinated as we got to know Italy beyond its historic sites and timeless art.

One afternoon we met the art gallery which curated the project BiblioVerdeArtePassi.

Together with local authorities they built a project where the up-and-coming Italian street artists were engaged. These street artists created several murals in the public and on the walls of social houses outside of touristic areas.

In the photos you can see how murals and art conveyed a message and became inspiration in those new neighborhoods.

On another day our delegation from 8 countries worked with LUMEN, a brilliant community, similar to co-working and co-living spaces in Serbia.

Still, what was interesting about LUMEN is that they created a sustainable venue outside of main touristic spots, but still very close to the city centre and accessible to all.

LUMEN can be an event venue, the workshop area, and the hot spot for young professionals and families to drop by after the working day.

It is also an open-air place with plenty of props where children from different cultures, languages and backgrounds play together during a summer camp. In the evening adults and kids will enjoy home-made Italian dishes and even some wooden toys that stimulate strategic thinking and discourage using mobile phones. :)

What did we create and what comes next?

As you can see from the photos, our group connected much better thanks to an entire day workshop with LUMEN. All of us built together a piece of furniture from the pieces that were given to us.

These chairs remain part of this sustainable working space and remind us to come back and build things more frequently. In the age where we can outsource and delegate what we do not know, it felt refreshing to learn something new and to be a beginner once again.

Even if being a beginner means this: using a drill, or painting and protecting the piece of furniture or waiting a bit for tools from another group. We had fewer resources in order to practice patience.

Speaking of new beginnings – we learned how to design projects with European donors, how to work with partners and how to improve writing outlines for international projects. During interactive activities and with the help of our trainers we learned how to implement sustainability in different segments of our projects and what it means to be sustainable beyond the ESG acronym.

Several workshops were dedicated to designing EU projects and understanding the Europass as a tool for building career competences, so we are excited to work in the future with colleagues that we met.

We stay connected and open for what comes next. Finally, we are incredibly grateful as we learned about other cultures and teams through this immersive experience.

Florence proved to be the perfect setting for new friendships, knowledge and creating both memories and the common European future.

Grazie mille. Ci vediamo a presto!