It’s hard to describe the beauty of the past week, but once again, Erasmus+ has provided us with a unique opportunity to explore and get to know different cultures on a deeper level. From March 18th through the 22nd, a group of youth workers, experts, and young people from Turkey, Italy, Latvia and Spain gathered at Anceu Coliving, Galicia (Spain), to discover the beauty of rural life and the power of placemaking.
But what really is placemaking?
It turns out that placemaking is a people-centered approach to revitalizing public spaces so that they generate more connection and community. Rural Hackers has been doing this for years (maybe, without calling it placemaking!), and that’s why we were so lucky to have them as hosts.
After arriving and getting to know each other a bit with the help of the Rural Hackers team, we had the chance to meet Rosario, Mercedes, Sergio, Vanessa and others from the surrounding villages and ask them about the impact and importance of nature on their lives. These men and women are local influencers, maybe not whom we usually see on social media with thousands of followers, but real life people that are sustaining rural life and helping newcomers understand the importance of conservation and protecting what surrounds us.
Through the Pegadas do Recordo activity, we interviewed each and quietly listened as they shared their memories and we walked together down a forest path to a rock that symbolizes the place where three villages meet. We learned especially about the impact of the intense cultivation of eucalyptus trees on local native species and the depletion of water resources, and how local community associations are working to protect the natural heritage of Galicia and its beautiful forests.
Later that day, the youth worked on preparing a script and editing a short trailer to introduce what will later become a longer video from our conversations with our new friends. This video will be accessible through a QR code so that those walking through forest or village paths can discover the stories behind different local landmarks. A fascinating idea that many of us are looking forward to replicating in our home communities.
Leadership was the topic of the evening as one of our colleagues from Latvia, Santa, led us in a reflection exercise on what it means to be a good leader. In small groups, we came up with different ideas, but words that stood out for all of us include: flexibility, patience, active listening, building bridges to generate connection, leading by example, and even mystery! We closed by creatively sharing a quote that impacts us on the power of leadership through song, dance, and fun performances.
The power of the collective
We woke up the next morning to the sound of birds chirping and set off up the hill to carry out our next activity – Green Mission. Here, the challenge was to clean pathways that have been littered with trash and semi-abandoned, so that the community can use them once again. Dancing to the sound of music from our different cultures, we pulled on our gloves, opened up the trash bags and used garden tools to make the pathways accessible. Maybe the most impactful part of the morning was to see people from different ages and countries gathering together to do something that is seemingly simple, but can have a huge impact. In just a few hours, and thanks to collective effort, we were able to contribute to beautifying a public space that was once filled with rotting trash.
On our last full day together, we worked to prepare workshops that would later be delivered in the Fuchiquera event in the afternoon. Fuchiquera is a Galician word for “tinkering” and these types of activities are organized by Rural Hackers every month to offer local people and visitors the chance to exchange ideas and skills. From making souvenirs from melted bottle caps to a guided sensory mapping exercise, these workshops allowed the participants to interact with the local community and share their talent with others.
We closed the evening with a celebration “Entre Culturas” (Between cultures), a beautiful chance to prepare dishes from our different countries and share the meaning behind many of them. The spices and flavors from each of our recipes mixed together on our plates, while we also enjoyed listening to songs and experiencing dances and rituals that are meaningful to us.
Thanks to our lovely hosts – Ana, Nacho, Bartek, Agustín, África, Rosa and Sett (and many others!) – we were able to discover the true meaning of placemaking and the power of community. When an experience like this is built with so much love, compassion and kindness, the fruits of our interactions hopefully go beyond these four days. Our next step is to take all that we have learned and adapt and bring these ideas to life in our local communities. We are looking forward to sharing this journey with you!
The YRUX project is co-financed by Erasmus Plus through the Italian National Youth Agency and is possible thanks to the collaboration between Legambiente Trani (Italy), Pixie Academy (Türkiye), Creative Ideas (Latvia), Rural Hackers (Spain) and Espacio Geranios (Spain).
