Organizing The Workshop
This is our first training for youth workers within the erasmus+ framework. In the past we have organized several workshops about alternative, democratic education, agile learning, natural building and well-being in a wider sense. So we have experience in identifying what really matters for a training to be successful. What was missing, was familiarity with the procedures and platforms we had to use to make it happen.
Stagones Social Cooperative provided the legal frame to apply for this opportunity. It is a cooperative which was formed in 2019 after a small group of people had settled in this rural area on Evia island and had lived and worked together since 2011. These people have an holistic approach towards building, food production and education with the intention of “living lightly on Earth”.
The workshop development was accomplished by the Hara-Goe project/stagones, which is an educational, cultural and artistic hub that puts communication and human relations in the epicenter. We wanted to offer a space where the experience of living together could be as authentic as possible, but also give participants an in-depth overview of the four topics covered. We carefully planed the structure and the content and selected the facilitators accordingly.
In order to raise the chances for this training to meet our expectations, we started preparations a year in advance. Communication with the partner organizations, the facilitators and the participants, logistics and supplying the materials for the constructions are all time consuming and we didn’t want to rush (well, that was too much of an expectation…). After the workshop we continued working hard to frame and disseminate the learning outcome. And here we are!
Stella & Andreas
Members of the Stagones neighbourhood and initiators of the Hara-Goe project
Stella Vourneli
I was born in Thessaloniki where I studied Translation, Spanish Language and Latin American Culture and then Education for adults. I worked in a newspaper for almost a decade and in movie subtitling at the Thessaloniki Film Festival for 2 years.
For some years now I offer mentoring service to the participants of the European Solidarity Corps Volunteering Programme run by Stagones Social Cooperative. I support the participants in their personal development, provide information on practicalities, introduce them to the local community, share ideas and establish a close relationship based on trust and respect.
My partner and I co-funded the Hara-Goe project, which reflects our common ground, inspired by our personal need to create a friendly place where our creativity could be manifested. Music, alternative ways of acquiring knowledge and arts (jewelry making or crafts made with natural materials).
Moving to the countryside gave me the opportunity to develop my love for Mother Nature. I grew an organic herbal garden consisted of a variety of herbs, mostly medicinal, which I use to prepare homemade, natural remedies directed at nature lovers through Mariposa Natural.
Andreas Papachristou
I was born in Athens. As a kid and teenager i experienced a society without sense, organized in an ugly and self-destructive way. I thought seriously of quitting school and starting to travel. Instead i studied Sound-engineering in Düsseldorf, Germany, which combined my creative and technical interests. Returning to Greece i worked as a recording, mixing, and mastering engineer, technical supervisor, editor in chief, set up two music studios, taught mastering classes and wrote the book “About Music and Engineering”. Again, the way the business world was set up, didn’t satisfy my need for healthy perspectives, transparent relations and meaningful action.
Twelve years ago i dropped my career and city-life to live close to nature. Now i am feeling the need for a collective response to the accelerating events around and within us. Taking responsibility for one’s thoughts, emotions and actions is essential -but we can’t take all the burden individually. I consider all of us connected and i am looking forward to expand our collective understanding. Life often seems so much of a struggle, but in the first place, Life is a dance!
Would you be interested in joining forces to organize the Community Toolset Vol 2?
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