What does the project in the rural area look like? If you ever wondered, Sara just came back from Dordogne in France. She took part in the training course “UNITY CANVAS: Collective Art for Wellness & Awareness” from 29.04 – 6.05.2024. This training gathered youth workers from Macedonia, Poland, Georgia and Finland. The workshops presented different approaches to design and facilitate intercultural and collective art creation for youth’s well-being and environmental awareness.

Sara mentioned three activities that were especially memorable for her.

“The activities were accomplished in groups of three, and each team had a participant from a different country. To me, that truly gave me enough space to get to know them, their culture, their working habits, and their ideas… It was all team work.”

First activity was showcasing the Hero’s journey. The participants had to be creative and present a song, poem, movie, sculpture, anything that in a creative way would present a main character who from a regular person becomes a hero.

“The group I was in, decided that we would write a poem. It was a mind tickling task, but I can say that I am very proud of how it turned out.”

Next project was upcycling. According to Sara, it was a genius way of creating something useful or new with materials we already have.

“My team decided that it would be such a fun idea to make a wooden hanger with pieces of wood, corks, paint, nails and a hammer (and music, of course). Not only did we create something very useful, but it was pretty, and we also filmed the process. I felt inspired to make an upcycling session in Macedonia in the near future, and also to work in teams.”

For the last 2 days of seminar, the participants had a final task to create a video with an important message.

“My team took our work really seriously, we were hard working, and even the breaks were used to finalise the video. The end result is, in my humble opinion, a masterpiece. It all came down to how much we cooperated and brainstormed, how much effort was dedicated to the work and our wish to have fun throughout the process.”

And what about the unusual location of the project, which was located, literally, in the middle of nowhere?

“The views were great! And since we were having our sessions on a ranch, we had many furry friends – more than 30 horses and the cutest pig.”