I am writing you this introductory thought while on a three-month stay in Split, Croatia. I could find myself in a diametrically opposed culture, one that is vastly different from the one in which I formed my personality. But why did I choose the similar over the different? In my mind, the form of society is something that can change, whereas nature remains constant. Where we, as humans, consciously eliminate its fundamentalism, inadvertently causing a reaction to our own degeneration.

I got this exclusive chance to volunteer for nature, through the program of European Solidarity Corps on a project entitled: “Environmental education and awareness raising activities” in the association SUNCE for nature, environment and sustainable development. To make my point clear, I must state that my formal education is based on the study of architecture. Accumulating all the aspects that create this construction art, in creating the personal idea, I missed the part of perceiving the need of nature for architecture. Because I am in the process of writing my master’s thesis, this approach to non-formal education will contribute to the formation of my subjective perceptions, views, perspectives.

I awaken my consciousness, I formulate my code of ethics for nature, I work on the idea of ​​grounding my own convictions, in the next step to affirm them, with a single goal, to convey my thought, to understand individuality as a stronger point than the entire circle of defined by society.

A new term permanently introduced in my memory is PERMACULTURE, a coinage of permanent agriculture, a principle-based on self-sustaining agricultural systems in relation to nature. It was a project called the School Botanical Garden of Mediterranean Herbs “Školski botanički vrt mediteranskog bilja“, where through the 12 principles of PERMACULTURE, involving the students in the very phases of the project, the garden was physically formed and a new horizon in educational access to nature was presented.

During this period of time, I received new alternative directions for new eco-habits, all with the goal of reducing my personal reliance on plastic and, as a result, to reduce my carbon footprint. There is nothing more powerful than conforming to your own beliefs. Now I understand how critical it is to take steps backwards, using the analysis process, in order to return to the point where we went in the wrong direction and choose a new, presumably better, path.

Angela Trajanova