“Spreading the seed of change is a privilege and a responsibility that I feel grateful to be part of”.
These words, coming from one of the participants of the Translighthouses in-person training in Trento, fully summarize the goal not only of these three days, but also of the project as a whole, as well as of the action of Viraçao&Jangada in its daily action.
The creation of the Translighthouses Community is based on spreading the seed of change, on lighting a light, even a small one, in the minds of young people (but not only). This international community aims – through digital channels (a website and social media profiles) – to tell how different local communities apply Nature-Based Solutions in their territories, drawing different and numerous benefits.
The community in Trento
This is what happened from July 9th to 12th in Trento, where 25 people from all over Europe – the group that will be the cornerstone to bring into life the community – gathered for an in-person training at Villa Sant’Ignazio. This place was not randomly chosen, but rather was an integral part of the path, that is, to be open to others, just like Villa Sant’Ignazio in its daily actions at the service of those in fragile situations. The internal and external spaces of this amazing place up on the hill of Trento were transformed, for three days, into a hotbed of ideas, for a stimulating intercultural and intergenerational exchange (the youngest participant was 13 years old) between high school and university students, researchers and teachers.
Work in progress
The initial moment of the training was one of sharing: instructions for good cohabitation and expectations for the project path, in Trento and in the future. During the first day, after an initial exchange, the work began. First thing was a review of the key topics and tasks of the Translighthouses Community, already explored in depth in a series of weekly online webinars, between the months of May and July. Tasks will be writing and producing communication content on pilot cases, topics will be educommunication, articles, interviews, podcasts, photographs, videos and communication campaigns. Then, practice. The focus of the three days was in fact putting into practice what the participants learned and what will be the work of the territorial groups in the coming months. This was the program for the first and last day, to which were added a guided tour of the city of Trento and a final moment of discussion about the three days. In between, on Thursday, a study visit that allowed the 25 participants to touch and see first-hand close local projects relating to the issues addressed in their territories.
Urban agriculture
The representantes from Caceres, where the case study focuses on composting, and from Rome, with a pilot case with an urban area to be transformed through Nature-Based Solutions, moved to Rovereto to meet La Foresta and visit comun’Orto.
Representing La Foresta, an association with the headquarter in the train station of Rovereto, Sebastiano and Chiara first described the choice of the location through a process of rediscovery and valorization of a place of passage with its meaning. Then, they went into more detail about the numerous projects underway, including Comunità frizzante, focused on the production of soft drinks from fruit waste, perfectly in line with the activities of Caceres. The group then moved to comun’Orto, to listen to its history as a shared vegetable garden and discover its activities, aimed at the entire community and schools: an excellent example for the pilot case of Rome.
At school in nature
The large group from the Portuguese municipality of Barcelos moved to Val di Ledro, where they were able to get to know the “Scuola nel bosco” project. Before arriving at the base camp, where two educators and a dozen children from 6 to 10 years old were waiting for them, the group visited and experienced Ledro Land Art, an artistic journey started in 2012 by the Municipality of Ledro to enhance the territory through natural art. Ledro Land Art is located in a pine forest and includes about twenty art works that almost blend in with the surrounding landscape and with which teachers and students from Barcelos interacted, carrying out reflections and comparisons on their experience and their territory.
At the base camp, Daniel Iversen – educator and naturalist – explained to the group the pedagogical bases of the Scuola nel bosco. “We believe and feel that there is an increasing need for many families to review the educational contexts in which their children grow up.” According to Daniel, school models based on ideas that date back to the needs of the industrial era are, for many, now quite outdated but above all they do not respond to the growth needs of today’s children. “As pedagogists and educators we believe that for the little ones the forest, and more generally nature, is a particularly stimulating environment to take care of all the physical, emotional, psychological and relational growth needs that a child has.” Students and teachers were therefore able to gather ideas and suggestions from this type of informal education in contact with nature to take with them back to Portugal.
Renaturalization along the river
The Brussels and Strovolos teams instead took a guided tour along the banks of the Brenta river, in Levico Terme, led by Silvia Consiglio, of the Mountain Basins Service, and by forestry officer Pierre Galbiati. There, it was possible to observe two recent renaturalization interventions along the river: a ramp in natural boulders to replace the concrete and the creation of an area where the artificial structures were demolished and replaced in favor of new, more natural ones, with also the planting of local plant and tree species. Both moments of in-depth study were an interesting opportunity for reflection and discussion with sector experts for the two pilot cases, involved in the management of water in urban contexts.
New life and more inclusion for parks and protected areas
Finally, the groups of young people from the Portuguese municipality of Esterreja and the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores went to Arco, to the Arciducale park. The aim was to learn more about the choices of restoration and enhancement made in this historic space of important ecological value, together with architect Lara Zoccatelli. Both pilots, in fact, are engaged in the implementation of sustainable tourism development projects, leveraging the extraordinary natural heritage at their disposal.
Next steps
The in-person training was a kick-off for the activities of the Translighthouses Community, which in the coming months will be committed in creating videos, articles, podcasts and many other contents dedicated to the activities of the pilot cases, through the involvement of young people. And in doing so, to “spread the seed of change”.
Stay up to date on all its activities on the website and on the TRANS-lighthouses Community instagram profile.
“Spreading the seed of change is a privilege and a responsibility that I feel grateful to be part of”.
These words, coming from one of the participants of the Translighthouses in-person training in Trento, fully summarize the goal not only of these three days, but also of the project as a whole, as well as of the action of Viraçao&Jangada in its daily action.
The creation of the Translighthouses Community is based on spreading the seed of change, on lighting a light, even a small one, in the minds of young people (but not only). This international community aims – through digital channels (a website and social media profiles) – to tell how different local communities apply Nature-Based Solutions in their territories, drawing different and numerous benefits.
The community in Trento
This is what happened from July 9th to 12th in Trento, where 25 people from all over Europe – the group that will be the cornerstone to bring into life the community – gathered for an in-person training at Villa Sant’Ignazio. This place was not randomly chosen, but rather was an integral part of the path, that is, to be open to others, just like Villa Sant’Ignazio in its daily actions at the service of those in fragile situations. The internal and external spaces of this amazing place up on the hill of Trento were transformed, for three days, into a hotbed of ideas, for a stimulating intercultural and intergenerational exchange (the youngest participant was 13 years old) between high school and university students, researchers and teachers.
Work in progress
The initial moment of the training was one of sharing: instructions for good cohabitation and expectations for the project path, in Trento and in the future. During the first day, after an initial exchange, the work began. First thing was a review of the key topics and tasks of the Translighthouses Community, already explored in depth in a series of weekly online webinars, between the months of May and July. Tasks will be writing and producing communication content on pilot cases, topics will be educommunication, articles, interviews, podcasts, photographs, videos and communication campaigns. Then, practice. The focus of the three days was in fact putting into practice what the participants learned and what will be the work of the territorial groups in the coming months. This was the program for the first and last day, to which were added a guided tour of the city of Trento and a final moment of discussion about the three days. In between, on Thursday, a study visit that allowed the 25 participants to touch and see first-hand close local projects relating to the issues addressed in their territories.
Urban agriculture
The representantes from Caceres, where the case study focuses on composting, and from Rome, with a pilot case with an urban area to be transformed through Nature-Based Solutions, moved to Rovereto to meet La Foresta and visit comun’Orto.
Representing La Foresta, an association with the headquarter in the train station of Rovereto, Sebastiano and Chiara first described the choice of the location through a process of rediscovery and valorization of a place of passage with its meaning. Then, they went into more detail about the numerous projects underway, including Comunità frizzante, focused on the production of soft drinks from fruit waste, perfectly in line with the activities of Caceres. The group then moved to comun’Orto, to listen to its history as a shared vegetable garden and discover its activities, aimed at the entire community and schools: an excellent example for the pilot case of Rome.
At school in nature
The large group from the Portuguese municipality of Barcelos moved to Val di Ledro, where they were able to get to know the “Scuola nel bosco” project. Before arriving at the base camp, where two educators and a dozen children from 6 to 10 years old were waiting for them, the group visited and experienced Ledro Land Art, an artistic journey started in 2012 by the Municipality of Ledro to enhance the territory through natural art. Ledro Land Art is located in a pine forest and includes about twenty art works that almost blend in with the surrounding landscape and with which teachers and students from Barcelos interacted, carrying out reflections and comparisons on their experience and their territory.
At the base camp, Daniel Iversen – educator and naturalist – explained to the group the pedagogical bases of the Scuola nel bosco. “We believe and feel that there is an increasing need for many families to review the educational contexts in which their children grow up.” According to Daniel, school models based on ideas that date back to the needs of the industrial era are, for many, now quite outdated but above all they do not respond to the growth needs of today’s children. “As pedagogists and educators we believe that for the little ones the forest, and more generally nature, is a particularly stimulating environment to take care of all the physical, emotional, psychological and relational growth needs that a child has.” Students and teachers were therefore able to gather ideas and suggestions from this type of informal education in contact with nature to take with them back to Portugal.
Renaturalization along the river
The Brussels and Strovolos teams instead took a guided tour along the banks of the Brenta river, in Levico Terme, led by Silvia Consiglio, of the Mountain Basins Service, and by forestry officer Pierre Galbiati. There, it was possible to observe two recent renaturalization interventions along the river: a ramp in natural boulders to replace the concrete and the creation of an area where the artificial structures were demolished and replaced in favor of new, more natural ones, with also the planting of local plant and tree species. Both moments of in-depth study were an interesting opportunity for reflection and discussion with sector experts for the two pilot cases, involved in the management of water in urban contexts.
New life and more inclusion for parks and protected areas
Finally, the groups of young people from the Portuguese municipality of Esterreja and the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores went to Arco, to the Arciducale park. The aim was to learn more about the choices of restoration and enhancement made in this historic space of important ecological value, together with architect Lara Zoccatelli. Both pilots, in fact, are engaged in the implementation of sustainable tourism development projects, leveraging the extraordinary natural heritage at their disposal.
Next steps
The in-person training was a kick-off for the activities of the Translighthouses Community, which in the coming months will be committed in creating videos, articles, podcasts and many other contents dedicated to the activities of the pilot cases, through the involvement of young people. And in doing so, to “spread the seed of change”.
Stay up to date on all its activities on the website and on the TRANS-lighthouses Community instagram profile.
