NATURAL CONNECTION
26 AUGUST TO 03 SEPTEMBER
Our youth exchange Natural Connection brought together young people to rediscover the bond between humans and the natural world. Set in a serene environment surrounded by woods, this project aimed to enhance physical and mental well-being through a deeper connection with nature while fostering sustainable behaviors.
BERGOLO, ITALY 2024
During this exchange, we shared experiences, rethought our relationship with nature, reflected on the duality of humans and the environment, and explored unconventional solutions to environmental challenges.
Discover more details about the project here.
FEEDBACKS
FEEDBACKS
As the days go by my heart is even fuller with gratitude about the days spent in Bergolo, thanks to @smokinya_foundation and @parcoculturalealtalanga for the opportunity to attend the YE Natural Connection. but mostly to @sil.in.the.forest for this universal meeting of souls, for this alignment with our hearts. Grateful to @444_dimitri for sharing this experience together 🥭🌞 I am filled with love and inspiration thanks to the magic of this place and all the people I was moved by.
Grateful to the winds for carrying me to the places that make me feel whole 🌬️🌚🌻
-Ellie Cholakova
Tremendously thankful for this experience.
Looking to the horizon through the valley Bormida and Uzzola, being in silence, grounding barefoot, harvesting leaves have been how I met nature in the purest and more honest self I've ever seen so far. It was such an enriching week that filled me with new insights and interests. Thank you my friend @sil.in.the.forest for being such an inspiration to me, and thank you to all people that took part in it 🙏
-Ana Cobano
In August, I participated in a Youth Exchange program in Bergolo, Italy—a small village in northern Italy that taught me the importance of slowing down and living life disconnected from the digital world but more connected to the people around me. Despite having no expectations and this being my first experience of this kind, I felt genuinely welcomed by the team and all the participants, making the experience even more meaningful.
-Lara Marques
In the last days of August I participated in the Natural Connection youth exchange program. I had come back to Italy from the Amazon Rainforest for two months and I really needed a place and a time for myself to connect with the nature of my country. This is what the program gave to me: not only the experience of nature, but doing it in an international community. I felt so much in a comfortable zone that I opened myself up to strangers, even showing my most fragile sides. I was so happy to share with them my vision and my knowledge about plants. The program taught me that many young Europeans face similar situations in their everyday life, and that it is much easier to get deeply in touch with people if immersed in nature. I also liked a lot the interactions between the locals of Bergolo - the little town in which the project was held - and the participants (young people from Spain, Greece, Portugal, Czech Republic, Italy, Bulgaria and Ukraine). I am very grateful to all the organizers and to the Parco Culturale Alta Langa.
-Lorenzo Camerini
CHECK THE REST OF THE PICTURES HERE.
PARCO CULTURALE ALTA LANGA
In the heart of Cuneo's Bormida Valley, Parco Culturale Alta Langa spreads and promotes the knowledge of the territory in all aspects: from history to literature, from architecture to food and wine, to sustainable practices and systemic development of the area.
The association aims to counter the growing marginality of the villages and communities of the Alta Langa, creating events, experiences, mobility and volunteering programs, favoring co-working and sharing, in order to encourage tourism and promoting training activities related to the territory.
