Eco Artisans. That’s us! 16 young volunteers here to learn and promote sustainable craftsmanship.

For 3 weeks we are going to work and live together. In the following, we would love to show you what our time here looks like.

The Journey started on Monday the 20th of May and since then we have been working to finish our goals: building a stage in the forest, constructing bug hotels, putting up signs for information and more. However, before we could start this adventure we had to clean the forest. Removing all the plants and leaves that were in our way, throwing away the thrash and leveling the ground for our future stage.

32 hands work very quickly, luckily we were never left alone. Pozitiva Samobor is the NGO organazing this project. With previous volunteering teams they’ve already built a firepit, an obstacle path and a wooden board game section. The aim is to introduce people to the forest in a playful way. Children and adults alike should be able to learn about our nature. The forest space we are preparing should help create more space for eco-educational workshops taking place in the future.

Once the forest was cleaned, we got to work. We started digging holes for the foundation of the stage and cut down small trees that were in the way. Meanwhile, we also started designing our bug hotels. 4 overall, each one representing one element. Additionally, our creative juices were flowing while we were painting different signs to put up in the forest. Since the space is expanding so quickly, we wanted to make sure that strangers will know their way around. Wood was cut, sanded and primed, the finished signs said “barbecue” or “Treeatre” – the lovely name of our stage.

When we were not busy with our tasks, we had time to enjoy ourselves. We played games in the garden, went for walks and explored the area around us. A treasure hunt through Samobor, a trip to Zagreb and a degustation of different wines and mustard are only a few fun activities we experienced here.

Living and working together has shaped us all. We got to meet new people, we made new friends and we learned about our different cultures. Every week we had an intercultural evening – we learned each others national dances, tried foreign sweets and snacks and got to know more about the countries from a personal experience.

To sum it up, this volunteering project was an awesome experience rich in learnings. We aquired so many skills. Not just in the forest but in the daily life here, too. We grew as individuals and drew experience from designing, painting, mentoring and living in a community. It’s simply a memorable experience.

Projekt je sufinancirala Europska unija iz programa Europske snage solidarnosti. Sadržaj objave isključiva je odgovornost Udruge za održivi razvoj Pozitiva Samobor te se ne može smatrati službenim stajalištem Europske Unije.