🇸🇮 Erasmus+ Youth Exchange in Slovenia 🌸 Body Awareness, Menstrual Cycle, Nature Connection & Female Empowerment at Body as Our Garden 🌿

What does it mean to live in a female body? What beliefs, expectations, and prejudices shape how women relate to their bodies — and to nature? This youth exchange creates a safe, honest space to explore exactly that — through dance, creative art, nature walks, authentic sharing, and practices that restore and maintain physical and mental health.

Zavod Sobivanje ob gozdu is hosting Body as Our Garden: Tending Inner Seasons Together — an Erasmus+ Youth Exchange taking place in Apače, Slovenia, from 25 July to 3 August 2026. The exchange is open to young people aged 18 to 30 from Italy, Slovenia, Spain, and Portugal.

⚠️ This project is designed for people who identify as female. Apply only if the topic genuinely resonates with what you need and are searching for.

⚠️ The project has a clear policy of NO drugs or alcohol of any kind. Phone and technology use will be minimised to support deeper connection.

What Is This Exchange About?

The exchange invites participants on a journey of rediscovering what it means to live in a female body — questioning inherited beliefs about identity, gender roles, and the body, and exploring the cyclical nature of women and nature as a framework for self-understanding and healing. The programme is rooted in the conviction that our health, thinking, and actions are closely connected to the environment we live in.

You Are Invited On a Journey Of

🌱 Rediscovering what it means to live in a female body

🔍 Questioning beliefs about what and how you are supposed to be on this planet

🌀 Exploring cycles of the body and nature — the powers, tasks, and challenges of each season

💚 Engaging in practices that restore and maintain health of female reproductive organs

🫶 Tending to the parts of yourself that need nourishment

🗣️ Sharing your authentic self with others

🤝 Offering and receiving support within the community

Practices Used

💃 Dance and creative art — land art and altar making

👁️ Listening to the body — self-massage and bodily nurturing

🌙 Menstrual cycle awareness

🔵 Authentic sharings in a circle

🌿 Nature walks — nature as a mirror — and sustainable eating

🧘 Daily solo and group reflections

Aims

🤍 Offer a safe space to explore topics related to what it means to be a woman

💪 Empower young people and support them in developing a more accepting attitude towards women, the body, and nature

🌱 Support participants in transforming limiting beliefs and emotions developed from childhood around gender roles and the body

🏥 Share knowledge about ways to maintain physical and mental health through understanding of the cyclical nature of women

🌍 Increase understanding of the key role of nature in maintaining individual and collective wellbeing

The Team

👩 Andreja Kranjc — facilitator of workshops integrating sensing, playfulness, vitality, lovingness, eroticism, and healthy boundaries. Offers women's work, dance explorations, healing sound sessions, and individual mentorship.

👩 Neža Belak — psychologist, dancer, and woman who explores how movement, the body, and nature shape who we are and guide reconnection with ourselves, others, and the earth.

👤 You — participants are actively invited to co-create the experience and share their unique expression, passions, and fears.

Who Should Apply?

🔹 Age: 18 to 30 years old

🔹 From Italy, Slovenia, Spain, or Portugal

🔹 Interested in the nature of your body and women's cyclical wisdom

🔹 Open to new perspectives and willing to try new ways of being

🔹 Ready to go through possible challenging or uncomfortable moments

🔹 Willing to dive into deeper parts of yourself

The Venue — Apače, Slovenia

A peaceful village away from the busy city, in nature in the north-eastern part of Slovenia.

⛺ Option to sleep outdoors in your own tent — recommended for deeper nature connection

🏠 Indoor sleeping facilities also available

🍽️ Meals prepared by a cook — mostly vegan with occasional vegetarian options

🌐 Once selected, participants receive detailed arrival instructions and travel support

Travel & Finances

Erasmus+ covers accommodation, meals, and transport costs. Travel is reimbursed upon handing in original tickets after completing the full programme — up to the maximum distance band budget for the round trip.

🌿 Green travel (train, bus, carpooling) is greatly encouraged — especially for participants from Italy and Slovenia.

🛡️ Bring your European Health Insurance Card — this is essential. Ensure you also have travel insurance.

💬 Want to understand how Erasmus+ Youth Exchanges work and what to expect as a participant?This complete guide covers everything before you apply: https://youthworkshub.org/15107/