🇮🇹 Erasmus+ Youth Exchange in Italy 🍄 Cultural Diversity Through Mushroom Diversity in a Forest Community 🌲

Spreading Spores is an Erasmus+ Youth Exchange that uses mushrooms and biodiversity as the main tool to explore cultural unity and diversity. Thirty people from five countries spend eight days in a forest venue in Val Curone, exploring nature, sharing experiences and learning how to be more inclusive in intercultural communities. As the organisers put it, a youth exchange is not a holiday travel for young people, it is a youth mobility guided by facilitators, group leaders and specialists in non formal learning.

🍄 Project Summary

The aim of Spreading Spores is raising the sensitivity of young people to cultural unity and diversity through the exploration and knowledge of mushrooms. The project chooses mushrooms as the main tool to help people understand cultural diversity. The workshops are coordinated by facilitators, experts and participants using non formal education methods, ensuring a peer approach where young people learn by doing, collaborating and sharing experiences, using mushrooms as a metaphor for understanding and raising sensitivity on cultural diversity.

At an international level, the project develops a toolkit, created by participants with the support of group leaders, to support intercultural knowledge and integration through non formal activities. The project also creates a video documentary, made by the participants, to capture the project's journey, highlighting how the exploration of mushrooms helped young people develop cultural sensitivity and environmental awareness.

Five things that really happen inside a Youth Exchange, before you commit to one: https://youthworkshub.org/15116/

🎯 Objectives

🌍 Organize an exchange where 30 participants, 25 young people and 5 group leaders, from Italy, Bulgaria, Armenia, Romania and Lithuania spend 8 days together exploring nature, sharing experiences and learning how to be more inclusive in intercultural communities

🧰 Create a space for 5 partner organizations to build innovative, fun and educational activities that connect nature with cultural learning, with a special toolkit to help youth workers all over Europe use these methods

🏘️ Have each partner organize a local event where at least 14 young people, half local and half from different cultural backgrounds, come together and share what they learned, so more people understand the importance of cultural diversity and nature's role in bringing people together

🎬 Produce a video showing the journey of the project, sharing the experience of the young people and spreading the message of intercultural inclusion at international level

🌿 What to Expect

🌲 Outdoor activities, forest and exploring nature

🧠 Reflection groups, way of council, reflection and silence

🎲 Games, teamwork and walkie talkie

🍄 Mushroom and human connection, wonders of nature and insects

🎨 Creative expression, growing and mountain walks

🧹 Housework teams as part of community building

📚 Non formal learning methods throughout the programme

📌 Active participation in all scheduled activities is required and expected

🍄 After being selected you start planning activities in national teams, and each team brings one activity inspired by mushroom diversity and nature

🙅 While applying, the organisers ask you to be yourself and not to use AI, and the same applies during the mobility

👥 Participant Profile

🌍 From Italy, Armenia, Romania, Lithuania and Bulgaria

🎂 Participants are 18 to 30 years old

🧘 Able to have fun while staying in a calm space

🗣️ Understands and speaks English, which is used for communication, while Italian can be useful

✅ You can apply even if you are not a member of the partner organisations, and previous Erasmus+ experience is not required

👥 25 participants, 5 per country, plus 5 group leaders, 1 per country

🗺️ Another Italian project built around nature and outdoor work, if that is your thing:

ESC Volunteering in 🇮🇹 Italy 🌲 Green Maintenance and Lake Shore Care in the Mountains 🚣 → https://youthworkshub.org/21181

🧑‍🏫 Group Leader Profile

🌍 From Italy, Armenia, Romania, Lithuania and Bulgaria

🎂 Responsible, 20+ years old

🗣️ Understands and speaks English, while Italian can be useful

💼 Group leaders are youth workers and educators actively involved in the partner organizations

🤲 They have experience in social inclusion, youth empowerment and non formal education

🔗 The group leader is the point of reference for the participants of their group and acts as a link between the participants, the partners and the coordinating organisation, guiding the team during all project phases and activities, promoting teamwork, effective communication and respect for the values of inclusion and cooperation

📌 Previous Erasmus+ experience is required for group leaders

🌍 Eligible Countries

🇮🇹 Italy, 🇦🇲 Armenia, 🇷🇴 Romania, 🇱🇹 Lithuania, 🇧🇬 Bulgaria

🗓️ Dates and Project Phases

📅 Arrival day: 1 September 2026

🛠️ Mobility days: 2 to 9 September 2026, which is 8 days of mobility

📅 Departure day: 10 September 2026

🧩 Planning: after being selected you connect with your national team and work on learning goals, pre assignments and planning within national groups

📞 Preparation: 2 video calls with group leaders and 1 video call with all participants

🔄 Implementation and dissemination: 11 September to 10 October 2026, where each participant implements their learning on the local level, organizes a follow up activity and shares its outcomes within 1 month after the mobility

📝 Evaluation, closing and reimbursements: online evaluation of the impact of the Youth Exchange 1 month after the mobility

✅ You get a confirmation from the organisers within 30 days after your application, and group leaders are confirmed after a video call meeting

🔁 Follow Up and Dissemination

📘 Toolkit: participants focus on the dissemination of the toolkit, which serves as a practical guide for youth workers and educators interested in promoting cultural inclusion through nature based learning. The toolkit contains stories, images, information and ideas developed during the Youth Exchange, and the digital version is made available on the websites and social media pages of the partner organizations so it remains an accessible and widely used resource.

🏘️ Intercultural knowledge event: one of the key activities is the organization of an intercultural event in each local community where the project partners are based, involving at least 14 young people, with 50% from local cultural backgrounds and 50% from intercultural backgrounds. The aim is to foster mutual understanding and inclusion through non formal activities, using the exploration of mushrooms and biodiversity as a tool to discuss cultural diversity and connect nature with cultural traditions.

📱 Posts on social media: participants post testimonials on their personal social media accounts, with a representative image of the project and a reflection on their experience.

🤝 Dissemination is an important phase of a youth project, and the organisers recommend doing this part in national groups, or with the help of your sending association if that is not possible. The group leader supports the follow up and makes sure dissemination is done by all participants.

🏛️ Physical dissemination: organize an event, seminar or meeting in presence.

💻 Digital dissemination: share the project results such as pictures and video on social media, share photos and videos of your physical dissemination on social media, and share all dissemination results in the shared online drive and with the sending association.

📍 Venue and Accommodation

📍 Fabbrica Curone (AL), Italy, in Caldirola, Val Curone

🏡 The venue is the family run restaurant and hotel Da Rico, surrounded by forest, with rooms from 5 to 8 beds with private bathrooms, and a bright activity room with a panoramic view of the valley

🌳 The accommodation was chosen to create a calm space for the group to focus on learning, relaxing and self connection, and the venue is homey and allows one to appreciate the simplicity of life without daily distractions and worries

🧹 While being there you take part in housework such as daily cleaning, dishwashing and keeping your surroundings in order, and these tasks are part of the learning process and community building

🌙 After 23:00 quiet time starts, and music for the evening is chosen by the team to create a calm atmosphere

🎨 The organisers hope to create a happy atmosphere with activities, conversations, board games and art, and to leave phones to rest

🛒 The nearest shop is 20 km away on a mountain road

🚰 Water is drinkable from the tap, and you can refill your bottle anywhere

🥗 There are no alcoholic beverages and meals are vegetarian, while outside the project you make your own choices

🦊 Wild animals live around the venue, so be aware of them and respectful of their space

🐝 The venue is surrounded by forest, so keep in mind that insects and animals live among us

🍽️ All diet needs have to be announced in the application form, indicating what you can and cannot eat

🚌 Travel

✈️ The suggested airports are Milan Malpensa or Bergamo Orio Al Serio

🚏 The transfer from the airports to Milano Centrale can be by bus from Bergamo or by train from Malpensa, and the organisers help you choose which is better for you if needed

🚌 From Milano Centrale to the venue, all participants travel together with a private bus at 18:30 on the arrival day

🚌 From the venue to Milano Centrale, all participants travel together on the same private bus at 5:30 AM on the departure day

⏱️ The travel with the private bus takes approximately 2 hours, the venue is not accessible by public transport, and if you miss the private bus you need to reach the destination at your own expense

🗓️ If you choose, you have a maximum of 2 additional travel days, 1 before and 1 after the activity, or 2 before, or 2 after, and the accommodation for the additional nights should be organized and covered by yourself

⚠️ Arriving later than on the arrival day makes you lose travel reimbursement rights, excluding reasons such as plane delay or an agreement made with the organisation beforehand

🪪 Do not forget your passport or ID, all tickets in paper or digital form as originals, and to charge your phone

🔥 Community living and learning through nature, taken one step deeper in another Youth Exchange:

Erasmus+ Youth Exchange in 🇩🇪 Germany 🌱 Inner Work and Ecovillage Life for Change-Makers 🫂 → https://youthworkshub.org/21152

💶 Travel Reimbursement

This mobility is funded by the European Union. According to the rules of the Erasmus+ programme, you can get your travel costs reimbursed up to the stated amount. If your travel costs are lower than or the same as the maximum limit per person, you get reimbursement of 100% of your invoices, and if your travel costs are higher than the maximum reimbursable amount, the difference is covered by you. That is why the organisers recommend booking your tickets only after you have received the confirmation letter, since they are often much cheaper when bought in advance.

Maximum limits per person, with 50 euros per person already subtracted for the private bus that brings all participants from Milan Central train station to the venue and back:

🇮🇹 Italy: 28 €

🇦🇲 Armenia: 345 €

🇷🇴 Romania: 259 €

🇱🇹 Lithuania: 259 €

🇧🇬 Bulgaria: 259 €

To be eligible for reimbursement:

🧾 Keep all your tickets, boarding passes and invoices as originals, because only if you have sent the original travel tickets, boarding passes and invoices can your travel costs be reimbursed

🚆 Only economy class flights, bus and train tickets are reimbursed, and taxi fees are not reimbursable

✅ Your travel costs can be reimbursed only if you participate in the whole youth exchange, the preparation phase, the activities during mobility, the follow up and the evaluation

🗓️ Travel on the dates agreed with the organizers, with a maximum of 2 extra travel days in total

🎒 What to Bring

🥾 Inside and outside shoes and flip flops, with shoes appropriate for walks in the forest and shoes for inside activities and showers

🧥 Comfortable and appropriate clothes, warm pajamas and long socks in light color

🍫 Vegetarian snacks from your home country which you would like to share or eat by yourself, and if you choose to bring traditional food, remember that this project is vegetarian

📓 Your non formal notebook, which is helpful during the dissemination and the Youthpass questionnaire

🧴 Personal hygiene products, since you know yourself and what you may need, while towels are provided as 1 medium and 1 small size towel

📱 One laptop or phone with a video editing app, not professional, per national team

🍄 Knowledge and 1 photo of a mushroom of your choice growing in your country, chosen not by taste but by characteristics, and you should know its Latin name and local name

🩺 Health and Practical Notes

💊 If you have specific medical needs or are prone to illness, take the necessary medicine with you for the duration of the project

🗺️ You can get familiar with the town where the mobility takes place by exploring the map to see what is around, searching for pharmacies, bus stops and shops

🪪 A European Health Insurance Card is referenced in the infopack

🌦️ As the organisers say, there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes

🧑‍🔬 Team and Guest Facilitators

🧑‍🏫 Peter is 37 years old, a youth leader, trainer and social animator for the Associacion Emmanuel of Castellazzo Bormida. Since 2016 he is part of the feminist association Altradimora, and he has participated in and coordinated various projects and trainings about nonviolence, conflict resolution and healthy relationships. He has facilitated numerous Erasmus+ projects on topics such as photography for inclusion, environmental care, gender equality and games for community. In 2019 he was an EVS volunteer and then coordinator at Asociatia AUM in Sighisoara, Romania. He is president of the youth association Estacion Esperanza and since 2023 he has been running a life project of community in Caldirola, Val Curone, in a place immersed in nature where more than 400 European youth have already experienced Erasmus Plus opportunities.

🎨 Dolly is a youth worker from Latvia. She studied landscape architecture for two years in 2016 and 2017, and in 2019 she went to Romania as an ESC volunteer. She has been living in Italy since 2021 and volunteers for local associations and organizations as a creative facilitator, organizing handcraft activities for kids and elders. Being part of the Estacion Esperanza team since 2023, she takes care of visual information creation. As one of the youngest in the community, Dolly cares for nature, animals and those in need of help, and in recent years she has deepened her knowledge in permaculture, low waste and environmental sustainability applied specifically to small communities.

🍄 Dario Gisotti joins on 3 and 4 September. He is a mycologist and naturalist from Genoa, Italy. Interested in nature since his childhood, especially in mushroom hunting as a family tradition, he graduated in Natural Sciences at the Genoa University, and for many years he has worked as a mycology teacher in the official mycology courses of northwest Italy.

🍄 Nicolò Oppicelli joins on 7 and 8 September. He is a mycologist, journalist and environmental guide. For years he has been involved in research, outreach and communication related to the Fungi Kingdom, describing mushrooms in their natural context through photographs, videos, articles, books and educational meetings, connecting species, environments and ecological balances. He began to explore the kingdom of mushrooms at a very young age, guided by his father's passion, and gradually became one of the most important and respected mycologists in Italy and beyond.

🏢 Lead Organization

Estacion Esperanza is an opportunity to have a break from daily fastness and to connect with ourselves and the planet through intercultural and intergenerational relationships and daily practices. Through the caring and sharing method, the team starts and closes with circles, plays games, makes rituals, eats nice food, breathes fresh air and enjoys night bonfires and starry skies. The organisation wants to give people the opportunity to slow down and to express the human potential we all have, without competition, judging or external and cultural prejudices. The project coordinator and contact person is Giacomo Riccucci.

🤝 Project Partners

🇧🇬 Bulgaria: NGO Center for European Technology and Projects

🇱🇹 Lithuania: First Move Team

🇷🇴 Romania: Repere Association, Bacau Branch

🇦🇲 Armenia: Armavir Development Center

🇮🇹 Italy: Estacion Esperanza

📜 Youthpass

After the mobility, participants receive their Youthpass certificate as formal recognition of the skills and competences gained during the project. Youthpass is a recognition tool for non formal and informal learning in Erasmus+ youth exchanges.

📝 Participant Selection

If, after reading the information, you are interested in participating, you are invited to fill out the online application form, and the organisers ask you to fill it out only if you are fully committed and available to participate in all the sessions and phases of the project. Selection is done based on the profile and motivation of applicants, and you could be asked to make a motivational video. The best group leader applications are invited to a video interview, and only the selected applications receive the invitation. After being selected you are contacted by email and invited to join the WhatsApp group of this Erasmus+ project, and travel and ticket buying information is communicated by email.

By participating in the project you are aware of and you consent to the publication of photos and videos in which you are present, and you accept what is written in the infopack and will follow all the rules and tasks indicated. Before the mobility, the organisers also invite you to get to know the country and the language of the place where the mobility takes place using the OLS resources.

📩 How to Apply

Read the whole infopack, then fill in the online application form. Selection is based on your profile and motivation, a motivational video may be requested, and group leaders are invited to a video interview.