🇮🇹 ESC Volunteering in Italy 🌿 Rural Community Life with Autistic Young Adults 🐝

Description

At Cascina Croce Piaggi, a rural community in the Apennine hills of the Oltrepò Pavese (Ponte Nizza, PV, Italy), you will join a small residential setting where about 10 autistic adults (18-30) live alongside families, educators and volunteers. Together with them you will care for the vegetable garden and orchard, gather wild herbs, tend the henhouse, produce honey and collect seasonal firewood. You will help produce jams, juices, compotes and preserves in the food lab "La Banda dell'Ortica", prepare meals with participants and staff, keep common spaces clean and tidy, and join craft workshops (clay, weaving, painting). You will also develop your own personal project — a diary, a social media account, or intercultural activities with participants — agreed with your tutor. This is a genuinely rural, quiet and isolated placement, five days a week with two days off: patience, flexibility and a love for nature and community life are essential.

Accommodation, food and transport arrangements

Volunteers live directly at Cascina Croce Piaggi, sharing a double room in an apartment equipped with kitchen, washing machine and internet access. Meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) are shared with participants and staff following the community's schedule. Volunteers receive a pocket money of 6€/day (paid monthly by bank transfer) plus an additional 30€/month for extra beverages, sweets or personal items. Travel expenses (home–Italy–home) are reimbursed according to European Commission distance bands, with an increased budget if more than 51% of the journey is made by bus or train (green travel).

Training during the activity

Volunteers will participate in the On Arrival Training organized by the Italian National Agency. Associazione No Borders, the coordinating organization, will organize an on arrival training with the volunteers and the coordinator and tutors of Fondazione Oltre il Blu

Participant profile

Available for the whole duration of the project (October until March 2027). Aged 18–30, citizen or resident of an EU country Intermediate level of Italian Ready to do manual and outdoor tasks Willing to share living spaces, including bedrooms Willing to contribute to cleaning of the house and grounds Ready to cook for the team Love for nature and animals Comfortable living in a rural, isolated setting Community-oriented, comfortable with shared group life Proactive, empathetic and respectful Willing to communicate with people who express themselves in non-conventional ways. Considered a plus, not required: previous experience with people with disabilities or in care settings, familiarity with rural/farm life, specific motivation towards autism and inclusion.

Activity details

Activity type

Individual volunteering

Activity dates

A total of 21 week(s) during the period 10/10/2026 to 10/03/2027

Location

Cascina Croce Piaggi 37 , Fraz. Nizza Val di Nizza (PV), Italy

Deadline

05/10/2026

Project code

2025-1-IT03-ESC51-VTJ-000348011

Topics

Looking for participants from

26 countries can apply. The activity takes place in 🇮🇹 Italy.