🇸🇮 Erasmus+ Training Course in Slovenia ❄️ The Art of Wintering Through Somatics and Dance Improvisation 💃

Description

The Art of Wintering is an 8-day training course exploring winter as a time and symbol of slowing down, deep rest, listening and allowing things to emerge before they take shape.

Inspired by the rhythm of winter, we will explore the relationship between activity and rest, productivity and spaciousness, individual expression and collective experience.

What does it mean to be part of a group without losing our own rhythm?

How can we create spaces where different needs, energies and ways of participating can coexist?

Through movement, improvisation, somatic practices, writing, contemplation and nature-based exploration, we will investigate how creativity, connection and new possibilities emerge both through intentional action and through listening, observing and allowing space for the unexpected.

For youth workers, facilitators, artists and others working with people, this reflection invites us to consider how our own rhythms, expectations and relationship with productivity shape the spaces we create for others. How can we recognise when a group needs action and when it needs time to pause, process or simply be? How can we support people through periods of uncertainty, change or low energy without rushing them towards solutions or visible outcomes? By becoming more aware of these different rhythms, we can develop more responsive ways of working with groups. Creating space for reflection, recovery, creativity and growth, while respecting that meaningful processes do not always unfold at a predictable pace.

How does this topic relate to youthwork and facilitation?

Youth work increasingly takes place in conditions of uncertainty, stress, fragmentation and rapid social change. Supporting young people's mental health cannot only mean learning more techniques for helping others. It also requires youth workers to develop their own capacity for presence, self-awareness, relational sensitivity, regulation, listening and staying open in situations where there is no immediate solution.

Embodied and collective practices can offer another kind of resource: not another method to apply, but a way of cultivating the capacity to stay present with complexity, uncertainty and difference.

They can also create spaces where people experience being part of something larger than themselves — where knowledge is not only produced individually, but emerges through bodies, relationships, attention and collective experimentation.

For us, this is particularly relevant today: How can we create conditions in which people can think, feel, move and imagine together?

Methodology:

Somatics – Dance Improvisation – Contemplative Practices – Nature-based Exploration

Through movement, improvisation, somatic practices, writing, contemplation and nature-based exploration, we will investigate how creativity, connection and new possibilities emerge — both through intentional action and through listening, observing and allowing space for the unexpected.

FOR WHO?

The knowledge and practices explored in this training are relevant for youth workers, facilitators, artists and trainers because their work involves creating spaces where people can participate, connect, explore and grow in different ways. They constantly navigate between individual needs and group dynamics, activity and rest, structure and openness, guidance and allowing space for what emerges.

Their role is not only to provide activities and outcomes, but also to create environments where young people can develop autonomy, creativity, self-awareness and a sense of belonging. The training invites participants to explore how different rhythms, needs and forms of participation can coexist, and how creating more spacious and responsive environments can support meaningful engagement, resilience and connection.

We aim to have 28 participants from Slovenia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary.

Participants must be over 17 years old and have a communicative level in English so that they can participate fully in the program.

Project Partners:

VulcanicaMente - Italy

Dreams for Life - Romania

Unfold e.V. - Germany

Terre de Nuages - France

Trib Arte - Spain

SZOME - Hungary

4Arts Therapy - Slovakia

This training course is funded through the Erasmus+ Programme; travel costs up to a specific maximum allowed amount will be fully reimbursed.

Slovenia: 28 EUR (56 EUR for Green Travel*)

Italy: 211 EUR  (285 EUR for GT*)

Germany, Spain, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, France: 309 EUR  (417 EUR for GT)

Last drop of information:

Application deadline: 10th of November at 12 pm

Selection results: 17th of November

Arrival day: 21st of January by 7 pm

Start of the program: 22nd of January

Last day of the program: 29th of January

Departure day: 30th of January by noon

For More Information, visit this page:

https://www.moave.si/wintering Application form link: https://forms.gle/7cqhxS9b3qS7MpWu7

Activity details

Activity type

Training Course

Activity dates

21-30 January 2027

Location

Slovenia

Application deadline

10 November 2026

Selection date

17 November 2026

Participants

28

Recommended for

Youth workers, Trainers, Youth leaders, Youth project managers, Youth policy makers, Volunteering mentors, Youth coaches, Youth researchers, youthworers

Working language

English

Organiser

Costs

Participation fee

There is no participation fee.

Accommodation and food

The delicious food will be vegan/vegetarian, prepared with love and care by our cooks. To provide and keep a safe and focused atmosphere for everybody we invite you to agree with an alcohol/drugs-free policy during the whole training course.

Travel reimbursement

This training course is co-funded through the Erasmus+ Programme, travel costs up to a specific maximum allowed amount will be fully reimbursed. The travel costs of the participants will be refunded after the training course usually within 6 - 8 weeks (after participants send all their travel documents etc.). Travel reimbursement: Slovenia: Slovenia: 28 EUR (56 EUR for Green Travel*) Italy: 211 EUR  (285 EUR for GT*) Germany, Spain, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, France: 309 EUR  (417 EUR for GT) For an exact calculation of your destination, please use travel distance calculator! (https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/resources-and-tools/distance-calculator) We encourage green GREEN TRAVELING! We encourage you to use green travel options for several reasons. Choosing environmentally friendly modes of transportation, such as trains, buses, bicycles, or carpooling, not only significantly reduces your carbon footprint but also contributes to the fight against climate change. By opting for green travel, you help decrease air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, promoting cleaner air and healthier communities. ps: More detailed information about the travel reimbursement will be provided to selected participants and will be assisted by the project coordinator.

Looking for participants from

8 countries can apply. The activity takes place in Slovenia.