ESC volunteering
VITALITY
Year 2025, 12 months duration
Bergolo, Italy
It's your opportunity to become a part of the European Solidarity Corps project and spend one year as an ESC volunteer contributing to the revitalization of rural areas of North Italy
About the project
VITALITY
is ESC Individual volunteering, which lets young people develop new skills, gain new knowledge, and enhance competencies that will support them in the future. The project lasts 12 months, giving space for personal growth and development, learning the basics of youth work, and showing the backstage of NGO work. Participants can be involved in various tasks that our organisation carries out: from youth projects, and social media to gardening and festivals
Note: European Solidarity Corps is the European Union program for young people to volunteer or work on projects in their own country or abroad that benefit communities and people around Europe
Why?
The Aim of the project is to bring life to the rural community
of Alta Langa and lower Piedmont
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by introducing international mobility opportunities to local youth
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by valorizing local cultural heritage
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by taking care of the natural landscape through permaculture
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by organizing festivals and events
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by promoting sustainable tourism
How?
Volunteers will experience themselves outside of their local reality, they will discover new passions, and enhance hidden talents. The project provides learning opportunities in the field of youth work by getting involved in projects for young people organized at the local and international level
Who?
We are New Wellness Education - APS, and together with Associazione Vagamondo and Parco Culturale Alta Langa we are part of the Vitality project. We will be your hosting organisation for the next 12 months, implementing together our activities, supporting you in developing your own ideas, and providing space for personal growth.
Note: New Wellness Education - APS was founded in January 2020 and specialized in the education of youth and training of professionals with the main focus on mental and physical well-being, fostering at the same time the recognition and quality of youth work
We are looking for
🧑🤝🧑2 motivated volunteers to join the project
📅from January 2025
🌍from Erasmus Programme and Partner Countries
🏔️in Bergolo (CN), Italy
VOLUNTEERS' TASKS
Main Focus
Permaculture Gardening
Summer sowing and transplanting; harvesting fruits and vegetables; watering vegetable garden and seedbed. Construction of a rainwater harvesting system, garden structures, and other minor maintenance and restoration work
Youth Mobilities and Logistic on Spot
Support New Wellness Education in the practical implementation of youth exchanges, training courses and volunteering (preparation of the projects in practical aspects and logistics, small maintenance and manual work).
Promote the international opportunities available within the ESC and Erasmus + program for young people in Alta Langa
Additional
Environmental Sustainable Development
Promotion of bio-agriculture, use of bicycles and e-bikes as the main means of transport for local transfers in order to promote green mobility, promotion of outdoor activities in contact with nature, to reconnect with it and with oneself, building a functioning recycling system
Festivals and cultural activities
The local municipality organises festivals and cultural events in the musical and artistic fields. The role of the volunteers will be to cooperate and support the organizers of these events, improve its efficiency and expand their offer.
Volunteers will also have the chance to propose and take care of the organization of artistic activities managed by them or new cultural events.
Personal Project
Each volunteer will have the opportunity to implement their own personal project. The volunteer will have the freedom to decide which project to carry out according to personal preferences and organisational priorities and how to develop it during the 12 months of volunteering
CONDITIONS
Volunteers will be reimbursed for the arrival/return travel costs. The total amount depends on the distance of the volunteer living place.
Each volunteer will receive 180€ monthly pocket money and reimbursement for food expenses up to 165€ per month
The working schedule from 9:30 to 13 and from 14:30 to 18, from Monday to Friday. The timetable can be different and sometimes can include weekends in case of events
Volunteers will be provided with bicycles to explore the local area in their free time. In case of longer group trips, a car can be available.
Volunteers will live in wooden bungalows, sharing rooms. Bungalow provides a kitchen with a dining room, a bathroom, and double bedrooms. Volunteers will decide for themselves how to settle in the rooms. All the accommodation expenses are being taken care of by the organization.
Take a look at our place
The Langhe is a hilly area in the northwest of Italy famous for its wines, cheeses, hazelnuts and truffles - particularly the white truffles of Alba.
In 2014 Langhe area was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list for its cultural landscapes, an outstanding living testimony to wine growing and winemaking traditions that stem from a long history.
Valle Bormida
The Bormida valley develops along the course of the Bormida river and connects the Alps to the Apennine mountain range. The Bormida valley connects the regions of Piedmont and Liguria, embracing the provinces of Cuneo, Savona, Asti and Alessandria.
Alba is the closer city, with a population of about 30.000 people. Our volunteers like to spend time there when they miss the urban dimension. Vagamondo cooperates with the info youth office of Alba to inform young people about European opportunities. The city hosts the headquarter of Ferrero company and an important international truffle festival. It is located 45 minutes by car from Bergolo.
Cortemilia is the main center of the local area of Alta Langa with a population of 2300 people. It is located 8 km far from Bergolo. It is noted for the production of one of the most famous types of hazelnut, the Tonda Gentile di Langa, awarded IGP status. Every August the town celebrates the Sagra della Nocciola (hazelnut fair). In Cortemilia there are bars, pubs, supermarkets, shops, banks, gas stations, and public buses to the cities Alba, Asti, and Savona.
Bergolo, a village of 50 inhabitants, is located on the hills of south Piedmont in the province of Cuneo, northern Italy. It is a peaceful destination for Nature and outdoor activities lovers. The village doesn’t have any shops, but here you can find our lovely bar "Parole Perdute", and welcoming restaurant "'l'Bunet". It is the ideal place for diving in nature and disconnecting from busy city life. Bergolo has a long tradition of music, art, and, in general, cultural festivals and since 2018 hosts regularly youth exchanges and trainings organized by different youth organizations.
This experience is for you if:
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You are 18 - 30 years old
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You are resident in Europe or in a neighbouring country
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You can stay for 12 months
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You want to learn about non-formal education and what is NGO work and/or be involved in one of fields:
- communication and marketing
- finance and accountancy
- gardening and construction work
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You want to practice and improve teamwork skills in a multicultural context
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You're not afraid of manual work and amused by gardening
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You want to live for one year in a village, in the countryside and enjoy being surrounded by nature