YE - Heirs of Culture, Found

Organizer, Applicant: NECI Cyprus

Heirs of Culture,

Founders of the Future

Youth Exchanges-Partner Countries: 2018-1-CY02-KA105-001198

Partners: Network for European Citizenship and Identity Cyprus, NECI Italia, Ihnilates tou Fotos

Greece, Sdruzhenie Walk Together Bulgaria, VSI '' Misko istorijos '' Lithuania, Stowarzyszenie Youth Human Impact Poland, Asociatia Tinerii 3D Romania, HumanBeing Turkey.

Paralimni Cyprus, 14-23 / 02/2019

Project Summary
During the YE, there will be 40 youths and 8 leaders from Cyprus, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania, Lithuania, Poland and will be involved in experiential activities in Paralimni Cyprus, based on NFL approach (role plays, simulations, reflection , presentations, recreational activities, intercultural evening). They will have session with expert on intercultural learning, will meet aspects of Cyprus Cultural Heritage (visits: Kourio Amphetheater, Choirokitia Neolithic Settlement, Nicosia Old city, Museum Thalassa, Olive oil production industry, Pottery craftman, 1974 Monuments and Viewpoints, and will share / prepare / present traditional recipes and dances all together and with locals). Through these activities and reflection on these they will realize the commonalities between cultures and people and bridge differences enhancing intercultural dialogue. Youths will have ongoing collaborative sessions for creating common partnership final products (booklet, video, keyrings, pagefinders). The project meets the priority of 2018 "Cultural Heritage" as is set by European Union:
“By searching and appreciating our cultural heritage, we can realize our diversity and start an intercultural conversation about commonalities between people. It surrounds us in Europe's towns and cities, natural landscapes, archaeological sites, art and objects, in the crafts, the stories, the food we enjoy and the films we watch "
Objectives of the Activity: Youths to
1. share and discover aspects from cultural heritage (tangible, intangible and natural)

2. have developed positive attitude when visiting cultural place or when come across patterns of culture
3. developed from lower to higher order thinking (and thus practicing) skills (Blooms Taxonomy) in regard to the importance of cultural heritage
4. discover commonalities between their cultural heritage and how these are applied in their countries.
5. create joined products which show the connection of cultural heritage with intercultural dialogue and social inclusion
6. develop self reflection and acquire high quality youthpass

PARTICIPANTS FROM ITALY

Stefano Grieco

Giulia Supino

Filippo Gagliano

Dario Zanfrisco

Salvatore Supino

Matteo Gionta

REFLECTION DIARY

For the whole Italian group this was the first experience in a Youth Exchange, and for all of us it was great. It overcame our expectations. We left home with many fears, many worries, but we came back with many emotions, lots of new friends, very good mood, great ideas, thankful to Erasmus + for the great chance and with the wish to participate again in a similar experience. We were totally involved in all the planned activities and enjoyed all the program. Day by day our interest and involvement grew. Taking part in the activities we became more and more confident. From each day we selected some of the activities that we want to describe as they were particularly important.

On 14/02 After a long trip to get to Cyprus, we joined the whole group in the evening. It was a rainy day and there were no activities to be done. We just had dinner all together and went to sleep early.

On 15/02 we started knowing each other thanks to many icebreaking name games and teambuilding activities. The organizers explained us the ground rules and did the agenda presentation. We divided in groups to present the Youthpass key competences. We also had our first reflection time and leaders meeting.

On 16/02 we participated on a practical session on First Aid. It was great and very useful and interesting and we all enjoyed it so much. . We could reflect on the importance of human life and how knowing some simple procedure a life can be saved.

The same day E + opportunities were presented, this part was indispensable for us to realize the great chance we had thank to the European Commission, and to be acquainted on all the other possibilities

Then the project objectives were illustrated we had a time to share our FEC (Fears, Expectations, Contributions). We could see that even if we were participants from different parts of the world, and never met each other before, most of us had the same fears, and similar expectations.

After that we had an educational visit at a typical craftsman laboratory where we tried ourselves to make pots with clay; each group spoke about their own (in their country) pottery craft, clothes craft, carpet craft, eggs painting.

The structured walk tour in Dasaki Achnas village introduced us the time when Cypriots escaped from Turkish invasion of 1974.

The last session of the day was on intercultural dialogue / social inclusion

Every day ended with a reflection group for leaders about the activities of the day, the strengths or the weaknesses.

The greatest time for understanding each other culture was during the intercultural evening and NGO fair: the first night the teams from Cyprus and Bulgaria presented their flavors, their tipical food and some specificity of their country.

On 17/02 we started with reflection on the experience of day before and documentation time (working groups to share information about abandoned villages and traditional crafts -> Our team made a presentation of a ghost town in Italy, Civita di Bagnoregio and we illustrated traditional craft using glass, "Murano glass")

The most enjoyable moment of the day was the discovering of traditional cuisine as an aspect of cultural heritage: each group presented 3 traditional dishes - we had lots of fun during masterchef's time (our group prepared the best Carbonara ever- after working hard but happy to make our typical dish all of us collaborated making the space tidy

The intercultural evening and NGO fair this time was for Italy, Greece, Lithuania, this was a very nice time. We presented our country through some typical cookies, homemade jams and drinks ,, some geographical and historical information and the we organized a quiz time, the prize for the winners was Italian chocolate.

On 18/02 Trip to Nicosia: a multicultural city, a reference point for EU culture: we were very impressed by the visit. Nicosia derives from the different civilizations, religions and cultures that coexist within the boundaries of the city and its suburbs. It's a place full of contrasts between old and new, divided into two parts with a long story on its part. What impressed more is that an artificial line, the Green Line, still divides Nicosia in two parts. Along the Green Line it is still possible to feel the effect of the invasion.

We visited The Leventis Gallery art gallery in Nicosia ,. Opened in 2014, it houses a collection of over 800 paintings from Cypriot, Greek and European artists.

We appreciated the guided tour of the Nicosia old town and we went in a very special place under the control of the United Nations: home for cooperation: a community center in the heart of Nicosia, in the Buffer zone. A symbolic place where cooperation across cultures and nations makes possible education, research, dialogue, collaboration and the sharing of in a free way. We also had some free time to spend in Nicosia, where we had the chance to enjoy the beauty of this unique city.

On 19/02 we worked in group to share information about the capital cities of our countries. We spoke about the previous Capital Cities of Italy, Tourin and Florence. The importance of Rome in the past and today, the role in the Roman Empire, the legend of Romolo and Rermo behind its story, its being one of the Unesco world heritage sites. Each group presented fact-files about their Capital cities and we learned a lot about Athens and its philosophers (Platon); Istanbul and, the Ottoman Empire, or its tulips; Sofia and its University; Salamis, former Capital of Cyprus; Kernavè former Capital of Lithuania; Poznan and the legend of the fighting goats, Krakow, the town of Joan Paul II and finally Warsaw, the new Capital of Poland

Very interesting was in the afternoon the visit of Thalassa museum, that shows the importance and the role of the sea for Cyprus in the old time and today

We liked the visit at Ayia Napa: open sculpture museum and the free time spent free time in the city of Ayia Napa

The last intercultural evening and NGO fair was for Romania, Poland, Turkey

THE

On 20/02 we visited to the Neolithic settlement of Choirokoitia, an area which excavations haven't revealed the whole heritage yet. The Neolithic settlement of Choirokoitia, occupied from the 7th to the 4th millennium BC, is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the eastern Mediterranean .. -

We could focus on Neolithic in our countries. We made a research on this topic before the YE We could mention the "A Mouth Square" potterydating around 2500 BC

Unforgettable the excursion to see the white rocks of Governor's beach, the visit to the archaeological remains of Kourion dating to the Roman and Late Roman / Early Byzantine periods, where we saw the theater, the agora and enjoyed the view from the highest point of the site. It was such a breathtaking place! We moved to Limassol to visit the Medieval castle and museum that contains Medieval pottery, tombstones, superb silver Byzantine era plates, weapons, crosses and coins.

We moved to Limassol to visit the Medieval castle and museum and then we had free time to enjoy the old part of the city.