Ciao!

So I have been in Italy for the last few days facilitating a workshop with the UK Youth Climate Coalition as part of an event co-ordinated by the Italian Youth Hostel Association -  Five Days to Zero Impact.

We worked with about 25 young people from the Campania region (the bit around Naples and Pompeii that sits in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius). I've studied the ancient history of this region a lot doing Latin at GCSE followed by Archaeology and Geography at University - I even wrote my uni application personal statement about how this area epitomised the connections between the subjects I wanted to study. Safe to say that I was excited about the trip!

I knew a lot less about the current situation of the region, and I have learnt a lot in just a few days. The young people taking part in the session are clearly passionate and driven - really wanting to see improvement in their local area. This is great and inspiring. I usually talk a lot about the international scene with post-2015, MDGs, UN, CSW and COPs, but I think this work is only ever meaningful when we think about the local to. That's something organisations like UKYCC and WAGGGS do well I think. Global-local thinking. Glocal...

Pollution is a hot topic here, as is the inefficiency of the local government. But they've got the solutions to. This group is well on it's way to stepping in and cleaning up their region.

I've also learnt a lot about training and working interculturally. I've regularly worked with groups with mixed backgrounds through WAGGGS - but usually in English. It's eye opening when trying to lead a workshop and you don't speak the majority language in the room. With a little bit of translation the group picked up the concept we were trying to convey very quickly and ran with it. Once they had the idea we handed them the pen and flipchart to take notes in Italian - they kept us in the loop with the conversation, but it was clear they could go into a lot more depth in their mother tongue than trying to explain in English.

They have a few more days and sessions to go - and I'm sure many new and exciting environmental projects will spring up in this region as a results - but I'm waiting at the airport, about to head back to the UK. 

I'm getting on top of my emails, collaborating on ideas of how we can communicate the Post-2015 work of WAGGGS, and contemplating my job-hunting options - hoping I can find something as rewarding as the voluntary work I do!