„How do you imagine a town that is located near the coast of the Liguarian sea, 20 minutes from well-known Sanremo and just a few kilometers from Monte Carlo? Gorgeous ? Rich? Prosperous? Those are the first expectations that people usually have after arriving in Arma di Taggia – location of the training course. However, the truth is a little bit different. Arma di Taggia and villages nearby are a bright example of issues and difficulties connected with rural areas that we can also meet all over Europe.
Rural and remote areas in Europe and all around the globe, even nowadays, in the century of Internet and globalization meet a wide range of problems that people from bigger cities do not usually think about. Despite advanced tourism, there is a small number of essentials nearby. What leads to the situations when individuals from rural areas often cannot quickly and efficiently receive decent medical service, access to educational opportunities and be fully included in society. It is one of the main reasons why young people are leaving these places as soon as possible – not because they do not like their homes, but because they are eager to be as socially included, to have the same variety of opportunities as people from bigger settlements. Nonetheless, this situation can be changed for the better.
During training “Country roads” participants from Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Romania, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Portugal and Spain were learning and exploring deeper the causes and subsequences of rural areas problems and what is highly important, have tried to find the solutions to solve them.
To do so, together with the “Young Effect” team and facilitators, participants of the training course started their five day training with a brief theoretical study in order to have background knowledge of the rural areas. Of course theory knowledge is always essential to find a solution, however the most valuable and exciting part of the training course was ahead. „
More information about the project and the toolkit is available on the link below.
