News

As we know, ESN (Erasmus Student Network) as a member organisation of ESAA is an international association that promotes diverse values and principles, including sustainability, cultural immersion and intercultural relationships.

For several years, one of our most important events among students and volunteers has been the so-called Integration Weekend. The Integration Weekend is a weekend of cultural coexistence to establish good relations and share cultures while enjoying a leisure weekend. This year, given the need to raise awareness among people, and especially today's youth, we wanted to give a more ecological and social point of view and raise awareness among all our participants about the importance of caring for the environment and implementing advice for them to take more responsible habits with our planet without this ceasing to be an intercultural and leisure weekend.

The objectives were accomplished through activities and dynamics such as a round table in which different topics were discussed, different sports were practiced and an ecological urban garden was carried out: it consisted of planting seeds of different species with fertilizer, in recycled small plastic bottles. All the caps of this activity were saved to donate them to non-profit associations. A route was also made through the natural landscapes of Jarandilla de la Vera, while plogging was done (garbage collection). These activities that were carried out made Erasmus see the importance of sustainability and physical and mental well-being, all within a rural environment. This project was supported by ESAA and prepared by ESN UEx, with the support of The University of Extremadura, City Council of Jarandilla de la Vera, Regional Government of Extremadura, Extremadura Youth Institute and European and Latin American Academic Foundation of Yuste. The scope of this event was quite large since in just three days all the places were sold and with such a quite number of participants, some media showed their interest.