Between 7-9 of March, I participated in an APV in the city of Calenzano, near Florence, in Italy. I have been invited to help plan and design an upcoming Youth Exchange, which is going to take place in a nearby countryside village. There will be 45 participants from 5 different countries.

As soon as I arrived at Calenzano, the representative from the Italian organization came to pick me up. It was Laura, the president of the organization. She showed me to my accommodation and later came to pick me up for dinner, where I met Kitty, a president of EKO Greece, the Greek partner of this project. We discussed various issues that might come up during the next day's meeting between all the partner organizations.

We met the next day in Laura's office and got to work. There were 6 of us present, unfortunately the representative of the Dutch organization connected only online. It was Laura, her son who is helping to facilitate the project, Kitty, me and Rimante for the Lithuanian partner. We brainstormed about activities for the participants such as morning energizers, afternoon sessions, day-trip to Florence or the beloved cultural nights. We managed to create an engaging and entertaining schedule for the youth exchange while presenting and exchanging valuable information about our organizations. Overall, it was a great experience, with great people and in a great environment. I am confident that this project, although being the first one of “Associazione Viaggi senza Frontiere” (IT org), will be successful and I am looking forward to taking part in it myself.