The Black Sea in February is a blue expanse of icy water, constantly buffeted by a stiff wind that makes walking in the opposite direction difficult. The Romanian seaside village of Costinesti, built in the 1950s at the wish of the communist regime as a summer retreat for young people of the party, is now a cluster of holiday houses, hotels, discos ready for screaming crowds and even the wreck of a Greek ship full of oranges, which ran aground on its shores and has been the town's symbol ever since. The most artistic thing to be found here is a gigantic obelisk, clearly in the style of constructivism and probably made of concrete pipes and construction poles, which without any signs or meaning has grown like a mushroom out of the sand, becoming for us outsiders the easiest reference point to identify and to look at like a lighthouse in case we lose our bearings among the city's uniform streets.
The aim was to create an environment of confrontation on the theme of business, based on non formal education methods, which, at least for us Italians, accustomed to lectures from primary school to university, is a completely new field. No more books, pens and pencils on the desk, the activities include work in ever-changing groups, tasks around the city to create team-building and discussions in a circle where everyone is asked to contribute something from their previous experience. All this was done in a protected environment, where there was no judgement or voting, just a desire to get involved.
The activities took place until late afternoon, then resumed after dinner with cultural evenings in which each nation was asked to tell aspects of its culture: from sendings NGO to dances and culinary tastings, including karaoke and quizzes. It was a way of opening up to new experiences and cultures, as well as a very important moment to get to know the other participants on a human level and create bonds.
After the first few days to get to know the group and the working method, the activity got underway: divided into groups, the participants were given the task of creating a “hypothetical” social activity from scratch, including a business plan, logo, promotional video, website and social channels, and then presenting it to the other groups on the last day, with a formal pitch as in large companies. The results were beyond all expectations as, working in heterogeneous groups, everyone was called upon to make their own contribution: those with an artistic background worked on the logo, those with an engineering background analysed the economic data and so on.
Ten enriching days, full of human exchange - so much needed after two years of pandemic - and sharing, even though tragic news arrived from neighbouring Ukraine, which shook everyone. The surprising thing, in the tragedy, was the response given by the group: trying to be more and more open to others, supporting those who had moments of despair for relatives or friends at war and trying, at least for the few days spent together, to create something beautiful, an idea of a peaceful future where several cultures coexist in a constructive way.
The Youth Exchange was all this, summed up with the key words of sharing, openness and creativity. A way to know the world through its components, a way to open your mind to new horizons; the key to remove the fear of the other, when you realise that in front of you there is a person who, like you, wants to be an active part of the world.
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