“Slow down and compost!” 15th to 23rd of May 2026, Bozevce village, Kosovo

WHEN? WHERE? WHO?

We are inviting you to apply for a Youth Exchange “Slow down and compost!”, which will take place between the 15th and 23rd of May 2026 (arrival and departure date included), in the village of Bozevce, Kosovo.

This Youth Exchange will host 24 young adults from Slovenia, Kosovo, Italy and Serbia for 7 days to learn and discover about permaculture design, with focus on water and soil health, as well as sustainable and regenerative practices. This project is coordinated by Zavod Veles from Slovenia, hosted by GAIA Kosovo and supported by Erasmus+ programme.

WHAT IS THIS YOUTH EXCHANGE ABOUT? 

It is all about learning and getting hands-on experience! 

The program will involve learning through theory and practice focusing on the burning issue of water availability, while taking a holistic overview on how soil health can improve the whole ecosystem. The idea of the Exchange is that young people tackle important issues, meet new people and experience life as a group during this project.

During those 7 days you will discover the basics of permaculture thinking, and why it makes so much sense in today’s context. As the Youth Exchange will focus on water and soil health, there will be presentations and discussions on the topic, as well as practical workshops. There will be a space for practising various techniques such as creating water retention systems, reedbeds for grey water purification, composting and many more! 

Permaculture water principles focus on “Slow, Spread, and Sink” to manage water on-site, aiming to conserve, harvest, and reuse it rather than letting it run off. Key strategies include building healthy, water-retentive soil, utilizing contour-based earthworks (swales), harvesting rainwater from roofs, and storing water in ponds or tanks

The soil itself is the easiest place to store water, and the more organic matter in the soil the better it will soak up moisture.

WHO CAN APPLY? 

Partner organisations for this Youth exchange are: 

• Zavod Veles (Slovenia),
• SCI Italia (Italy), 
• Volunteer’s Centre of Vojvodina (Serbia) 
• GAIA (Kosovo)

Each organisation will select 5 participants and 1 group leader.

Conditions for participation:

• Age limit: between 18 and 30 (group leaders can be older).
• Residency in Slovenia, Italy, Serbia or Kosovo.
  No specific experience is required, you should just have an interest in permaculture, the topic of water and soil, and sustainable living! 
• English will be the common language, but even if you do not know it very well, don’t worry, support with translation is possible among groups 🙂
• Full time availability
• Willingness to travel green  

HOW TO APPLY?

Fill in the application form no later than the 31st of March 2025. Selected participants will be informed about the selection results by the 10th of April 2026.

Here you can see pictures from the previous Youth Exchanges which took place at GAIAs venue in the last years:

Youth Exchange about natural building

ABOUT BOZEVCE AND GAIA

The Youth Exchange will take place in Bozevce village, where GAIA has been developing an educational program for permaculture and natural building. The place is still under (natural) construction, thus it represents a good example of a place which is being built with the help of international and local volunteers, experts and friends. Participants will stay  in common rooms with all the basic facilities, whether on the estate or close by. Food will be vegan and vegetarian, mainly from local products, healthy and super tasty. There are hot showers, composting toilets, plenty of indoor and outdoor spaces, as well as trees and fields, and many animals such as dogs, cats, chickens, geese and bees.

The village is situated in the Eastern part of Kosovo, close to Kamenica. There are around 30 people living there, no shop, no school nor a bar, only forests and fields 🙂 

TRAVEL AND COSTS

This project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the EU, which means that travel and participation costs are covered. Participants will have to keep all the tickets as they will be reimbursed after the activity. The tickets will be reimbursed up to a maximum amount that depends on the country where the travel starts. To be eligible as a participant, your country of departure and arrival have to be the same.

MAXIMUM REFUNDABLE AMOUNTS (the bigger budget is for green travels)

28/56 € for participants from Kosovo
211/285 € for participants from Serbia
309/417 € for participants from Slovenia and Italy

We expect participants to travel green to reduce the project’s environmental footprint!

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions: [email protected]

More on GAIA: www.gaiakosovo.org