It is a year later, and once again youth from all over the world reunite with the aim of creating, altogether, an amazing new Y-TOP Gathering. After the pristine waters and rocky mountains of Serre da Estrela, Portugal, we sought new surroundings to allow us to foster and flourish through new focus points; aims and guidelines we have come to call Seeds...
Seeds for the Future.
Around 60 youth from 12 countries therefore arrived at Metsäkartano: a place beyond remoteness in Finland. The colour blue that so greatly defines this area and country, the country of 10,000 lakes, of icy-cold winters and blue-skied summers, of endless forests and a people of trust, has led us to call this Y-Top 2018 Gathering the “Blue Seeds of the Future”.
Throughout the next 12 days, we will be exploring themes that were inspired by blue and the Finnish land, themes that are focused on the now and the future and how to improve, and experience all that this beautiful land has to offer.
The first five days, we live in “families”: groups of 12 participants and Youth Assistants that live and eat together, and in a rotational manner explore a new “Seed” each day. Starting from real toolboxes, these families will explore the following Seeds: Quality World Citizenship, Creativity Project Life, Learning from Mistakes, Well-Being and Learning from the Forest.
These toolboxes may contain ideas for games, stories, basic explanations or other things that can guide each family to approach that Seed in their own way. The families are free to use (or not) these tools in their own way, and also there is no difference between people who might or might not have contributed to the structure of that day or seed: this Gathering is everyone’s and so everyone can contribute to its realisation equally. In this manner, every day a Seed is approached, experienced and reflected upon by each family in a completely unique way.
Notebooks accompany the toolboxes, which are handed on day by day between the families, allowing us to accumulate all the experiences the different families had with the particular seeds. We wait in anticipation how the Seeds will grow over the days, hopefully into greatness, to which all the families, and therefore all of us, have contributed.
Correspondent of the day: Maor (Israel)
How it compares to last year’s camp? There’s much more space, both physically and non-physically. No stress and no pressure. I was at first a bit scared the “family” concept could be a problem, because you don’t know in advance how the people will be together, but in my family there is a great flow, it’s flowing, and it’s going much better than I expected.
What do I think of Finland? Finland is ... beautiful. I like the trees; they're straight and long.
