Our first cooperation generated a very detailed Erasmus-project with Monterotondo’s secondary schools Liceo Classico Gaio Valerio Catullo and the neighbouring Istituto Superiore “Gerolamo Cardano” / Piazza della Resistenza. The student exchange focusing on sustainability naturally provided all the desirable effects of intercultural learning that a trip could give to young people.
Arriving late on Sunday, march 17th after travelling for almost 13 hours by train, our students were really excited to meet their hosting families and partners.
After being welcomed into the school the next morning, ice-breaking activities and Orienteering Green, which meant an interactive search-, task- and orientation-activity throughout the historical center of Monterotondo made up our first day together as a group. Our Italian partner students were so fortunate as to be allowed to accompany all group activities during the whole week.
Of course, our second-day’s very intense sightseeing tour through the magnificent historical sites of the ancient city of Rome was a highlight of our week long visit.
A guided hike inside Trentani Park made students familiar with both botanical details of the area, but also introduced some rare plants originally imported by Roman flower or honey cultivators, diverse fungal infestations with their effects on trees and their use for nature and human civilization, as well as wildlife in the area, wild boars and wolves included.
On our last day, we visited The Vegetable Garden of Rome (L’orto di Roma), an agricultural and social cooperative. Seasonal planting, working with compostable weed protection – “plastics” and using drip irrigation were some of the more prominent features.
Some students were additionally given the task of preparing a small lunch:
