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This experience in Iceland has been really great! From a professional point of view I have explored different themes and subjects. I learned about cultural heritage, how it is divided in tangible, intangible elements and the importance of nature. We cannot live without this heritage, because it arrives from our past, coexists in our present life and it will pass to next generations. I also studied the idea of folklore, how it originated, and I had the opportunity to listen to striking Icelandic stories about the elves, the trolls and other magic creatures by the local guides. I have learned that people from Iceland feel very much the contact with nature; they respect the natural elements and try not to go against them. Also the young generations preserve these stories which are part of their cultural identity.

This course has also given to me the opportunity to visit new places and to do some practise. I appreciated very much the practical workshop to learn wool art crafts about Icelandic traditions, and I was able to make my own trolls.From a personal point of view, this experience has enriched me a lot. I had the chance to meet other teachers from all over the world and we spent lots of time together. We could compare our traditions, find the similarities and the differences. Then, our teacher Rita has been a great group leader, since she managed to put all these people together and made us feel at ease. She gave us advice on our work in the school classes, talked about her experiences and motivated us each day. I will never forget this experience in Iceland and I’ll try to exploit all the hints, the ideas, the concepts I received in my job and in my life.

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Rosanna

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Getting to know and learn surrounded by nature with local people was exciting. The comparison between teachers from different countries and realities has stimulated my desire to learn about different places and realities as well as my need to learn in English.

Iceland has fascinated me with its traditions and particularly rugged environment.

Knowing and understanding our culture by learning to see it from the point of view of other cultures, comparing the customs and beliefs of my land with those of other times and places has accompanied me throughout these days.

Rita Stoskiene guided us on this journey to discover what is "Hidden in the open space" but also "Hidden in each of us". I am excited to talk about my trip abroad and my introspective journey

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Look at the small details. There is always something new coming up.

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Natalia
Final Assessment

The reason why I chose this course is because it was about Heritage and UNESCO is an organization that is very dear to me (I was extremely  lucky  to work there at the Spanish Delegation and I am forever indebted to Life for this incredible chance and for all the people that I met there)

Hidden in Open Space, organized by Kaunas Biennale, has fulfilled my expectations in many ways.

I am very grateful to Rita Stoskiene, the course organizer, and to my “travelling  companions” on this beautiful journey.

In these five days, we have been able to learn about and appreciate Icelandic natural heritage and culture. We have learnt about this country’s incredible natural  diversity and respect for the environment, its fascination for stories, its ability to adapt to nature. Iceland is a country that, in my point of view, is a role model to follow in terms of how they have managed to build a sustainable society.

This course has also made me reflect on what we do and WHY we do it, that taking action is a Must and that we can all make a difference. I believe that we, as teachers have tremendous responsibility in this regard.

I am also grateful for all the beautiful people I have met here, for this wonderful intercultural experience and for my partners’ generosity and their wisdom.

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Jana                                                                                                     Personnel benefits                                                                                       	-  I have made sure that my attitudes towards my family acting and growing up my children concerning the cultural and natural heritage have a sense                                                                                                       - To see innovative ways, technologies in farming (tomato farm, sheep breeding), i.e. to implement some of the innovations within our farm, such as make excursions to our farm and the natural/life garden we develop;                                                                                                                 -To disseminate the results of the sheep breeding among our family members sheep keepers                                                                                   - To disseminate even the impacts of the globalization, especially “money rush” – example of bee business                                              Staff benefits                                                                Teacher/Methodology Expert                                                                          - To compare various innovative methods with the focus on the outdoor teaching/activities with the ones we implement within the educational programs in URSUS environmental centre (terrain excursions, cultural and natural heritage programs, workshops on natural resources arts…), see www.ursuscentrum.cz                                  - To get to know the innovative methods, pieces of knowledge, methods, facts… we implement within the programs at URSUS environmental centre, i.e. THINKINKG AHEAD                                             - To exchange some pieces of information with other teachers round Europe (system of education, pupils´/students´ motivation to enhance…)                                                                                                           -To make sure that the way of teaching I chose nearly 20 years ago is right… Not to use course books only, but to base the teaching on the interactive way with the implementation of the local/regional cultural and natural heritage programs, workshops, terrain excursions. I´m very proud of myself and my achievements.                                              Project coordinator                                                                                            - to compare the activities, methods, procedures in the field of the coordinator                                                                                                          - to implement new activities within the role of the coordinator    Project manager/Director                                                                                 - what pieces of innovation, activities we might implement or improve at URSUS environmental centre                                                                       - implement the method of Padlet program for our teachers; this one I really appreciated                                                                                              I could add much more impacts and benefits, but I lack the time to state them…. 😊I will add others into my national report and within my dissemination activities, i.e. website of our organization and another organization under the Ministry of Environment (www.ursuscentrum.cz; www.dumprirody.cz), newspapers that we issue in the amount of 30.000 pieces, bulletin news, blog posts for our visitors (about 10.000 visitors/year) and many other PR tools we disseminate.                                                                             

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Jana                                                                                                     Personnel benefits                                                                                       	-  I have made sure that my attitudes towards my family acting and growing up my children concerning the cultural and natural heritage have a sense                                                                                                       - To see innovative ways, technologies in farming (tomato farm, sheep breeding), i.e. to implement some of the innovations within our farm, such as make excursions to our farm and the natural/life garden we develop;                                                                                                                 -To disseminate the results of the sheep breeding among our family members sheep keepers                                                                                   - To disseminate even the impacts of the globalization, especially “money rush” – example of bee business                                              Staff benefits                                                                Teacher/Methodology Expert                                                                          - To compare various innovative methods with the focus on the outdoor teaching/activities with the ones we implement within the educational programs in URSUS environmental centre (terrain excursions, cultural and natural heritage programs, workshops on natural resources arts…), see www.ursuscentrum.cz                                  - To get to know the innovative methods, pieces of knowledge, methods, facts… we implement within the programs at URSUS environmental centre, i.e. THINKINKG AHEAD                                             - To exchange some pieces of information with other teachers round Europe (system of education, pupils´/students´ motivation to enhance…)                                                                                                           -To make sure that the way of teaching I chose nearly 20 years ago is right… Not to use course books only, but to base the teaching on the interactive way with the implementation of the local/regional cultural and natural heritage programs, workshops, terrain excursions. I´m very proud of myself and my achievements.                                              Project coordinator                                                                                            - to compare the activities, methods, procedures in the field of the coordinator                                                                                                          - to implement new activities within the role of the coordinator    Project manager/Director                                                                                 - what pieces of innovation, activities we might implement or improve at URSUS environmental centre                                                                       - implement the method of Padlet program for our teachers; this one I really appreciated                                                                                              I could add much more impacts and benefits, but I lack the time to state them…. 😊I will add others into my national report and within my dissemination activities, i.e. website of our organization and another organization under the Ministry of Environment (www.ursuscentrum.cz; www.dumprirody.cz), newspapers that we issue in the amount of 30.000 pieces, bulletin news, blog posts for our visitors (about 10.000 visitors/year) and many other PR tools we disseminate.                                                                             

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"Hidden in the open space" has been a very interesting course because we have been able to verify the importance of the preservation of Nature for the maintenance of cultural heritage. And this has been done in one of the places where it is most impressive, Iceland. This country is full of stories and customs that are associated with the natural environment. We have also discovered how the Icelandic people retain nature: they use the cycle of inheritance.
Rita has organized and explained perfectly all this or has presented us people and guides who have taken us to the natural environment or have told us very interesting popular stories about trolls, elves ...
The strengths of the course are the incredible Nature it has, the landscapes and the number of fantastic beings that make the experience wonderful.
I think that anyone interested in any sample of cultural heritage should do this course because it does not disappoint. Iceland and her stories are charming.
Thaks for all Rita, you are a great person.

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This morning we visited an Icelandic school, the visit offered many ideas to take with us to try to realize them in our contexts of belonging.

Today a very interesting and special training course has been concluded. It was a real search for a cultural heritage hidden in a nature open to the traveller. Nature has offered us great food for thought, it has allowed us a particular and unusual introspection. I was very struck by the legends of this land. In some cases they almost upset me or made me smile. But then I said to myself, but also my land is full of legends and beliefs that to others might seem strange or particular.

I really enjoyed living in open spaces, they allowed me to feel an integral part of the environment. Even the wind that blew with all his strength, I interpreted it as a special greeting. This work on popular beliefs has also allowed me to be able to bring into my work environment stimuli to be implemented. The course, expertly organized by Rita, was able to put together different but complementary moments. Perhaps the exchange between the trainees is a bit missed, but it is not important, we can also reflect afterwords.

An essential element was the concept of cultural heritage that we educators are obliged to pass on to new generations. The roots, if they are firm, do not uproot the tree, so if values ​​are consolidated they do not uproot the principles of every human being.

I want to think that the wind, the rain and the cold of these days may be the memory of a magical land that, despite the cold outside, gives an internal warmth that I will never forget

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When I woke up this morning, I saw a picture of the burned Notre Dame on the internet. Under it there was a sentence: ”Watching something that took centuries to develop, something that can never entirely be recreated, disappear in the comparative blink of an eye – that, in slow motion, is going to be the dominant feeling of the 21st century. Only instead of buildings: glaciers, forests, species.” The sentence really stroke me, especially since we’ve been talking about the cultural heritage all week long.

During this amazing course I’ve really felt a great connection to the unpredictable nature. Every since the unforgettable stay at the airplane for four and a half hours after landing because of the dangerous wind, we have experienced both the beauty and the dangerousness of the nature. It’s probably because of the fierceness and unpredictability of the nature why the Icelandic people are so adjusted to live as equals with their surroundigs. That’s why I think Iceland have been a perfect surrounding for this kind of course.

Nature and it’s pureness is really important for us Finns, too. We have also quite extreme weather conditions which make us understand the part of the nature. What I think the Icelanders do better is that they are more connected to the stories about the nature. We also have troll stories in Finland, but I’m afraid we are loosing them if we don’t act soon. It has been really eye-opening to see how all the people in Iceland still pass on and appreciate the old stories.

So to add to the list from the Notre Dame devastation picture I would like to add folklore too. Like Rita said, we need to know ourselves in order to internationalize. It’s up to us humans, as a part of the nature, to make sure we don’t loose our intangible and nature heritage – our glaciers, stories, species and stories.

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Over the course of five days Rita has made us live in the first person every story of the city, every legend, every corner ... This has not allowed us to understand the feelings that Icelanders have about nature. For Spain, I took many stories in my backpack to tell my children at school and my classmates, many ideas on how to take care of nature on a daily basis. One of the ideas that this course has given me is that it is not enough to take care of nature. We have to know it (in all its versions), we have to value it, we have to take care of it and, later we have to enjoy it. In addition, it is essential to act in favor of nature and to share all of this so that the rest of the people will also do it. We are nature and caring for and respecting nature also means taking care of ourselves and respecting ourselves. This course has combined knowledge, enjoyment and activity to perfection. I can only thank Rita and all the companeros who have lived with me this adventure. No doubt you will consider Kaunas Biennale for future training. Thank you, thank you and thank you.

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The past 5 days were enlightening to me, not just because I fulfilled a childhood dream to visit Iceland, but also because I learned much.  Professionally, I’ve encountered many differences between the Icelandic and Portuguese education systems and folk culture. I’ve realized the climate and geographical positioning of a country deeply influences its identity. Therefore, I found many  differences but also many similarities with the archipelago of the Azores where I live: our mild weather shaped us differently; however, our volcanic origin strengthens our similarities. I really felt at home in Iceland due to our identical heritage: active volcanism, whaling, fishing industry, gastronomy, biodiversity and Nature! I found myself in the ‘HIDDEN OPEN SPACES’ of Icelandic landscape and way of living and I return to my secluded home with a sense of belonging: we might be hidden away in faraway spaces but we are open to novelty and embrace openness with a warm welcome! Thank you for this rewarding learning experience! I return to the Azores a richer woman and teacher! 💚

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I learned a lot about cultural heritage in many ways. I also learned about learning and a great deal about myself. I had never thought before that knowing and valuing cultural heritage would be helping us to make this planet a better place in the future, but now I think that it is a way of paying attention to the most important issues in tomorrow´s world. I thing that acknowledging the meaning of cultural heritage can help us pay attention to our environment and that way make improvements to it. Understanding the meaning of cultural heritage and it´s subtleties can also help us strengthen communication with other people.

The course was very well organised and very informative. We had good excursions and guides on our course and Rita is a very efficient and yet humane teacher. Her methods work very well for me. Especially reflecting on the day´s topics and learning from other people is always a good way to learn. There was listening and discussing but also experiencing and writing down the things we had learned. The subject and the topics of the course were very interesting and also important to all who teach and work with children and young people. Iceland is perfect location for this course.

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The last step of the k1 Erasmus plus training was held from 13 to 17 April 2018 in Reykjavík.
The group of students led by the trainer Rita S. carried out the activities mainly in the open spaces.
The objective pursued was to learn about the salient aspects of Icelandic culture through experience.

As for my personal training experience, I have benefited from having listened to traditional stories, legendary figures and by having seen natural places in direct contact, as is used in film language.

Listening to the stories of elves and trolls, of ways of living and of justified pleasant and unpleasant events typical of every existence, not in a closed room but in places of interest, has made this course an experience of personal growth.
Experiencing the days immersed in part of Iceland's natural and immaterial cultural heritage has allowed me to have a perception of the emotional depth that nourishes and substantiates the Icelandic people's way of life.

The human being, although differing in the cultural structures he inherits and which change from nation to nation, although he has found different answers to his needs for knowledge, remains, net of cultural differences, with the same fragile heart in need of security, hope and love.
People, beyond the stories that traditions pass on, have the same nature. Confrontation, knowledge, closeness and the exchange of visions and attitudes are a balanced way to discover that common "spiritual" nature and to meet a future that sees us citizens of the same nation. Europe is an opportunity to write a common future starting from different stories.