Views from students
“My perspective has changed and the way I think is different. I now find my mind ticking over and I begin to reflect on the issue of complex ‘wicked problems’ and how we might begin to solve them.”
Gaia Quarella Padovani
Undergraduate at the University of Padova in Italy
Took part in the VAMOS course “Water and forests, issues on community sustainable tourism and agroecology
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“I learned a lot about new topics. I study natural science so the focus on sustainable development and agroecology was really useful. We partnered with Para’ university in Brazil. We had to interact in English and some of our partners did not speak English so well, but I’d say that ultimately, we managed to experience a rich exchange of knowledge. We learned about Brazil and how they approach so-called ‘wicked problems’ and hopefully they learned something of the Italian context. My perspective has changed and the way I think is different. I now find my mind ticking over and I begin to reflect on the issue of complex ‘wicked problems’ and how we might begin to solve them. For example, I live in wine region in Italy and I grew up there. But I now realise it’s a monoculture and there is no forest, and no biodiversity. So, this project has opened my eyes to things that for me were normal. I have learned that many things are influenced by so many factors and solving one doesn’t solve another. Sometimes they worsen an issue and I never realised this before. This is the best thing I got and it opened my mind. My world view has changed”
Karla Flores and Claudia Chavez
Students at the National School of Forestry Sciences in Honduras
Took part in the VAMOS course “Water, forests and people”
Karla: “It was a joy to participate in this exchange, to learn about sustainable tourism and to learn more about water and forest conservation. I enjoyed meeting and learning with students from other countries as we have not had an experience like this before. It was challenging at times because the time difference with Italy was so big which made it hard for us to meet each other, but we managed it. We learned about the differences between the two countries – Italy and Honduras. Italy has many regulations in terms of conservation and some things were similar and some different. We found that the laws on conservation are quite similar. We also experienced another culture and learned about festivals and similar religious festivals and beliefs so good relationship building. We are very different but share much common ground, many similarities.”
Claudia: ““The shared knowledge and what we learned from each other was constructive. The assignments were structured so that the students needed to collect information about their own countries before sharing it with others. The tourism students learned about forest and conservation and Italian students were literature students so they had a big learning curve too. We all had to familiarise ourselves with a topic we knew very little about. This was a good thing. Also, we were forced to use English and we were shy at first, but we gained confidence as time went on and we had to practice. The experience was ultimately good. Information was absorbed and presented and all students learned about forest and water conservation and we shared good ideas that we can adopt in our respective countries. I also learned that I can do anything when faced with challenges. There are no limits to what we can do if we put our mind to it. “
We exchanged information on conservation practices which I hope to be able to share in my own community as a way forward. Maybe I can use my university to spread the word about conservation and I would really recommend the experience.
Felippe Anthony Barbosa Correia
Qualified pharmacist and a post graduate student in business management at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil
Took part in the VAMOS course “Sustainable Tourism in Coastal Areas“
““This was a whole new area for me. Our project was about sustainable tourism in coastal areas and I don’t live in a coastal area. But I found the learning component really interesting. VAMOS was a wonderful opportunity to learn about new countries and environments and I just love travel so this made me very curious to visit Honduras. I’ve been on other exchange programmes to Toronto Canada and Buenos Aires in Argentina. The VAMOS experience has really opened my mind to new possibilities and opportunities, and this aspect of sustainability is interesting for the world of medicine too, and to help to save the planet, and the environment. We did eight weeks of weekly zoom sessions with teams and professors and after that we had a Whatsapp group to collaborate outside of the sessions. We organised ourselves online zoom session to meet and discuss. We used English to communicate and this was good for me to practice…. Honduras is different from Brazil in terms of environment, Brazil is not so good in terms of caring for the environment so I learned a lot from our Honduran partners and how they protect their environment and now I feel inspired to travel to Honduras after I saw the pictures. We exchanged information on conservation practices which I hope to be able to share in my own community as a way forward. Maybe I can use my university to spread the word about conservation and I would really recommend the experience. Try and open your mind as it’s a fantastic project and exchange a lot of fantastic information, improve your language, and yourself in relation to others.”
“I was able to observe how professors co-created the course, how they motivated and encouraged students to become active and take part in the process. This was a new and different approach for me. I’m inspired to use the techniques I have learned in the future.”
Francesco Facchinelli
PhD student at the University of Padova in Italy
Took part in the VAMOS course “Water and forests issues on community sustainable tourism and agroecology“
“As a PhD student, I’m just learning how to develop courses, so this new concept of virtual exchange was really interesting for me in terms of tools and new pedagogy. My university partnered with Para’ university in Brazil and I was able to observe how professors co-created the course, how they motivated and encouraged students to become active and take part in the process. This was a new and different approach for me. I’m inspired to use the techniques I have learned in the future. I enjoyed the icebreaker activities and I particularly liked the idea that a VE can be extended into a local community. My research with Prof. de Marchi focuses on the rainforest in Ecuador, so it would be fabulous to transmit these ideas into local indigenous communities and get students and indigenous people together to discuss and tackle ‘wicked problems’. We are researching oil extraction in the forest in Ecuador and I’ve been involved for the past four years. This really is a ‘wicked problem’ as on the one hand, of course lives have been improved due to increasing wealth, but on the downside, there is a huge impact on the environment due to deforestation. We are looking at how to make development sustainable in the area.”