Training Course 'New Tools for Rural Inclusion' 01 - 07 November 2025, Arucas, Gran Canaria, Spain

Adrianna's Story - by Adrianna Stoga

So on the first day of November, I travelled to the beautiful and sunny island of Gran Canaria. Instead of spending All Saints' Day with my family - as a strong, Polish tradition, I came here to learn something new. Even though it was hard to get out of my comfort zone, I feel like it was really needed at this point in my life. 

The sun was shining, giving me some energy to challenge myself: meeting new people, confronting our perspectives and being open to each of the participants. The truth is, we are not used to being with so many different people on a daily basis. We are usually surrounded by few closest friends, maybe colleagues at work… and during such a project we get the opportunity to create a group dynamic that will probably never happen again. It is unique, and therefore it’s good to focus on the here and now. 

The topic of our training was focused on two, really important things for me - rural areas & storytelling. As I come from a rural area and face different obstacles in that matter, I feel like it is such an important topic to discuss. Even though the cities are developing, villages still stay the same - making the gap bigger and bigger every day. Raising awareness about the lack of transportation in rural areas and not enough opportunities for the youth to connect should be a fundamental step, if we want to build a better future. Thanks to the time spent in Gran Canaria, my understanding came to a deeper level. 

When you are priviledged and you move to a rural area cause you have decided to - it’s a whole different story. If you have a car, a job that you can do remotely: life can be perfect. It gets harder when you realize that it is only the small percentage of the community that has access to it. Not enough public transportation, no quality curricular classes or activities for youngsters, no system supporting those issues → that’s where the real problems show up. 

Now I am even more motivated to bring more opportunities to my hometown. Organizing workshops, spreading news about Erasmus+ opportunities can surely be a good start. Let’s do it then, right? :)