The project Coordinators Meeting at Vantaa/Helsinki was an pportunity of meeting again many project participants from the partner organizations, to better know each other, to clarify important aspects of our common project and focus on delivering outputs on time.

But this mobility had some other very important dimensions: it allowed us to discover first-hand the Finnish school ambience at a Vantaa region high school, Vaskivuoren Lukio. The opportunity we were given to visit the school facilities, the teachers room in activity, and to have lunch at the school canteen, made us witness the relaxed and student-friendly environment, some creative inititives by the students and local food habits.

This meeting was also an opportunity to get to know the nature protection and environmental education in Helsinki region and, at least for me, a rediscovery of the nice capital city of Finland, Helsinki. The visit to the modern art museum Kiasma and mostly the Oodi Library as a social and cultural hub made available and accessible for anyone, confirmed my first impression in 2019, about the Finnish as a rather calm but very creative people!

The dinners we have had together, at places carefully chosen by our Finnish partner, made us know both local gastronomy and how gastronomy can go along with sustainability. But these common meals in Erasmus+ projects are not only moments of welfare and relaxation; they are an opportunity of building bridges across different countries cultures. For me they were moments of sharing thoughts and personal experiences and laughing a lot together!

The visit to Villa Elfvik, its green forest and the surrounding wetlands, and the Töölö open air area in Helsinky city were also great moments for me, as an environmentalist. I am currently committed with the Action Plan for Pollinators in Portugal and I strongly believe in the cities role in protecting pollinator insects; so, I especially enjoyed the walking tour from Oodi till the lake of Töölönlahti Park: this area has been massively planted with wild flowers of all colours, mostly all pollinator-friendly! I could see so many bumblebees, in action or just resting on the flowers…

After last project meeting in Portugal, were outside activities were most focused on marine life, therefore SDG 14 – protecting “Life below Water”, it was great to acknowled.