Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many of the YENESIS activities were postponed for a latter date, such as the apprenticeships or the local placements.
Some participants though after some of the restrictions where lifted decided to go for it and we asked them to share their experience with us. Below the stories ofInofrom Greeceand Kristjan from Estonia.
Ino, Greece
My name is Ino and I am living in the greenest island of Greece, Skopelos. In 2019 I felt the need to bring new and greener visions to the island, closer to nature and ecotourism. When I joined the Yenesis project, I found a whole new inspiration to make innovative steps in the island and a team to support them. In January 2020, I participated in a one-week-long training, in which I learnt about renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable tourism, business innovation, and sustainable transport. I was really impressed by the relation between green jobs and business innovation, so I found myself trying to learn more about it. At that point, I joined the business mentorship of Yenesis project to get the whole picture. Regarding the local placement, I helped the municipality by working at the local museum, conducting guided tours for some time under the umbrella of the sustainable tourism. After that, I decided to invest my time to a project that I have started with a partner, called Skopelos Trail Race, by the Modern trail Runners. Yenesis project helped us bloom and focus even more on the management of the trails that the race is going to use. Of course, the main focus of the project is the ecofriendly function of every corner of the island. Through all this experience of participation in Yenesis project so far, I have learnt the importance of keeping your place green and safe and the effect of trying to do something different for the community in general. You can find more details about our race on the social media.
Kristjan, Estonia
The YENESIS project through its learning, social and mobility program has given me a wonderful opportunity to augment my awareness on topics such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport and mobility and to network with like-minded people. In a nutshell the program was comprised of two parts – a long-term local placement and a short-term international placement.
The long-term placement took place at an Environmental Engineering/Construction company called Schöttli Keskkonnatehnika AS. The apprenticeship allowed me to work on a preliminary design of a water purification plant. The given project was highly challenging and it allowed me to improve the following skills: project management, communication, knowledge of energetics industry/energy production, knowledge of modern water treatment technologies available on the market, drafting and networking among other things. The project was very high paced and exciting.
The short-term placement took place in Athens, Greece in an organization called DAFNI – Network of Sustainable Islands. This apprenticeship allowed me to gain a broad overview about the sustainability sector in Greece and the concerns and developments in the water management sector.
The project with which I was affiliated with was “Smart Island Kythnos”. During this placement I had an opportunity to have a field trip to the island that is also the “pilot site” and get an on-ground overview about the water management practices. I was introduced to the existing water distribution infrastructure and had a brief overview about the current water treatment practices.
As the apprenticeship was conducted mainly on distance I had an opportunity to research various topics related to the project and to learn about software such as QGIS. Another important aspect of YENESIS was the networking, which allowed me to come in touch with many people with different backgrounds, but who all share the same values and interests.
