2026 ESC Introduction
New year, new people joining GEN Europe as European Solidarity Corps (ESC) volunteers: We welcomed Aleksandra, Blanca, Heloisa, Lena and Wojciech into our team in March 🥳 They will live in Arterra Bizimodu and work with us for the rest of the year!
Communications ESC
At GEN Europe, I handle communications support. I create posts (graphic design and copywriting), update the website, and edit videos for our social media channels.
Before coming to Arterra, I worked in the renewable energy sector as a data analyst in Warsaw. Spain is the fifth country where I have had the opportunity to live, which allows me to see the world from an even broader perspective. One of my biggest interests is music. I’ve played instruments, sung, and danced, and I also graduated from music school. Now I mainly dance bachata, but I’d like to learn other styles as well, especially those popular in Spain. I’ve also been a girl scout since I was 7, which has had a significant impact on my life—in terms of the people I know, my interests, how I like to spend my time, and my lifestyle. I like traveling, spending time in nature, and looking for small adventures that make life more interesting.
I’ve wanted to go on an ESC volunteer program for a long time, and this was my last chance. I’m glad that this volunteer opportunity combines living in Spain, a role that I find interesting, a different way of life than before, and living in such a beautiful place as Artieda.
If I were a vegetable, I would be beans, because it is literally a translation of my nickname in polish.
Project Area ESC
My role at GEN Europe is to support the project area. This involves diverse tasks: drafting proposals and reports, attending meetings with the different consortia we are part of, researching new networking opportunities, and more.
Fearless girl born in Madrid who channeled her energy through sports. Utopian teenager whose inspiration for dreaming came from adventure. Rebellious adult who challenges the system with creativity and tenderness. Everything is still in motion.
The desire to experience community living at Arterra Bizimodu, together with the experience gained through my academic and professional background in the cooperation sector, led me to apply to become an ESC with GEN Europe.
If I were a color, I would be purple — that blend of the energy of red and the calm of blue, resulting in something dynamic, gentle, and feminist.
Gathering ESC
I assist Aurélie and Bernarda in organising the annual GEN Europe Gathering, held in Germany. My main responsibilities include helping with participant registration, coordinating with workshop facilitators, and collecting feedback after the event. I also support Franziska with individual memberships.
Hi, I’m Helo, a third-culture kid who spent my childhood in France and most of my adult life in Scotland. I dedicate energy to movements that create solutions to social and climate crises. Over the last few years, I’ve been working in and travelling to cooperatives and ecovillages, while also searching for a place to grow some roots. Some things that make me happy are cinema, dancing, running, and challenging the status quo.
Last year, I was living and working in an ecovillage—Catfarm Education—where I discovered Erasmus+ and the ESC programme. I want to be part of a project where I can engage not only locally in Arterra Bizimodu and the surrounding community, but also internationally through GEN Europe. I studied Festival and Event Management at university, so this felt like a unique opportunity to align what I studied with my values.
If I were a film, I would be the Gleaners and I by Agnès Varda—a beautiful journey through rural and urban France documenting various types of gleaners who, for necessity, artistic, or ethical reasons, gather crops left in the fields after harvest, as well as discarded food and objects.
Membership ESC
My role in GEN Europe is to support Franziska in membership management. My main tasks will be to continue the member interview series started by previous ESCs, crafting the Moon Cycle Newsletter and replying to your as well as others questions about GEN Europe via email.
After finishing high school I first experienced community life through a volunteering service in France where I lived and worked together with adults with disabilities. Motivated by the experiences during this voluntary service and the hope to make a positive change in this world, I decided to study psychology and graduated with a master in environmental psychology in March of this year. In my free time I like to be in nature, dance, play board or computer games and watch movies.
Having recently graduated from uni, I wanted to put my theoretical knowledge into practice and contribute to a meaningful project that has a positive impact on the world. I stumbled across the ESC position at GEN Europe in membership and was intrigued by the possibility of not only living in an ecovillage, but also getting to know more communities from the network through the work in GEN Europe. After a quick text exchange with the previous ESC, also called Lena, and a wonderful interview with Franziska and Fanny, I was convinced that this ESC is the right choice for me.
If I were an animal, I would hope to be an Orca, because I am fascinated by their community oriented lifestyle, social structure and strong bonds.
IT ESC
I am an IT support person, which means I deal with the technical side of organizing the Ecovillage Gathering, but also GEN Europe’s IT Toolbox and IT Services side of the organization. I am also the person that supports all the other GEN Staff with all sorts of technical issues.
I’ve spent the last couple of years living in Poland and working as a systems engineer. My special skill is having an internationally untranslatable name which gives some headache to most people I meet. I’m a self-proclaimed amateur home cook with a special interest in latin american cuisine. I love to travel and I am slowly working towards that “Are you in the country now?” persona among my family and friends 🙂 I am also a scout, a bachata dancer, and have many more minor hobbies, as versatility is the keyword in my notebook. I enjoy spending time with interesting people and trying new things, especially food <3
I’ve wanted to participate in an ESC project for quite a while and this one, which blended living in Spain, utilizing my professional experience and possibility to spend lots of time in nature, seemed really nice to me.
If I were a dish, I would be a korean bibimbap (mixed rice), because I love to be versatile and I feel like my personality is composed of many different flavours. Also bibimbap is delicious.
