WHO WE ARE ??? SMART is a nonprofit, no-party and apolitical cultural youth association, founded in 2012. It’s specialized in youth work, focused on the educational sector and international mobility. The key words to describe Smart are: creativity, culture, nature and environmental sustainability, intercultural dialog, joy, European awareness, research, democracy, active participation, tolerance, inclusion, information, voluntary. Smart was created by a group of university students with common interests, ideas, passions and goals. Always engaged in the promotion of active citizenship, cultural rights, legality and social commitment, those same friends have decided to create an association in 2012 that can be a reference point for young people, a meeting place to discuss, put together ideas and opinions, generate culture and social integration. Each of us is a European citizen with equal rights and opportunities and instruments, such as intercultural and religious dialogue, comparison, European mobility, active citizenship that are a way of collective and individual growth, which favors the social inclusion and fights against prejudice, racism and xenophobia. There have been many initiatives taken on the university level, such as meetings, collaborations, discussions on issues of local and international interest. Smart is an association created in a university context and at the moment, many of the members non-residents of Pisa, have returned to their city and considering that most of the members who were part of it were from Salento and thanks to the great investment of the Region of Puglia on youth and cultural policies, we decided to move the headquarters of Smart in Salento. The mission of the association is to educate the young people through non- formal working methods. The main activities will focus on: Intercultural activities; Art and culture European consciousness Active Citizenship Goals: Active participation Personal development of young people Promotion of international mobility Promotion of youth creativity and innovation Solidarity among young people Development of learning and intercultural skills Promotion of artistic expressions and cultures Training To achieve these goals, SMART is organizing the following activities: Cultural Activities: meetings and events Educational Activities: educational thematic workshops for young people Intercultural Youth Exchange: projects to bring together groups of young people from two or more countries, giving them the opportunity to discuss and exchange views on various issues and in the same time to learn about other countries and cultures. A Youth Exchange is based on a transnational partnership between two or more promoters from different countries. Smart was born with the intention of giving life to a cultural and recreational project that encourages the participation and leadership of young people of their own territory, which promotes the integration of different cultures and languages and allows to give voice to all the artistic realities, especially to that youth that have no place in the traditional circuits. In September 2015 Smart Association presented “ The Door of the Opportunities” : “Starting Point” which will not be a common information board about timetables and routes, but rather an active instrument of contact between youngsters through the world of culture and Salentine work. Generating a virtuous circle of information and work. A slim and functional information point can represent a concrete response to the needs of the Youth. The “Starting Point” door hat the aim to train, inform and support young people so that they can enhance their potential and become active citizens and protagonists of their own learning process. Hosting a European volunteer means implementing a participation and engagement process with a new instrument. Until today, Smart Association has mainly promoted group activities, but now it is time activate the opportunities also for individuals, in order to focus on their process and skills that the individuals can get during their specific learning moments of life. The association intend to offer opportunities to develop and grow, because it’s an important way for young people to acquire soft skills or skills that gather personal qualities, the attitude in the workplace and the knowledge in the field of interpersonal relations. Smart creates projects that aim to support young people and their skill development (empowerment through the development of transversal and technical skills). In general, the association has a growing interest in the promotion of sharing, knowledge and cultural exchanges between the local and European young people, after seeing the impact and effects of the previous hosting projects and the participation of local youth in projects abroad and also the growing of the cultural sense of European identity. This is why the association would like to continue this important experience through regular and consistent hospitality of European volunteers. POGGIARDO Poggiardo is a small village with 6,175 inhabitants in the province of Lecce, in Puglia. It is located in the south- eastern of Italy in an area called ‘Salento’. Salento is situated exactly on the heel of Italian ‘boot’. This part of Italy has its own particular climate, culture, tradition, music and folks dance called pizzica, language, dialect, and food. In Poggiardo you are involved in many aspects of Salento culture: the Mediterranean climate, the Salentino dialect, a very particular language that only the people who live here can speak and understand, the Baroque style of the churches and the monuments, the typical Salento dishes, and the friendly and nice people. The climate of Poggiardo has the features of Mediterranean climate. During the winter, the climate is mild and with above-zero temperatures. However some days can be cold and rainy because of the freezing cold winds that blow on Salento from the North of Italy. In summer the weather is very hot and always sunny. The community of Poggiardo gives so importance for keeping their traditions, festivals and culture. In summer time the community organizes special events and nights with different cultural activities to promote its music and dance. Each Wednesday the bazaar is set up to sell some local products and to keep the typical local foods alive. Besides bazaar, festivals are also a really important occasion to get some ideas about Salento traditions, culture and music. During the festival you can have the possibility of listening the songs of this area with the special folk dance called pizzica. USEFUL INFORMATION Hospital / Post Office / Pharmacy / Palazzo Culturale Hospital The Francesco Piscipo Hospital provides you limited health services with your insurance because it hasn’t got sufficient equipment for every kind of health problems. In the Hospital you can find day surgery, fisiokinesi therapy, radiology ward, general medicine and analysis laboratory. In case you should need other specific treatments you might go to a more equipped hospital in Tricase or in Scorrano. The staff of the hospital is competent and the doctors and the nurses will do their best to make you feel good. Via Armando Diaz, Tel. 0836/908111 Pharmacy There are two pharmacies in Poggiardo: in case you need some medicines, you can buy them with your personal money and then the you will be paid by your sending organization. Via V.Emanuele, 40, 0836-901006, Piazza Umberto I, 0836-909090 Post Office The post office of Poggiardo is in front of the Pam supermarket.The volunteers who aren’t member of the EU can get the application form of Residence Permit from Post Office. Also for the PostePay – which is a special card that can be used like a credit card when you do shopping – you need to go to the Post Office. Palazzo della Cultura You can find Palazzo della Cultura in Umberto I square. It organizes exhibitions, conferences, cultural activities. You can get all the information about the monthly events from the Official City Council web site of Poggiardo http://www.poggiardo.com/. TRANSPORTATION Train In this part of Italy the main public transport is the train. Especially in Salento if you want to reach small villages you can take the train. For this reason, it’s better for you to get monthly train schedule. You can get more detailed information from the website of Ferrovie del Sud Est, FSE: www.fseonline.it. On Sunday and holidays there are no trains. If you want to go to Lecce or to another villages, there is only one bus in the morning and one in the night. You can find the schedule for these days in the above-mentioned webpage. These buses starts from front of Caffé Borghese. The train tickets also can be used in the bus. Do not forget to validate your ticket after the purchase, you can find the machines next to the desk. If you are thinking about travel around Italy, in Lecce you can find different types of trains powered by Trenitalia, the Italian train company. Trenitalia provides you high-velocity trains like Frecciabianca or Intercity with different prices and offers especially for the weekend. www.trenitalia.com GAGLIANO - LECCE GAGLIAN 05:40 06:11 06:54 08:12 08:58 09:51 11:54 13:30 14:57 17:20 18:54 20:46 O TRICASE 05:56 06:27 07:11 08:29 09:15 10:00 12:11 13:46 15:14 17:29 19:11 20:55 POGGIAR 06:18 06:50 07:33 08:52 09:37 10:14 12:34 14:09 15:37 17:43 19:33 21:09 DO MAGLIE 06:42 07:05 07:49 09:08 09:52 10:25 12:50 14:38 15:53 17:54 19:48 21:20 ZOLLINO 07:00 07:22 08:06 09:24 10:06 10:34 13:04 14:57