Aims
Our aims are to provide understanding, personal experience and skills, needed to restore resilience by connecting with nature and oneself.
Objectives
Our objectives are to provide the experience of nature as a guide - to connect a person with him/herself - to connect people

Quotes from interviews

I learn about cycles of life and death M.S.

“From nature I learn about cycles of life and death. Life and death are always connected, but modern men has forgotten that long time ago and broken his link to the cycle life/death/life.”

Earth has its Sun, Moon and two protectors, Saturn and Pluto A.M.J.R

“Earth has its Sun, Moon and two protectors, Saturn and Pluto. According to low of nature, the same must be true for every human being. That is a way I learn from Nature, observing natural lows and applying them to humans.”

Quotes from Reference Frame

What is nature to you and how does it influence your way you deal with difficult moments in your life? Moments in life

"Reading 51 interviews it was interesting to see how nature is perceived from different points of view. The answers could be classified, which is a necessary step in the analysis but one conclusion is straightforward: RESPECT. No matter how nature is described by the participants, respect is a common quality."

Share a personal story when you have overcome a life challenge. (How did you look to nature for relief, help, etc.) Personal story

"The personal stories as a result of this question, lead to a dispersion of answers. We have different problems, and nature offers different ways of helping. A conclusion could be offered, a DIVERSITY OF INTERACTIONS is possible within humans and nature which heals us."

What are your client’s needs (competencies) in order to overcome life challenges? Life challenges

"Some of the competencies mentioned in the interviews were – in a broader sense – survival skills in nature including physical fitness. This is of course important because it opens up a wider choice of interactions with nature. However, within this project we shall not deal with physical fitness programs.

Within the CONNAT project, we will build a course with an aim to enabling recognition of someone’s needs, her/his readiness to search for a possible fulfilment of those needs through interaction with nature as a prerequisite for wellbeing. Development of this set of competencies, presented later, is the core of our course."

What do you need, as a professional, to help people to overcome crises in their lives? Crises in lives

"A support NETWORK and exchange of good practices with other professionals should be developed (informal and formal associations) on raising the awareness of people about the benefits of being active in nature. Networking was mentioned as an important factor in the success of this project."

„The population in cities continuously grows. According to World Urbanization United Nations Prospects today the 73% of the population of Europe lives in towns, by 2050 approximately the 66% of the world population will live in cities. In Hungary this rate will be 82%. (UN, 2014)

Urbanization have an impact on natural environment, on society and on the individual as well. In this article we focus mainly on the effects on individuals. Mental problems appear on the following areas:

  • lack of mindfulness due to the „runaway phenomenon” of the intentional cognitive processes
  • the decreasing sense of community based partly on the break-up of the traditional family and community models,
  • the alienation from nature. Due to our distance from the natural environment, we do not feel as part of the nature anymore.”

„The connection with nature could be curing. Higher level of concentration, better achievements, less aggression, less stress, better adaptability – just some of the benefits (Louv, 2008; Kuo-Sullivan, 2001). Walking in the forest, spending some time in wild nature, animal assisted therapy, a greener environment have great relaxing effects. Studies have proved that criminality amongst young people were much higher in urban areas.”

AURA Sviluppo Sostenibile – Centro Studi e Formazione (Aura Sustainable Development) is an association registered at the Agenzia delle Entrate of Vibo Valentia /Tropea, 13.10.2011 nr. 2339; CF 96032800797.
It begins its work in year 2011. It is located in Ricadi, in the southern region of Italy, Calabria.
It has 4 staff members and also about another 4 educators who work on educational research projects and support our activities. It organises research, learning programmes and EU projects. Aura is a member of several national, international and European professional networks: Art of Hosting, Society for Organisational Learning, Presencing Institute, Psychosynthesis community, U.Lab community and IPTL International Partnership for Transformative Learning.
The emphasis of Aura Sviluppo Sostenibile is on self-awareness as a core capacity of twenty-first century, and on creating and holding spaces for personal and relational transformation. How can we experience our wholeness? How can we access intuition? What solutions can we generate for the society's most pressing challenges? How can we create a critical mass of people working across institutions and communities who, in face of very challenging conditions, continuously activate a deeper level of humanity in the field? How can we unleash collective intelligence? The principle which guide every action is to believe in the potential of all individuals and groups, in participatory processes and collaboration, and that there is a growing number of people with the need to live an authentic life.

AURA Sviluppo Sostenibile

important places
sensations
find harmony
nature helps
to go outside and walk
meeting others
to connect to others
harmony and balance
connection to themselves