Noa

Travel information

I am currently

Activities i am interested in:

I am passionate about ecology so I am deeply interested in all kind of environmentally-friendly projects such as permaculture or working with NGOs.

Description

Hello! I am Noa and I am currently taking a gap year after ending my first year of a master's degree in international relations in the Political Sciences Institute in Lyon, France.

I am deeply passionate about ecology and heartily engaged in the defense of this cause. As a matter of fact, I was, in particular, the president of the environmental association of my school, called “Volonterre”, whose purpose is to make students aware of the necessity to fight for the preservation of the environment. I was also working as a volunteer in the Lyon association “Anciela” which is supporting and encouraging citizens' initiatives and involvement in the fields of solidarity and ecology. In addition, in my school, I am an activity leader of the “Workshop 2tons” whose aim is to explore the future by making the participants reach the threshold of two tons of carbon dioxide per person by 2050 to limit climate change.

Working within environmental Non-Governmental Organizations, international organizations in charge of sustainability projects or even environmental activist organizations represent the three main lines of my professional project. Therefore, I decided to take this gap year with the aim of participating in ecofriendly projects whose goal is to build sustainable, fair and inclusive societies.

Thus, I am currently doing a six-month internship, until the beginning of March, in the association “makesense”, in Paris. The latter works to give back the power to act to everyone in order to achieve the ecological and social transition. I am part of the citizen mobilization team which is, at the moment, undertaking a six-month program called “the Social cup” intended for young people to make them involved in this transition. For the second part of my gap year, between March and July 2025, I would love to travel abroad to help different ecological projects, especially in Norway and Italy, hence my application to workaway.

In fact, my interest in environmental issues drove me to attend the university of Tampere, Finland, during my year abroad, between September 2022 and May 2023. Indeed, I wanted to experiment with a way of life that was more connected with nature and to follow courses on this topic such as “the decolonization of sustainable development”, “extractivism and alternatives” and “environmental issues of the Arctic”. This year made me realize that travelling is one of the most rewarding experiences one could ever dream of and that I want to keep learning about Northern countries. As a matter of fact, discovering the breathtaking natural landscapes of Norway became one of my biggest dreams since I visited Tromsø during this Erasmus. What is more, throughout this experience I made new friends and especially Italian friends who made me fell in love with Italy, feel like learning Italian and travelling in this beautiful country.

Furthermore, this workaway experience would also allow me to fulfill all the activities that I love. In fact, as soon as I get free time, I love hiking, swimming and sharing convivial moments, such as cooking and listening to music, with other people. I am also quite adventurous as I am always keen on discovering new activities and places. Therefore, I feel that workaway represents the ideal chance to find new adventures.

Finally, I would consider myself responsible, reliable, easy-going and joyful as I try every day to bring happiness to the people around me! I deeply mean to use these characteristics during my experiences with workaway to help as much as I can.

To conclude, this experience with workaway appears to be the perfect opportunity to concretely contribute to environmental projects, meet inspiring people and discover new adventures, landscapes and ways of living.

I hope to see you soon,

Noa

Interests

Languages

Charity work

Winter sports

Water sports

Camping

Fitness

Outdoor activities

Cooking & food

Events & social

Music

Hiking

Gardening

Mountain

Sustainability

Vegetarian or vegan

Sailing / Boating

Politics / Social justice

Nature

Books

Animals

Adventure sports

Languages spoken

English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate

Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

DIY and building projects

Animal Care

Life at a Farmstay

Art Projects

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Some knowledge of:  

Eco Projects

Charity Work

Languages

Gardening

More details about your skills

Throughout my studies, my work and volunteering experiences I have learnt some skills that could be useful for my workaway in order to bring my help to multiple projects.

First of all, thanks to my studies and my year abroad in Finland, I am very comfortable with the English language: speaking and understanding English has become easier and easier for me over the year in Finland as I was using this language in my everyday life. I can also easily understand and read Spanish even though I struggle a bit more with the talking part.

Then, my way of life taught me practical skills that could be helpful for my workaway. I grew up surrounded by people who loved gardening: I always had a garden at my family house and my family also owns a small wood. Thus, I have learnt the basics of gardening and despite the fact that I have not gardened for a long time, I deeply want to know more about it and acquire new skills. In addition, as I am a vegetarian for more than four years, I have learnt how to cook vegetarian or vegan meals.

Moreover, my work experiences helped me to gain several skills. As a matter of fact, I have a little experience in teaching as I used to give homework help as well as to be a workshop leader for different environmental NGOs, where I was a volunteer, and now during my internship. Indeed, one part of my current job is to facilitate group activities to make young people aware of social and environmental issues. I also did two summer jobs : I worked as a secretary and a waitress and these experiences gave me the opportunity to develop multiple soft skills such as adaptability, clear and good communication, rapidity to react or again teamwork.

My different voluntary works and involvements in environmental NGOs drove me to learn how to organize events such as conferences, workshops and forums, to handle unforeseen events, to mobilize people and to communicate around the ecological and social transition.

Overall, my studies and my different voluntary work experiences taught me to learn fast but more importantly the significance of being curious and open-minded. It is for this reason that I am applying to workaway, in order to build knew practical skills, especially in gardening and home improvement, and soft skills, by meeting inspiring people and discovering new places.

Age

23

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies

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  Special dietary requirements
  I am a vegetarian.