VárzeapoéticaNon-profit association, Lisbon Português

Projects & Experience

What the association is preparing and the experience its team brings. We keep the two apart.

The association's project

The Nature of Poetry – Walking, Writing and Reconnecting on Portugal's Atlantic Coast

Submitted 29 September 2026, decision pending

A ten-day training for youth workers who walk the Fishermen's Trail and write along the way. Walking, nature and free writing become methods for youth work. Fernando Pessoa serves as a cultural reference. Half of the places are reserved for people with fewer opportunities.

Programme
Erasmus+, Mobility of youth workers (KA153-YOU)
Role
Applicant and coordinator
Dates
19–28 September 2027
Route
Fishermen's Trail (Rota Vicentina): Odeceixe, Aljezur, Arrifana, Vale Figueiras, Carrapateira
Participants
28 youth workers and 3 facilitators
Partners
Origó Műhely (HU), Bonsai Break Through The Box (GR), Dialektika – Panta Rhei e.V. (DE), Federación Estrellas de Europa (ES), Asociatia Pedagogilor Sociali CHEIA (RO), La Città del Sole (IT), Društvo Metta (SI), Udruga Zvizdan (HR)
Results
Toolkit of 12–15 methods; at least 16 local pilot activities
Requested
€43,564
Panorama of Vale Figueiras beach with cliffs
Vale Figueiras beach, one stage of the route.

Experience of the team

The following activities took place before the association was founded or independently of it. They are the personal experience of our members, not projects of the association.

Axel Bergdolt's path

  1. 1991–1993

    Cuisine et Santé, Saint-Gaudens

    Training in whole-food cooking, then head of kitchen and cooking teacher at a centre for about 150 guests.

  2. 1993–2006

    Cuisine et Vacances, Moliets-et-Maa

    Founded and ran a year-round seminar and retreat centre for young people and adults on the French Atlantic coast, with an open teaching kitchen.

  3. 2006–2013

    Life and work in Portugal

    Moved to Portugal. Counselling on nutrition and healthy living; individual support for people with health limitations, including preparing specially adapted meals for limited periods. Organised seminars on whole-food cooking and Yin-Yang-based nutrition, and also took part in them.

  4. 2007–2013

    Casas das Alfambras, Aljezur

    Planning an eco and education centre on the Costa Vicentina, the long-term goal.

  5. from 2013

    Open kitchen with young people

    For many years an open kitchen where young people cooked along two to three days a week. They learned to tell foods apart by origin, season and way of preparation, and to put together balanced meals from them. Also conversations on balanced eating and a small restaurant.

  6. since 2023

    Erasmus+ courses

    Cook, trainer and participant in international courses, three of them in the former Franciscan convent of Vila Franca do Campo in the Azores.

  7. 2025

    Seminars with Christiane Huber

    Two four-day seminars in Portugal on the after-effects of the Second World War in families.

Large group of people in the courtyard of a house with a wooden balcony
Guests and team in the courtyard of Cuisine et Vacances, Moliets, September 2004.

Erasmus+ courses Axel Bergdolt has contributed to

CoursePeriodPlaceOrganiserRole
Your Heart Beats
2022-1-HU01-KA210-ADU-000083500		19–27 Oct 2023Vila Franca do Campo, Azores (PT)Origó MűhelyCook
Walking on Inner Pathways
2023-2-HU01-KA210-ADU-000173827		September 2024La Verna–Assisi (IT)Origó Műhely / Libero PensatoreParticipant
The Next Beat
2024-1-HU01-KA153-YOU-000239022		21–30 Oct 2024Vila Franca do Campo, Azores (PT)Origó MűhelyCook
Three Treasures II2025Three Treasures Valley (HU)Origó MűhelyParticipant
Midnight in Paris & Sky above BerlinAugust 2025Paris (FR) and Berlin (DE)Origó MűhelyCook and trainer
Pilgrimage to Sustainability1–14 Sep 2025Way of St Francis, Tuscany–Umbria (IT)Libero PensatoreParticipant
Ritmo Vivo
2025-1-HU01-KA151-YOU-000297895		21–30 Oct 2025Vila Franca do Campo, Azores (PT)Origó MűhelyCook
The Next Beat II
Training course for youth workers, led by Audicia Lynne Morley		May 2026Three Treasures Valley (HU)Origó MűhelyParticipant
Women EmpowermentSeptember 2026Budapest (HU)Origó MűhelyCook and trainer
Rural ActivatorsSeptember 2026Lago Trasimeno (IT)Associazione KoraParticipant
Transform your life (Youth Exchange)
31 participants from Hungary, Romania, Greece, Italy and Spain		25 Sep–3 Oct 2026Three Treasures Valley (HU)Origó MűhelyTrainer
Footsteps: introduction to the Tamalpa Life/Art Process®
Facilitation: Audicia Lynne Morley		24–30 Oct 2026Convento de São Francisco, Vila Franca do Campo, Azores (PT)Origó MűhelyCook (planned)

Impressions

Impressions from courses and seminars our team has contributed to.

Cloister of the former Franciscan convent in Vila Franca do CampoMountain cross on the Way of St FrancisGroup on monastery stepsMovement exercise in the orchardGroup in a mountain meadowCrater lakes of Sete CidadesGroup in a lakeside parkPlated meal with vegetables and grainsInternational group with flags in the seminar roomDiscussion circle in a gardenVila Franca islet in evening lightMuseum visit with the groupRock rose on the Costa VicentinaWhite horse under pinesCliffs on the Atlantic