Five students from universities in Italy, Germany and the Netherlands are doing internships in villages in Navarra in the framework of KiNESIS, a project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Commission. It is coordinated in the Comunidad Foral by the researchers Ruth Breeze and Ana María Fernández Vallejo, from the group 'Public discourse' of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) of the University of Navarra. The Observatorio de la Realidad Social del department de Derechos Sociales del Gobierno de Navarra is also partner. 

These European internships seek to promote the partnership of young researchers and affected communities in order to find solutions. Specifically, Miranda Colavolpe, a student of Languages and Intercultural Communication at the L'Orientale University of Naples (Italy), is carrying out a project on women on the Camino de Santiago. Yuliya Pavlova, a student of European Management at Hochschule Harz (Germany), is working on project on how to mitigate the ecological effects of industry in Liédena.

In addition, Maarten Oosterom and Mirnes Harambasic, students of programs of study real estate at the University of programs of study Applied Sciences in Hanze (The Netherlands), are carrying out a project at partnership with Vivid and the City Council of San Martin de Unx to classify all the properties in the village. The idea is to create a strategic plan to secure the future of the town and make housing available to young people who wish to live there.

Finally, agronomist Juan Alméciga, student of a Master's Degree at Wageningen University (Netherlands) on rural development , is studying the needs of the new Sanmartinejos residents to find possible solutions to meet them and create a guide of existing services. 

University students in the Netherlands and Italy

In addition, three students from the University of Navarra are doing internships in the Netherlands and Italy through project Kinesis. Miriam Zeballos Rivero, a student of International Office, and Emilia Quillupangui Cedeño, of the Double Degree History and International Office, are in the Dutch province of Zelandia. The former is analyzing why young people are leaving the region and the latter is participating in various rural initiatives related to historical and cultural heritage. Gabriel Perez Ibiricu, student of Business Administration and Governance, collaborates with Agrifood companies in Frigento, in the mountains of Naples. 

The knowledge Alliance for Social Innovation in Areas at Risk of Depopulation (KNowledge for Social Innovation in Shrinking Villages) -KiNESIS- is a three-year project (2021-2023). It addresses depopulation with new, innovative and multidisciplinary approaches, which are applied in the teaching and learning. To do so, it relies on the creation of a network of exchange, flow and co-creation of knowledge locally and globally.