To begin with, the University of Padua has sparked my interest due to its great heritage in terms of educational activities, while Local Development has attracted my attention as I sought to narrow down my professional scope, trying to focus more on the localized efforts of social groups and organizations. I was also attracted to the international nature of the cohort, as the programme was English-taught and welcomed foreign students. It excited me to share the classroom with people from various backgrounds, of various ages and interests.
I would recommend Local Development to other students, as it is a highly flexible and versatile programme, where each student is able to not only find something interesting for themselves, but also to customize the syllabus in the process of studying. It is important to mention that this programme requires a good level of self-discipline and the ability to navigate the delivered material and knowledge; however, there are always people who are ready to provide the necessary guidance.

As I have shared in the previous answers, the strongest and the most exciting feature of my programme is its international nature. Students from various countries exchange their experiences and worldviews during lessons, discussions and projects, while the educational process frames such discussions with thought-provoking topics and exercises. Moreover, another strong feature is the multifaceted theoretical and methodological approach of the programme. Each student can evaluate their previous knowledge and then select the most suitable and interesting courses to expand their understanding. The programme itself does not shy away from providing both qualitative and quantitative research tools for their students, which helps to have a more holistic comprehension of the disciplines.

One of the most challenging and exciting classes was ‘GIS: Mapping and Analysis’, one of the most technical and practical courses, which used the QGIS program for map-creation and analysis of the landscape. This class stood out to me, since it was not only a completely new software, but also a great way to visualize the research. Moreover, Professor Piovan is an excellent educator, who is passionate for her subject and always ready to explore and help her students.

The main advice is to think holistically about your previous academic, professional and even daily experiences. The beauty of this programme is in its ability to unite various parts of life to tackle the questions of socio-cultural and political development that is why it is important to not shy away and see all your strong suits, be creative and innovative. The motivation letter is one of the most important aspects of the application, and it is exactly where you can give some tangible explanation to the lines in your CV. Therefore, I highly advise providing an elaborated explanation of your profile, while also not forgetting about your personal style and character.

Italy is an amazing place as it offers you a rich experience of both culture, nature and entertainment. To fully access it and to feel the most comfortable and accepted, I highly recommend learning Italian. The connections one can obtain, both professionally and emotionally, are much deeper with the knowledge of the local language, so I advise not to dismiss the importance of it. I am talking from experience, as learning Italian more intensively has helped me to feel a sense of belonging, I could not attain before.

I create art and explore, I am very passionate about visual storytelling, and I believe it is a great tool to talk about our world and many complexities that it has. I hope to one day do it more often, since it is really something that speaks to my heart.