In September 2026, Tomàs Soria Heredia moved to the Netherlands to begin his European Solidarity Corps volunteering experience with ASEED Europe, an organisation working on social and environmental activism. His project will continue until 31 August 2027, giving him almost a full year to explore how grassroots initiatives work, contribute to campaigns and discover what collective action looks like in everyday life.
Now, almost seven weeks into his stay, Tomàs has shared his first reflections with us. From organising a solidarity fundraiser on a farm near Utrecht to camping with his team in Appelscha and taking part in discussions about ASEED’s next campaign, his first weeks have already offered plenty to think about. Here is how he describes the experience so far, in his own words.
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I started my ESC project with ASEED Europe on 7 September, and almost seven weeks in, I can honestly say this has been one of the richest experiences of my life: full of new people, new ideas, and new ways of thinking about what activism can be.
The first days were a mix of excitement and the usual settling-in chaos: learning a new routine, finding my way around, and slowly getting used to calling the Netherlands home. ASEED made that transition easy. From the very beginning I felt welcomed into a team where there's a real culture of caring for each other, and that makes a difference when you're far from home.
Some of my favourite moments so far have been the ones that brought the whole team together. We organised a fundraiser and awareness-raising day at a farm near Utrecht called Kansrijk, to support a farming community in Burin, Palestine. It was a beautiful reminder that solidarity can be built around a shared table, good food, and honest conversation. And shortly after, we headed to Appelscha for our organisational retreat: a few days of camping, cooking, and learning skills like tree climbing. It was a very sweet and bonding experience.
Right now, I'm especially excited about ASEED's campaign process. We're deciding together what our next campaign will be, bringing topics to the table, doing research, and meeting people from different organisations working on similar issues. It's been really cool to see our ideas take shape and learning how a horizontal grassroots organisation actually decides what to fight for.
For the rest of my year, I'm looking forward to going deeper into the campaign work, learning more about the Dutch activist scene, and continuing to grow with a team that's become a family.
