CC BY 4.0Tulumello, Simone2024-02-062024-02-0620192468-064810.24306/plnxt/40https://doi.org/10.24306/plnxt/40https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14235/1344plaNext-Next Generation Planning Vol. 8 (2019) : Making space for hope 5-5My very first experience with AESOP happened during the second year of my PhD, when I was lucky enough to be selected for the PhD workshop in Seili Island, Finland. I remember that week of “confinement”, so to speak, in an island with a bunch of fellow students and mentors, as a turning point for my PhD. And I am referring not only to the specific inputs I received on my paper; but also to the possibility to share joys and frustrations of a starting academic life in a very horizontal environment, with students and senior researchers. That is why, when I was invited to join the 2018 PhD workshop, again in a northern island, Tjäro, Sweden, but this time as a mentor, I was both flattered and excited. I had the opportunity to contribute to the creation of a similar sense of sharing and academic exchange. Once again, the participation to the workshop was a turning point for my academic career. Indeed, I have learnt more than I can have thought – isn’t this the main lesson to be learnt?enopenaccesseditorial5-5