The small village of Grottole can be found on a hilltop in southern Italy’s picturesque province of Matera. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been named 2019’s European Capital of Culture. Not bad, eh?

The lucky four will be transformed from tourists into temporary citizens of the village, where they will learn Italian, help run the community vegetable garden and be schooled in how to cook the nation’s favourite dishes from Italian “nonnas” (grandmothers) with ingredients they will have grown themselves.

Essentially, it’s three months of sun, great food, gardening and you’ll even walk away bi-lingual (depending on your efforts, of course).

But it’s not just about living the high life, this sabbatical is also about doing some good, too. Volunteers will also work for the local non-profit organisation “Wonder Grottole” which seeks to breathe new life into the city centre of this ancient village that, with only 300 inhabitants in the historic centre and more than 600 empty homes, is at risk of disappearing.

Those who are successful will provide support by using their training from the local community to list a home and social impact experience in Grottole on Airbnb for the latter two months. As co-hosts on Airbnb, they will welcome guests into beautiful homes and act as ambassadors of Social Impact Experiences; showing visitors traditional skills like honey harvesting, pasta making and olive making. Then, all proceeds from these experiences will be invested back into the village.

Airbnb are picking four people to take an Italian sabbatical and eat all the pasta