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5th project meeting in Alcoy, Spain (June 2022) (C4 activity, Part 2)

  • Little footprints leave a small carbon footprint behind: LTT mobility in Alcoy, Spain

     

    Participants of the meeting are:

     

    Latvia: Aija, Dace, Martins

    Bulgaria: Ekaterina, Maya, Margarita, Ginka

    Spain: Macu, Julia

    Slovenia: Anja, Lara, Nadja

    Sweden: Johanna, Cecilia, Kattis, Carina, Jacob, Johan

     

    Day 1, June 20 2022

     

    Introduction

    Julia and Macu met us in front of school and led us through corridors and outside playgrounds to the common room. We played an introduction game to learn about each other. We formed two circles and changed partners every minute. 

    Principal of the school Juan Antonio (one of the 4 ones) welcomed us to San Roc school. He explained the school's motivation for the project and some organizational details of the meeting.

     

    Exploring the school grounds

    Following activity was exploring the school called Break Out. Participants were divided into national teams and explored the school using a map of the school. They were given different tasks such as learning the names of the children,  making a fingerprint stamp. One of the teachers explained the project activities kindergarten kids did. We did an orienteering activity in the school garden and identified different vegetables and fruits that grow there. 

    After the coffee break we visited a school library, where we did a recycling task and a 4 grade classroom where children helped us make decorations for the ice cream party. We used cardboard and other materials, and the children showed us some designs that we followed. We had a chance to chat with children about our countries, costumes, favorite food, capitals etc. Some teams practiced the dance moves for tomorrow's event and others participated in the gym lesson. 

    We also solved a math problem in the sensory room for special needs children. All teams gathered in the elementary school playground. Latvian and Slovenian teams got a task to learn a phrase in Spanish (‘Telephone’ game). They needed to pass the code to an administrative worker who gave them a part of the clue. All teams together needed to work out a combination of numbers (on clue papers) to open a lock. Inside of the box was a walnut which was a clue to planting a tree later on. We visited a natural area next to school where they raise autotonic chickens. They are doing this conservative project for the second time in collaboration with a local municipality. For several years they have also been part of another conservation project with fresh water crabs. They have 2 chicken coops - one at upper level and one on the lower as different species can not mix. 

    We planted a walnut tree in the lower part of the garden and took a group photo.

     

     

    Lunch was held in the common room and afterwards, we did presentations of sustainable theme activities. In Slovenia children learned about plants (parts, lifecycle..), explored soil, did some experiments, identified the garden elements and built their own miniature gardens, visited local producers,learned about the importance of garden ponds, local and organic food and enjoyed the food they produced in the garden. Bulgarian team did a lesson about why eating healthy is important, did a baking event with grandparents, planted a garden and fruit&vegetable show.

    The Spanish created their own seed bank, had a masterchef event where they created healthy recipes, visited the olive farm and observed olive oil production, and worked on the garden. Children were able to take the produce home. Latvians focused on healthy eating habits (possibility of choice, portion control…) and explained what they do with leftover food, preparing food in the woods and foraging, making community meals… Sweden focused on lowering the amount of wasted food by 50% which they almost succeeded. They grow and made dishes using Jerusalem artichoke. They explained sustainable practices regarding nutrition on the municipality level and shared photos of their visit at the local farm. After the questions, the first day officially ended and we continued with an informal gathering in the city center. 

     


     

     

    Day 2, June 21, 2022

    Today was the last school day for children in Colegio Sant Roc. After being welcomed by our host in the common room, we joined the children at a farewell party at the end of the school year called the Ice Cream show. Elementary school children (Class 1-6) prepared different choreographies to popular songs and also did their own costumes. Each team had a task (dedicated before mobility) to join one of the classes and dance with them. Some teams prepared their costumes with the help of the children the day before. Bulgaria got a rock’n’roll song, the Swedish team got Surfin USA by the Beach Boys and Latvian and Slovenian team danced to Abba.

     

     

     

     

     

    We did some more job showing with kindergarten children, observing their pool party. Children were offered different water-based activities between which children moved in their groups. There were relay games, water balloons, water pipes, small pools, carrying water in cups…

    Each team presented their posters about sustainable practices they did before the meeting. Participants commented on the posters and added additional ideas and tips for improvement.

    We agreed on the following:

    TIPS AND RULES FOR POSTERS:

    • Share your poster with a team in Canva (not pdf)

    • Posters need to be transferable to all countries so don’t list specific practices of your country

    • Include a project logo with all the schools logos

    • Be short and specific: Short phrases, sentences, different fonts, colors, big letters…

    • Johanna/Swedish team is responsible for the poster so she will make final design and text corrections. Maybe there should be a common attribute to all the posters: sustainable practice written in the same font, color, size?

    • Dedicate a section to HOW TO DO IT IN SCHOOLS:

    for example RECYCLING: 

    • place recycling bins in all the classrooms, hallways and common rooms

    • Make your own recycling bins…

    • Teach children how and why they need to recycle (follow national guidelines)

    • Make a child/pupil a recycling monitor 

    • Make a class competition: Who is a recycling champion?

    • Try some recycling practices: for example making recycled paper from paper waste

    • Teachers should be good role-models.

    • ....

     

    FINAL VERSION OF THE POSTERS SHOULD BE SENT TO JOHANNA BY AUGUST 1!

    After the workshop participants joined students for an icecream.

     

    The last workshop involved making a sustainable guideline leaflet, which is the main product of our project. In national teams we discussed which guidelines to include, how to include description and implementation of the practices in public institutions, the size of the leaflet and other important information it should include. We agreed on:

    • There should be a motto on the first page, such as: Want to make your school more sustainable?

    • There shouldn’t be too much text

    • Graphics (clipart…) not photos

    • Page with links to school websites and our facebook page

    • Leaflet should be 8 pages long

    • Design should be in a form of mind map

    • Topics should be divided into 5 categories: Rethink (where I am and where I want to be), Reuse, Reduce, Repair, Recycle

    • Project with school logos (flags?)

    Teams also thought of the design of the leaflet. We gathered the ideas and agreed to finish the draft of a booklet at Slovenian mobility in July. Final design will be made by a graphic designer who works in Vrtec Vrhnika. Cost will be covered from Slovenian organizational funds. Booklet will be in English. Each partner will be responsible to translate it and distribute it to 100 schools or other public institutions. 

    Later on we joined the Collegi Sant Roc staff at lunch, where we had the opportunity to try local foods and drinks and connect with other teachers. 






     

    Day 3, June 22 2022


    On the last day of mobility we started the day in Espanya Square where we started the guided  history tour of Alcoy. We learned about the history of the town, famous buildings and people who designed them. We also visited the city council and met the municipality representative who is responsible for the local environment and education. He expressed the support for our project and showed us a promotional video about Alcoy. We also got some promotional materials. 
     

     

    We continued the meeting at school, where we planned the Slovenian mobility. Aija explained the tasks for the project farewell party.

     

    Each team will organize a part of the party:

    Latvia: decoration

    Slovenia: playlist

    Bulgaria: party games

    Spain: dances

    Sweden: project highlights

     

    Each partner will help with the food, which we will prepare in the outside wood burning oven. As it gets really hot, dishes like pizza (mabe with a traditional twist?) grilled meat and vegetables, potatoes and bread would be best. You need to tell Anja what ingredients you need so she can provide them in advance.

    Materials for decoration can be used from our waste materials storage. Participants can, of course, join in all party planning activities. 

    Timeline and financial contract will be made in the following days. 

    We did an evaluation of the mobility in online and physical form. Anja thanked the Spanish team for organization and hospitality. After a shared lunch of traditional paella, we finished the meeting.