LTT C1-Reducing-Day 1

"Save Environment with 3R's" 

2021-1-RO01-KA 210-SCH-000032297  

Learning, Teaching, Training Activity 1

Reducing (The first step of sustainability)

Day 1-6 March 2023

 

    The first day of the LTT C1 started with the traditional welcome of the participants and the presentation of the host school.

    After that, the partner teams introduced themselves, and the project coordinator detailed the LTT C1 program in a hybrid activity.

    The first activity consisted of a presentation with the theme "Reduction - the first step of sustainability" and was in a hybrid format. It started with a brainstorming of the word "reduce".     Through this activity, students learned that reducing consumption is a great way to reduce their impact on the environment. Through free discussions, the students found out what is the difference between trash and waste. 

    Then some Eurostat statistics on municipal waste were presented, discussed and explained. Thus, the students were able to observe the amount of waste produced in 2006 and in 2021. They thus observed that in most EU countries the amount of waste will increase significantly in 2021, but also that in some countries, such as Romania, Belgium and Hungary fell.

    Next, the students were divided into five groups ("who?" group, "where?" group, "what?" group, "when?" group, "why?" group). Each team received a card in the shape of a star on which a question was written (who?, where?, what?, when?, why?) and the team members developed a set of answers related to the theme of waste (reduction / recycling, etc.) that they noted on the card they received.

At the end, all the answers for each question were read, the ideas appreciated by the students as being very useful were selected and written down on a flipchart. 

    The project coordinator, who is also a biology teacher, made additions where necessary.

    The activity continued with the presentation by each team of the poster about waste reduction, which was made before mobility.

    Then, the students and guest teachers were extracted from a bag one product at a time and asked to pay attention to the symbols found on the packaging. The coordinator presents and explains the main types of symbols that can be found on product packaging, emphasizing the importance of environmentally friendly packaging. In turn, each participant identifies the symbols found on the packaging of the products received. Then, the photos that the students had to take before the mobility are also analyzed, all finding that these symbols can be found on the packaging of the products from the 3 countries.

    The activity continued with the evaluation of the activities of the first day by solving a crossword.

    In the afternoon, a workshop on carbon footprint was organized. This workshop was conducted in a hybrid format. The objectives of this workshop were: understanding the effects that human activity has on the planet; defining the carbon footprint and becoming aware of the fact that everyone's activity influences this footprint; suggesting ways to reduce the footprint in order to protect the environment.

    Thus, students and teachers learned about the effect that human activity has on the Earth, learned what the carbon footprint is and understood how it grows through human activities.

    Through free-flowing discussions, they suggested ways in which they can reduce their carbon footprint and help protect the environment. The students learned what the ecological footprint is and what Earth Overshoot Day is. 

    Then, with the help of an online application, they calculated their own carbon footprint. All participants calculated their carbon footprint, and the obtained value was centralized in an excel document, and the participants from Turkey should also upload a screenshot to the WhatsApp group until Friday morning, when a statistical analysis will be carried out.

    Then, there was an informal meeting with the mayor of Husi, Mr. Ioan Ciupilan and his advisor, Mr. Sergiu Boeru. 

    During this meeting, the project coordinator made a brief presentation of the project and the activities carried out until then. The mayor wanted to congratulate the coordinating school for this very topical project and for the fact that there is a permanent collaboration on ecology issues between the school and the town hall, but also that through this Erasmus-type project, a higher level of civic involvement has been reached. 

    The students from Latvia were very curious and asked the mayor if there are other environmental protection projects taking place in the city hall. 

    The councilor was delighted by the interest shown by the students in the project for the problems related to environmental pollution and briefly presented the projects that the Husi City Hall has in progress, projects aimed at reducing pollution, waste and the rational use of natural resources.

The day ended with 2 meetings at 2 school institutions from Husi. The participants visited the "Ioan Corivan" Technological High School and the "Mihail Sadoveanu" Secondary School from Husi. Thus, the participants got to know the Romanian educational system better. The videos and photos taken during these informal meetings were uploaded to the WhatsApp group to be viewed by the Turkish participants as well.