Service Education of educators and children on the topic of ecological and sustainable development to improve services for children in early and preschool education for DV Trogir
On Saturday, December 10, the service Education of educators and children on the topic of ecological and sustainable development was officially completed with the aim of improving services for children in early and preschool education for DV Trogir. The service was performed in the period from October 1 to December 10, 2022.
The educators of Sunce and the preschool teachers of DV Trogir intensively socialized in the past two months at a total of ten workshops for teachers and five workshops for children. The workshops were held in the following regional facilities: PO Maslina, PO Maslačak, PO Sunce. The educational program for preschool teachers that was implemented has a positive expert opinion from the Agency for Education.
Below is a brief overview of what we did:
1. Introductory workshop
Date of the event: October 1st, 2022
The first workshop was dedicated to getting to know all the participants and educators of Sunce and presenting the educational program “Responsible generation and waste handling” and everything that awaits us in the coming period. As always, the workshop included participatory activities such as interviewing a partner and the Secret Friend exercise. We also visited the recycling yard to get an insight into how waste is managed in the local environment of the institution.
2. The Sustainable waste management workshop
Date of the event: October 8th, 2022
At the second workshop, the preschool teachers were introduced to the issue of sustainable waste management through various activities: analysis of newspaper articles about waste, a lecture on Sustainable Waste Management, a review of the EU Action Plan for a circular economy… We also raised awareness of how we manage waste in our private life and within the institution. In the end, we employed our hands and recycled paper as we can with children.
3. The Composting – what and how? workshop
Date of the event: October 15th 2022
Following the workshop on sustainable waste management, we paid special attention to composting – sustainable biowaste management. We talked about what composting is, what methods are available to us, how to successfully compost and include composting as an activity for children and educators in kindergarten. As part of the workshop, a compost bin was created in the yard of the kindergarten, as well as a plan for maintaining the compost bin and involving children in composting.
4. The Eco-activities for children of nursery age workshop
Date of the event: October 22nd 2022
An important part of the educational program is the content on ways to bring closer the nature to children and the development of environmental education in preschool age. At this workshop, the educators were introduced to the developmental stages of children, specifically children of nursery age, and their connection with the environment and nature. Useful activities and didactic toys made of natural materials that can be used in working with nursery school children were presented to raise awareness of nature and the environment. Sunce also presented its educational materials, which it uses for the topics of getting to know the flora and fauna of the local community and the problem of pollution. In order to put the theory into practice, bird feeders were made from orange peel, paint brushes from twigs and leaves, as well as memory game from natural materials found in the yard.
5. The Eco Activities for children of kindergarten age workshop
Date of the event: October 29th 2022
This workshop had the same goals as the previous one, only the emphasis was placed on working with preschoolers, that is, ways of educating about ecology and responsible behavior towards the environment from an early age. As part of the workshop with the preschool teachers, we made wax candles, as a completely natural, ecological and biodegradable substitute for disposable plastic and aluminum foils.
6. The Environmental responsibility – energy and water workshop
Date of the event: November 5 th 2022
For all ecological education to be visible in the everyday life of the institution itself, a special part of the educational program was focused on the greening of kindergartens. The goal of this workshop was to familiarize the preschool teachers with the ways of environmental utilization of energy and water, the possibilities of improving and influencing the ecological footprint of the institution on the environment, and to raise awareness of the unnecessary consumption of resources and losses within the institution. As part of the workshop, the preschool teachers made their own ecological cleaning products and toothpaste using natural materials.
7. The Environmental responsibility – procurement and transport workshop
Date of the event: November 12th, 2022
Continuing the work on raising the environmental responsibility of the institution, as part of the workshop, the preschool teachers were introduced to green procurement, they became aware of their consumer habits and alternatives in transportation. To apply the knowledge immediately, we visited nearby stores and conducted the so-called consumerist walk – a walk in which we analyzed the products offered on the shelves, ecological options, labels and possible greenwashing promotions.
8. The Implementation of environmentally responsible principles workshop
Date of the event: November 26th 2022
All new knowledge and skills from the previous two workshops were applied to create a plan for the implementation of environmentally responsible guidelines in the work of the institution. As part of the workshop, tests and questionnaires on consumption were conducted to raise awareness of one’s own ecological footprint. As a follow-up to this workshop, recommendations were made for DV Trogir, i.e., steps were proposed to achieve as much environmentally responsible facility as possible.
9. The Environmental responsibility in the community workshop
Date of the event: December 3rd 2022
The environmentally responsible kindergarten shares its knowledge and skills in its local environment, trying to involve as many people as possible in spreading environmental messages and habits. At this workshop, the preschool teachers decided to organize an Swap fair to further improve networking with parents.
10. The How was it and what to do next? workshop
Date of the event: December 10th 2022
The Swap fair appropriately rounded off the entire educational program. The fair was attended by parents and children of the city of Trogir, and with fun and socializing, they became aware of the way to encourage the circulation of objects in the community to reduce waste. Of course, we did not forget to evaluate all the activities carried out, the educational program and the work of Sunce educators to further improve this service. In a warm atmosphere, diplomas were handed out to all teachers/participants of the educational program, and in the right holiday mood, we gave each other symbolic gifts and kind words.
At the same time as the workshops for teachers, five workshops were held for children from DV Trogir, PO Sunce on the topics of the importance of water and water circulation in nature, nature protection, separate collection of waste and personal contribution to nature protection, protection of the sea and familiarization with the undersea and marine litter.
The workshops were held: November 16, 22, 28 and 29, and December 5, 2022.
