Creating Sustainable Schools A Comenius Programme (Multilateral Partnership) coordinated by Cyprus, with partners from Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Finland and France Dr. Pavlos Rigas

Aim not only for their own sake, but also for the sake of future generations Create schools where the future citizens will be educated in order to preserve the environment, not only for their own sake, but also for the sake of future generations. Basic principle of sustainable development

Starting Local Activities (a) DVD (a) Logo competition (a) Exchange letters

Main issues (a)consumerism and reducing waste, (b)restructuring of the surroundings of the school, (c)travel, traffic and climate change, (d)nutrition

Consumerism and reducing waste (period: 10/2008 – 1/2009) (i) Survey in order to distinguish reusable and recyclable waste (go to a supermarket and identify products for each category, or bring products at school and do the same). (ii) Use waste in art lessons and make exhibitions. (iii) Recycle paper at school. (iv) Investigate the impact that single packed products have to the environment. (v) Prepare Christmas or Easter cards using reused, recyclable or recycled materials.

(vi) Interview the waste (students write an imaginary interview with a specific waste such as an empty plastic bottle). (vii) Bring to school products and vote for the least necessary one. (viii) Exchange toys (students bring toys that they no longer want to have and exchange them with other toys that they would like to have). Consumerism and reducing waste (period: 10/2008 – 1/2009)

Restructuring the surroundings of the school (period: 2/2009 – 6/2009) (i) Survey of the situation of the surroundings of the school (flora, waste, roads...). Investigate maps, take pictures, make drawings of the present situation. (ii) Propose ways that will help to improve the surroundings by writing a report and redrawing maps which will be forwarded to the local community.

(iii) Organize campaigns in order to show to the neighbours that there is a way to restructure their neighbourhood (presentation, leaflet, model…). (iv) Interview people that live in the neighbourhood (identify their complaints and how they would prefer their neighbourhood look like). (v) Make presentations of the findings. Restructuring the surroundings of the school (period: 2/2009 – 6/2009)

(i) Make a survey about the way people of our neighbourhood travel in order to go to their work (investigate how many cars pass by a certain place of the road near to the school and count how many people are inside the car – this activity can be repeated at another time of the day in order to identify the time of the day which creates the most pollution). (ii) CO 2 footprint (idea taken by the site (iii) Students make their own cars out of waste (they propose the way the cars should move in order to be friendly to the environment). Travel, traffic and climate change (period: 10/2009 – 1/2010)

(iv) Investigate the travel habits of people today and before 50 or even 100 years. (v) Organize photograph exhibitions which show the impact of global warming to our world. (vi) Studies about endangered species which are threatened to extinct because of global warming (e.g. polar bear). (vii) Create small greenhouses in order to investigate the impact of greenhouse effect to our planet (students can investigate how a plant grows inside and outside a greenhouse and make projections of what could happen if the temperature inside the greenhouse could rise). Travel, traffic and climate change (period: 10/2009 – 1/2010)

(i) Promote traditional products. (ii) Competitions about promoting healthy food (e.g. which class is the most frequent fruit eater). (iii) Prepare recipes with traditional products. (iv) Arrange cooking nights where the school will promote traditional products and at the same time products from the partner countries. (v) Link healthy nutrition with frequent exercise. (vi) Organize healthy breakfast activities. Nutrition (period: 2/2010 – 6/2010)

End products (a) Fairy tale (produced in a joint way by all the countries – the students of each country write a fairy tale about the non- sustainable monsters and then all of them are put together) - finished. (b) Dictionary – each country prepares a dictionary with everyday expressions which are put together - finished. (c) Game (Sustainable Pursuit): Knowledge Game (the cards will be produced each term for each issue) – in process. (d) Sustainable schools suitcase (with activities that concern the main issues that are going to be examined – the activities are going to be all the activities mentioned above) - in process.