This project started at the end of 2018 with duration of 2 years, and it is funded by the EU Programme ERASMUS+. Partnership includes 8 partners from Bulgaria (2), Macedonia (3), and Croatia (3).
Significant percentage of the daily created amount of solid waste can be reused with very low efforts, but unfortunately it continues to damage our environment. This is why necessity of urgent actions in the sphere of waste selection and recycling are key precondition to ensure long life of our planet. The children in kindergartens are ideal target group to be presented a way how we can reduce our carbon footprint on the Earth and help our fragile environment. The project teaches young children about the ecological challenges facing the world today and shows them how, through a recycling and waste management project, they can help address these challenges by composting food waste that will be used to grow fruit, vegetables and flowers in their schools’ gardens. Implementation of the project activities will lead to establishing of the strategic partnership between different type of organizations (local public bodies, kindergartens and civil sector) gathered together to give their contribution for enhancing the quality of early childhood education. Following the new trends of pre-school education and good practices, and also the available technologies, it appears that the best approach is LEARNING BY DOING when they can DO IT by themselves. The main aim on this project is to develop age appropriate framework to teach pre-school children about reusing and recycling much of the waste they daily produce and improving the quality of work. This will be realized by increasing of the kindergarten’s teachers competences and skills for development of own approach to importance of waste selection and recycling, as essential concept for assisting them to encourage the pre-school children to undertake their own pilot projects especially in using and promoting of composting and production of eco-products. Partnership include different types of organizations: Local government of Ludbreg (Cro), public utility Vodovod (MK), three kindergartens Radost (Cro), Pavlina Veljanova (MK) and Radost (BG), and three NGOs REAN (Cro), LAG (MK) and CSEG(BG). Local public bodies and NGOs will prepare a document for development of strategic transnational partnership among local public bodies, kindergartens and NGOs from three municipalities (Ludbreg, Kochani and Pazardzik) for increasing of quality of pre-school education.
Kindergartens pre-school teachers will be trained for implementation of waste selection and recycling and learning by doing methods for composting procedure and establishing of eco-gardens, will be part of teachers’ network and will work with pre-school children on practical tasks; also a number of pre-school children (300) in testing the education methods and to actually follow the course in full shape and content. Trainers will have responsibility to deal with preparation of education materials (Handbooks) for theoretical and practical education on using of OER, waste selection and recycling with composting; NGOs will also take over dissemination of project results, organization and realization of events, realization of trainings and establishment of project’s web page.
The main activities foreseen in the frame of the project are following: management and coordination of the project; transnational meetings; theoretical and practical short term trainings; development and printing of the intellectual outputs (Strategic document and Handbooks) development and maintenance of project web-site; preparation of brochure for the project activities; organization of media publications and press releases for the project activities and results; preparation of presentations for final dissemination events.
Foreseen methodology which be used on the teacher’s trainings is a mix of theoretical and practical approach. Participants will be given the theoretical information required to effectively create and implement their own teaching solution in their classes, with aim to increase knowledge of pre-school children. Also teachers will be trained to get familiar with composting technology, its advantages, real “on site” implementation in Eco-gardens and analysis of results. The main impact, aim of the project, is to promote new learning approaches and networking as a great opportunity for more efficient pre-school education. Cooperation among teachers and among other authorities and responsible persons for education, with potential implementation of good practices in pre-school education, by realization of planned activities in developed document for strategic partnership, is desired long-term impact from the project.
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