Teachers meeting in Dusseldorf

From February 6 to February 10 of 2023, in the project "GrInnED-Green innovation: make education sustainable!" ("GrInnED-Green innovation: Make education sustainable!") a teachers' meeting was held in Dusseldorf, MWBK - Max-Weber-Berufskolleg.

On the first day of the meeting, the project participants got to know each other in person, the leading partners from the German school presented the project activities and also introduced the school as a whole. During the visit, it was possible to see the classrooms, their equipment, the teachers' room, as well as the leisure facilities.

Visiting a lesson was especially useful, during which we gained a better understanding of the organization of learning processes at school. For example, the teacher introduced the topic of the lesson at the beginning of the lesson, while in the second part of the lesson, the students had to prepare a practical task - to make a video on the topic "What practical things can we do to think about sustainability?". It should be noted that tablets are distributed to students during classes, which students use to complete assignments. At the end of the lesson, the teacher prepared an interactive online test to reinforce the knowledge gained during the lesson.

On the second day of the meeting, all the project partners went to the gas storage, which is currently used as an exhibition space. The theme of the project is sustainability, therefore, the leading partners of the project decided to present an exhibition that was directly related to the human impact on the planet, including the environment, animals, and climate. 

The name of the exhibition is "The Fragile Paradise". During the visit to the exhibition, the guide talked about concrete examples from the world related to negative human impact on the environment. At the end of the second day of the meeting, project participants from each country had to create a video retrospective of their visit to the exhibition and the main lessons related to sustainability.

On the last day of the meeting, the project participants watched all the recorded video materials with a retrospective of the visit to the exhibition "The Fragile Paradise". In the continuation of the day, each project participant presented the prepared homework on the analysis of a curriculum - the Latvian team presented about student learning companies, their creation, development, and participation in various events.

 At the end of the last day of the meeting, all partners went to the "Forest School", where students learn various topics related to the development of nature and animal diversity. It is interesting that the management of any school can apply for this program, and they can also choose what topics they want to see in the "Forest School".

In general, at the teachers' meeting, various discussions were held about specific sustainable things that happen in a particular educational institution, for example, the school sorts garbage, collects used bottles and batteries, and also involves school teachers and students in this process.

The next meeting is scheduled from April 24 to April 28 this year in Dusseldorf, Germany, where two teachers and four students will participate.