The 26th April 2022 marked the kickoff of the project´s third mobility! Even though it was chilly outside, all the participants were given the warmest welcome by the finnish hosts. From the 26th to the 30th April, all the participants engaged in many activities
International teams of participants did research on how to become an Effective Participator and the typical Learnish expressions in the field and reflected on how they can improve and build upon their collaborative process and how well they are working towards their short, medium and long term goals; together, they came up with two digital posters that will be translated and shared in their native language with their school community about what they learned.
To prepare for the mobility and promote awareness of one's responsibility for biodiversity, all the students were asked to take pictures of living organisms of their country, which were then organised in an exhibition entitled “Biodiversity in your Camera”, displayed in all the schools and published on eTwinning. Upon arriving in Mäntsälä, the students attended a workshop on cinematography with professional movie makers, Koulukino – School Cinema Association. Later, they were asked to create a short video about a specific problem related to biodiversity and climate change, so students had the chance to debate the issue, to hear people’s views and emotions, then come up with their own suggestions for how they personally could make a difference. The subject was also addressed in the documentary movie on fells in Lapland the students were shown in the afternoon.
The participants had the opportunity of visiting Lahti and the 2nd Salpausselkä ridge, formations left behind by the last Ice Age. The guided tour took them around the city and the lake, the Pro Puu Center and wood gallery and the Sibelius Concert Hall, home of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, with its modern wood architecture. Lahti is a green city and a model for sustainability, as less than 1% of the waste produced there goes to landfills, organic waste is used to produce biofuel and has many zero waste buildings. Lahti is also an example of collaborative work, as education institutions, city representatives and business all work together to make it a very successful city. The students were then asked to reflect on how the Lahti reality could be implemented in other cities. The activities for the day also included tasting typical Scandinavian food.
On the third day of the mobility, all the participants were taken on a hiking activity along Haukankierros, where they were shown the negative effects of climate change on a 200 year old forest and the impact of human action on nature. They also attended a workshop on how to build bug hotels and bird houses, and got to build their own. The last activity of the day was going to a sauna, a typical Finnish activity.
“Life below water” and the conservation and sustained used of the oceans was a topic of discussion and research. The students worked collaboratively to identify and find solutions for the consequences of climate change in the Baltic Sea. A fund raising event for Ukrainian children in cooperation with Unicef was organised and effected at the prom for the school’s second year students. The students participated by baking delicacies from their respective countries at Riihenmäki school.
To end the experience, the visitors were taken on a guided tour of the most relevant historical sites of Helsinki, to get better acquainted with the Finnish history and culture. The daytrip ended with a visit to the exhibition “Change in the Air”, in the Natural History Museum of Helsinki, and to Oodi, the Helsinki City Library.
The activities carried out during this mobility allowed the students to learn what it means to be an Effective Participator and why it is important; to develop skills such as getting involved, persuading others, identifying issues and finding solutions; they also learned that their active participation can make a considerable difference to a local or national charity and that they can make something happen that makes the Earth and their community a better or more enjoyable place to be. Other benefits included: getting students to move and to talk face to face, improving the ability to make real life relations; learning about help without benefits; cooperating and forming long term friendships, developing a sense of inclusion and solidarity; discovering one's potential, and feeling an important part of the society; developing their artistic sensitivity and their awareness of the cultural diversity of Europe; breaking barriers, prejudices and stereotypes about different cultures and lifestyles; contributing to social inclusion and promoting intercultural and civic competences of learners, teachers and locals.
