Training in Greece

Description of the Activities

DAY 1

First day of GICE program, mobility in Greece, learn about the project and its aims, the coordinator and the partner organisations. Introduction to the 8 Key Competences. In groups we identified ways we could develop or improve the key competences through the project. We also expressed fears and expectations about the project as well as how we could contribute to its successful implementation.

Next activity had to do with sustainability. We were introduced to the term and shared our own knowledge about it. Then we discussed about the tree pillars of sustainability: Economy, Environment and Society. Afterwards we were introduced to the manufacturing of t-shirt and how sustainable the whole process is. Each country shared the average price of a simple t-shirt and a branded/ expensive one and a chart was created. Then in pairs we had a look at the labels of our clothes to find information about the material, the country of manufacture, care directions etc. Following, in groups we tried to build up and analyses each step of creating a cotton t-shirt from starch to final product. Each group presented their work and then a sum-up was made, indicating the three pillars and how they are applied in the process. We then discussed about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), talked about their importance and which made an impression to us.

Last activity was an empathy and social awareness activity. We formed a line, standing next to each other and we were given a role, some roles were more privileged than others. Instructor was giving some information to help us imagine how our roles' life is, their childhood, the obstacles they might face as well as to imagine how our roles' life it is today. Afterwards, instructor was giving us a statement, if we could answer to the statement with a YES, we were making a step forward, while if the answer was NO, we remained in our place. Each participant took steps according to his/her role, some participants made lot of steps and some others made just a few. After all the statements were given, we formed groups to discuss how we felt when making or not making a step, how we felt seeing others taking steps or how we felt when we realised that there were people who did not take much steps. We also discussed our roles which help us realise that there are people who struggle and people who have a simpler life. We then created posters, describing our experience and presented them to the whole group discussing about how we felt and what thoughts crossed our minds.

DAY 2

Second day started with a presentation about Erasmus+ projects, their aims and other important information. We were given 4 subjects to choose from and according to our choice working teams were created. We worked in teams thinking and drafting an eco-project. Each team had participants from different countries which made the activity more interesting. By this way we created 8 working groups in green projects. The work of the teams started in our second day and we had the other days to finalize our work for green projects and to proceed in presentations of posters, programs and in general participants to love their projects.

The afternoon activity of the second day was about us presenting the preparation activities we did back home. Each country-team presented something about the situation in their country regarding circular economy and/or a green-circular economy project.

DAY 4

During the 4th day we continued working on our green projects, focused on creating a timetable of activities. Then we presented our projects for feedback from the coordinator and the whole team.

In the afternoon of the 4 we did an activity about journaling. We discussed about the presentation of natural disasters in the media, how photos of the affected area are used, interviews from people who were affected etc. We then discussed about how disasters from human activities like factories, industrial applications, miners etc are presented in the media. Usually there are fewer photos and less interviews with affected people. After discussing, we formed groups to work on presenting the front page of a newspaper hosting two articles, one for a natural disaster and one for pollution from human activity. In the articles we included information like what happened, when and where, who were directly affected, who could be affected in the future, what local authorities and what volunteers could do. We then presented our front pages to the whole group.

DAY 5

During the morning of day 5 we continue working on our green-projects on our teams. We focused on the details of our projects, like building our partnership, deciding on the funding and application preparation etc. We then presented our progress for feedback from the group and the coordinator.

In the afternoon of day 5 we had the activity Web of life. We brainstorm links in a global food web. In a circle, using a thread we constructed a network. A person holding the start of the thread stated something from the base of the food chain, a plant, and through the thread to another person in the circle, that person stated an animal which eats that plant and through the thread to another person which stated an animal which eats the animal stated from the previous person and so on until we used up the thread and a network was created inside the circle. We discussed a little about the complexity of the food chain and how everything is connected. We then introduced pollution and natural disasters. Each time a person (representing the plant or the animal he/she stated) was affected, he/she was leaving the thread he/she was holding. We watched the network collapse and we discussed about how a disastrous event or pollution can affect the food chain.

DAY 6

Morning of day 6 was dedicated to our green-projects. We presented the whole work we have completed during the week passed and got solid feedback from the participants and the coordinator. All ideas were fresh and innovative, the majority of the teams decided to work on them and implement them in the near future. We then worked in national groups to draft our dissemination plan which would include the actions we will implement back in our countries in order to share with other interested parties and stakeholders the knowledge we gain throughout the first mobility of the project. Final activity of our first mobility was to give out the Youth Passes to the participants who successfully participated in the activities we had.