The series of methodological meetings with students as part of the Green Up! project has come to an end. The meetings were aimed at activating pupils to actively participate in discussions on environmental issues. Young people had the opportunity to put forward their ideas for ecological solutions for the environment, so that the most interesting ones would then have a real chance of being implemented.

The young participants in the workshop showed a great deal of knowledge about ecology, expressing themselves maturely on topics such as the greenhouse effect, water management and litter. Divided into groups, the pupils worked hard to come up with and develop their ideas on how to improve the environment in which they live. They then presented their findings.  Ideas such as creating dog parks, installing solar battery chargers, placing water dispensers in the city, and many other interesting ideas emerged. In addition to needs such as more rubbish bins, drinking water springs in the city, and the creation of outdoor meeting places, there was also the idea of creating a botanical garden and flower meadows. The students also highlighted the need to increase environmental awareness, both in the younger and older generations.

The first of three meetings with young people from Braniewo within the project took place at The Senat RP Primary School No. 3 in Braniewo, the second school visited was The Ziemia Braniewska Primary School No. 5 in Braniewo, the third facility was The Jan Paweł II Sports Primary School No. 6 in Braniewo. As a reminder - earlier, young people from the Dzierzgoń municipality and from Nowe Miasto Lubawskie had the opportunity to present their ideas. 

Pupils were encouraged to take part in a competition to record a video of several minutes, based on the principles of "reduce, reuse, recycle!". Winners of the competition will receive prizes in kind. 

All the ideas of the young workshop participants were read out and put together in a folder that will go to the office and further deliberations at the 'round table', and the best ones will be selected for further stages of the project.

The meetings were attended by project partners: WAMA COOP Association, Elbląg Technology Park and the Association of Polish Communes Euroregion Baltic.

The project is implemented as part of the  Active Citizen Fund – Regional Programme

Three meetings in the commune of Dzierzgoń took place in schools in the city of Dzierzgoń, Bągart and Bruk. The meetings were conducted in the word cafe formula in each of the schools. The assumptions of the project and the implemented activities were presented. With the support of the school management and the involvement of the teaching staff, young people worked on defining the role of the school as the "heart of the green change", i.e. a place where joint initiatives for socio-economic development in the municipality will be defined and built with the active participation of school/youth communities. The meetings will contribute to the creation of youth teams that will become the basis for further activities in the project, as well as those that will be developed together during the project.

21 March 2023

The first school in the Dzierzgoń Commune was the Primary School. Millennium of the Polish State in Dzierzgoń. We started by discussing environmental issues such as air and water pollution, climate change, and fossil fuel consumption. Then, the workshop participants were divided into three groups and asked to propose solutions to specific problems in their neighborhood or school.

23 March 2023

The second meeting was held at the Primary School. Saint Adalbert in Bągart. During the meeting, three main problem areas were identified in the field of pro-ecological activities noticed by the students of the primary school. Adalbert in Bągart:

1. Development of recycling and upcycling in the Commune
2. Promotion of healthy habits and pro-ecological behavior in the Commune
3. Creating conditions and places to spend free time

Young people willingly shared their ideas about supporting and developing ecological activities in the commune. One of the ideas was to make ecological performances at municipal events and to make shopping bags from old clothes.

29 March 2023

The last meeting took place at the primary school in Bruk. Young people creatively talked about ecology and improving the quality of the environment in the commune, especially in Bruk. There were some interesting ideas on how to promote ecology among residents. Young people told how the situation of ecology looks like from their perspective and most of them expressed a positive opinion about their neighborhood. In addition to windmills and photovoltaic panels, residents care about nature to a large extent, although there are exceptions.

During 3 meetings in the word cafe formula in each of the schools from Nowe Miasto Lubawskie that take part in the project, the assumptions of the project and the implemented action were presented. With the support of the school management and the involvement of the teaching staff, the youth who worked on defining the role of the school as the "heart of the green change", i.e. a place where joint initiatives for the socio-economic development of individual communes will be identified and built with the active participation of school communities / youth. The methodological meetings held are the basis for the creation of active youth teams, which will become the basis for further activities in the project and other projects implemented in the future, after its completion.

17 February 2023

The first meeting with students of grades 5-8 took place in Primary School No. 3 name of Nowomiejskie Philomaths in Nowe Miasto Lubawskie. We got to know the ecological situation of the city, and in this case, it was the perspective of very conscious young people. During the meeting, young people actively talked about the positive and negative ecological aspects of the city.

23 February 2023

The next methodological meeting was held with young people from Primary School No. 2. Janusz Korczak in Nowe Miasto Lubawskie. It was an opportunity to get to know the opinions and ideas of young people from another school that focused on a greener and more ecological city. Young people actively talked about the aspects and opportunities in the city to make it greener.

27 February 2023

The third meeting with young people took place in Primary School No. 1. John Paul II in Nowe Miasto Lubawskie. After talks in the world cafe formula, we learned about young people's ideas for an ecological change in the city. Young people actively talked about the opportunities facing the city.

After diagnostic meetings in the commune and methodological meetings in three schools, a map was prepared to show the ecological and green resources that the commune has.

The first diagnostic meeting in Braniewo, which was opened by the Mayor of the city, Mr. Tomasz Sielicki, is behind us. The meeting was also attended by employees of the City Hall dealing with investments and issues related to ecology in the city, as well as young people with teachers.

The diagnostic meeting was conducted by the project leader, the Association for the Development of Cooperative and Local Entrepreneurship WAMA-COOP, who also presented the assumptions of the project and current activities. The Elbląg Technology Park and the Association of Polish Communities Euroregion Baltic as partners of the project presented their organizations and activities that they will implement.

The aim of the meeting was to get to know the resources of the City of Braniewo and to create a SWOT analysis in terms of environmental resources. The workshop part was conducted by Mrs. Gabriela Klimowicz from the Drzewice Forest Education Foundation from Olsztyn. Definitely, the participants mentioned more Strengths and Opportunities that the city has in terms of environmental resources. However, the participants also mentioned several Weaknesses and Threats that need to be worked on. Among other things, we learned that the city has beautiful green areas, is located on the Pasłęka River and on the Vistula Lagoon. Young people in ZHP and members of the beekeeping group for pro-environmental activities are active there. The city, on the other hand, must work on developing the inhabitants' awareness of respect for the common good.

Activity implemented as part of the Green UP 2022-2024 project, financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway from the EEA and Norwegian Funds under the Active Citizens - Regional Fund Programme.