Green Europe Project meeting in Kozje
From
19th to 23rd September there was a project meeting in Kozje. Partners from
Slovenia, Poland, Italy, Lithuania and Latvia got together to meet in person
and discuss important project matters and to get to know Kozje and Slovenia.
Tuesday, 19th September
Students
from abroad and their hosts started the day with a workshop where they got to
know more about each other. It was led by the Kozje primary school pedagogical
worker Ms. Drofenik and two teachers.
After
that there was the welcome event in the multipurpose center Kozje where the
guests were welcomed by the headmaster of Kozje primary school, Mr. Roman
Gradišek, the school choir which under the mentorship of Mrs. Polona Pevec sang
the Slovene, the European and the school anthem and by pupils from 2nd, 3rd and
4th grade under the mentorship of Mrs. Mateja Kolar acted out a cute play in
English called 'I want my hat back.' They amazed the audience with their
costumes.
All
the guests presented themselves and a bit of their country on the stage.
The
event was followed by a short introductory meeting led by the school
coordinator Mr. Gregor Vrabec.
The
guests then split into two groups and went on a tour of the Kozje kindergarten
Zmajček Kozje and the Kozje primary school. The guests attended a music
workshop inspired by nature led by Mrs. Polona Pevec Pungeršek where they made
some musical instruments. To do that they joined the 8th grade.
Next,
the guests visited the mayor of Kozje Mrs. Milenca Krajnc who welcomed them and
presented the municipality along with its wonders and the history. The guests
received a symbolic gift.
After
that, the guests had lunch on Kozjanska domačija where they were served typical
food for Kozjansko region produced only on farms in Kozjansko.
Upon
their return back to Kozje Ms. Živa Grobelšek took them on a short tour of
Kozje.
Photos
Wednesday,
20th September
On Wednesday morning there was the
official project meeting. In the first part every partner country presented
endangered landscapes in its vicinity.
Then there was a debate about
possible solutions, the purpose of the project and in conclusion everbody
agreed that the basis for any change in the world is awareness about pollution
and also possible solutions to the problems connected to environment.
In the second part the teachers
continued with the meeting and students split into two groups.
The first group went to the craft
workshop led by Mrs. Alja Belak. Students drew models of a dragon on wood and
then cut them by a saw with the help of Slovene students Matic and Alen. They
filed and cleaned the sharp edges and coloured the dragon in green. When it
dried, they drew the tail, mouth and eyes.
On the backside they wrote the name
of the school and the country. They took the dragons home as a souvenir. Those
who finished early, made another dragon or some other useful thing from wood.
Ideas and plans for those things were made by students themselves.
The second group went to the art
workshop led by Mr. Franc Grobelšek.
First each student received a gift
– flax eco bag. The purpose of the workshop was to design the bag in such a way
to remind them of the project meeting in Kozje and of friends of all the
countries involved in the project.
Students were first familiarized
with ways of transfering a picture onto textile, then they created linocut
matrixes of their initials. The matrix enabled them to print their product many
times, therefore their initials appeared on bags of every student in the group.
They also added the flags of the
partner countries on the bags and were able to freely use acrylic sprays to
decorate the bags even more.
In the afternoon Mrs. Lidija Čepin
took the guests to Podsreda to the seat of the Kozjansko Regional Park. After
the welcome of Mrs. Mojca Kunst they watched the video presentation of the
park.
Mrs. Barbara Ploštajner presented
and explained how the plant-based waste water treatment works and its purpose
in protecting the environment, students attended a workshop and made their own
sand filter and got to know the cleaning system first hand.
Mr. Dušan Klenovšek and Mrs. Mojca
Kunst took the guests to the Podsreda castle. Mr Dušan took them to the attic
and showed them the bats which are protected in the Kozjansko Regional Park. He
also presented their way of life and what the Park is doing to protect them.
With audio guides they walked
through the rooms of the castle and visited an exhibition about the nature in
the Kozjansko park. They got to nkow the purpose of protecting the swamps,
meadow orchards, dry grasslands...to preserve the biodiversity.
At the end they visited a meadow
orchard where Mr. Klenovšek pointed out the purpose of their protection. Old
apple trees are a habitat to many endangered species. They saw nesting boxes of
endangered birds, the hotel for solitary bees and the hotel for ladybirds.
Thursday, 21th September
Thursday, 21th September
On Thursday, 21st September we took our
guests to the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana. They explored the city centre,
visited the Presidential palace and met the president of Slovenia, Mr. Borut
Pahor. It was a wonderful experience to talk about nature protection with the
president.
Gorenjska was the final destination. A
part of Slovenia that is enveloped in mountains. Planica ski jumping centre is
a place worth visiting. It is one of the highest jumping hills in the world.
Even for Slovenians mountains in Gorenjska are something spectacular.
On the way back our guests got to visit
Bled, one of the most fairytale like places in Slovenia. An island in the
middle of the lake and a church on the island is something you don't see every
day.
It was a wonderful day, a nice
opportunity to strengthen friendships that started to develop.
Friday, 22th September
On
Friday, 22nd September, we took our guest to Bratuša farm in
Podsreda where they could see different animals such as chicken, pigs and cows
and tried different farm activities, shelling beans and corn husking. At the
end of the visit the family offered some pumpkin seeds, croissants and tea.
We
went to Kukovičičev mill where our guests got to know its history and the
process of grinding wheat. They also tried some of breads that are made at the
farm.
Gruska
cave was the next stop. With its beautiful nature, the stream and the cave, it
offers a great place to relax and collect energy to handle everyday worries.
Then
our guests took a ride on a tourist train to the Witch hut, the Olimje
monastery and the chocolate shop.
Saturday,
23rd September, 2017
There
was a sports day at Kozje primary school. In the beginning, Mrs. Maja Amon and
her team presented gymnastics on horses as well as taking care of these
beautiful animals. Students were able to ride the horses.
Different
sport mentors presented sports that students can train in Kozje and after that
the guests went on a panoramic hike. The view of Kozje was phenomenal due to
nice weather.
The
teachers and the students received the certificates of attendance.
The
guests were able to see a lot in this short period of time. They have seen in
person that Kozje and Kozjansko lives with and for nature. It is the greatest
treasure and people are aware of it. Let us make sure that the Green Europe
stays green.
An article about the project meeting in Kozje
has been published in the local newspaper OKO
.
Gregor Vrabec, Kozje primary school
project coordinator.
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