Attending the Eco-Schools national conference in Slovenia were 450 coordinators, mentors and principals plus international guests. The focus was on presenting the work and the programme for this school year, on sharing best practices and experiences of stakeholders’ involvement in Eco-Schools activities, and also on giving practical examples about how to include activities in the school curriculum.
International cooperation and projects
The opening speech at the conference was given by Dejan Židan, the Slovenian Minister for Food, Agriculture and Forestry. After that, international guests welcomed the participants: the Ambassador of the Netherlands in Slovenia, Bart Twaalfhoven, welcomed the participants and announced collaboration between the Dutch and Slovenian Eco-Schools programmes. The first Theme they will focus on will be water. Also, Rachel Boyle, International Director of the LEAF programme (Learning About Forests), officially launched the programme in Slovenia. It is expected that kindergartens and schools will participate in the programme and systematically approach the Theme of Forests.
Slovenian Eco-Schools’ coordinators, mentors, principals and supporters of the programme met at the beginning of the school year at the annual conference. The focus was primarily on the presentation of the work plan in which some new national and international projects are going to be launched. Particular attention was given to the exchange of knowledge, experiences and information between mentors. This was an important input for coordinators, as this school year all will particularly focus on the information, promotion and stakeholder involvement within the seven-step methodology approach.
The Round Table - “Experiences and lessons learnt from cooperation with the programme Eco-Schools and different stakeholders”
Market of best-practices and round table
Therefore, the programme for this year’s conference brought some interesting novelties: the so-called ‘market of best-practices’ was organised with the purpose of sharing good projects and ideas in order to adjust and implement them in different institutions. 25 kindergartens, primary and secondary schools presented projects, activities, results and products on several themes: food, water, energy, waste etc. Additionally, participants of the conference welcomed the organisation of a round table in which different stakeholders took part, namely: the mayor, the company’s marketing representative, the principal and the waste company expert. They explained their reasons for cooperating with the Eco-Schools programme and presented their best practices. The main conclusion and the message to the coordinators was that they should believe in their ideas and present them to different stakeholders in order to achieve the support for project implementation.
The Market of Best Practices
International cooperation and projects
The opening speech at the conference was given by Dejan Židan, the Slovenian Minister for Food, Agriculture and Forestry. Afterwards, international guests welcomed the participants: the Ambassador of the Netherlands in Slovenia, Bart Twaalfhoven, welcomed the participants and announced the cooperation of the Dutch and Slovenian Eco-Schools programmes. The first topic of this cooperation will be water. Also, Rachel Boyle, International Director of the LEAF programme (Learning About Forests), officially launched the programme in Slovenia. It is expected that kindergartens and schools will participate in the programme and make the topic of forest systematically approached.
Awards
Green Flags were awarded to new member institutions of the Eco-Schools programme and new national projects were presented. At the very end of the conference, practical lectures on the inclusion of the activities into school curriculum were given with the purpose of supporting coordinators to plan and successfully implement their ideas and projects as much as possible.
Lucija Marovt