The Eco-Echo workshops consist of spirited and innovative educational initiatives led by youth, seeking to address vital environmental problems through non-formal education. Granted by the European Solidarity Corps, the previous editions were given by various teams of volunteers from both the EU and the MENA region.
The 6 workshops focus on high school students with the intention of sensitizing youth about sustainable problems, encouraging engagement and motivating them to adopt green practices regarding topics like food and water waste, plastic pollution, paper production, upcycling and renewable energy. The mission’s highlights is its creative point of view and devotion to empower youth. Until now, 130 classes have benefited from this initiative, summing up a total of 617 workshops and 1954 students, both in Romania and Morocco. This action falls under the umbrella of Global Education Youth Awards, underlining topics like sustainability, global challenges and human rights.
The workshops explore 6 key matters, starting with food and water waste. We accentuate its ethical and environmental consequences, international statistics and actions they can start implementing to solve this issue. After analyzing real examples and coming up with possible resolutions, students are able to measure the importance of managing waste and the labor work involved in the processes. Hence, they become more conscious about food and water consumption.
- Plastic is a crucial element out of the workshops due to its high international usage and the pollution it creates. We teach about the different types of plastic and how it is related to their recyclability, details about plastic production and plastic pollution, along its repercussions, making them more aware of the importance of plastic recycling.
- The paper workshop was different from the other ones. Despite its seeming simplicity, paper is extremely important in the discussion of sustainability due to the water and machinery usage that goes into its production. Paper recycling is extremely important and the students have always shown great interest in the Paper vs. Digital debate moment. The discussions, which sometimes could get a bit rowdy, but were always full of ideas, were another great interest to the students.
- Upcycling and downcycling, protagonist of the fourth workshop, were two unknown terms for most of the students, but with interactive and fun activities, they were able to fully understand their meaning by the end of the session. They had the chance to learn creative ways in which people can become more sustainable and that was best showcased in the Drafting Upcycling Ideas activity, in which students came up with inventive ideas for different products that could be upcycled.
- The renewable energy workshop introduced the differences between renewable and non-renewable energy, their functioning, and how these differences make an impact when it comes to energy resources. In addition to that, they were able to learn about the energetic statistics of different EU countries. Overall, they developed a better understanding about how certain types of energy sources reduce our ecological footprint, and why certain methods should be pursued and others diminished.
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The final workshop, online campaign, potentiates the students teamwork and imaginative capability, merging their skills with what they had learned throughout all the workshops. Also, we give them the chance to give us feedback so that we can always keep improving our methods.
Eco Echo Workshop in National College „Ion Neculce”
Our methodology is based on non-formal education, drawing inspiration from the GreenComp "The European sustainability competence framework" and ensuring that it covers the majority of the competencies emphasized there, which increases the interactive and participatory methods outside of typical classroom settings. We prioritize the learning aspects of the workshops, but simultaneously, we have engaging activities with the students so that they feel like their opinions matter and that what they learn will remain with them for a longer period of time.
The Eco-Echo Workshops have creative applications of non-formal education approaches, such as interactive games and social media campaigns, which improve the learning experience while emphasizing the necessity of sustainability.
The Workshops had visibile impact on the students. We had conversations with them afterwards in which they told us about how much they loved the energizers and how they will implement them in their own activities. They talked about making a change for a more sustainable future, even if it was “small steps”, such as closing the tab when brushing their teeth, upcycling household items or even joining other GEYC activities that are related to sustainability. We also made sure to listen to the opinions of the students on the workshops, by including a QR code, which takes them to a site where they can write their feedback. Here are some of the responses:
“I learned a lot of new and interesting facts about recycling and the damage that we do to our planet.”;
“Ecology studies the interactions between organisms and their environment, which are essential for protecting the planet. Human activities, such as pollution and deforestation, severely impact ecosystems and biodiversity. For a sustainable future, we must adopt ecological practices, conserve resources, and protect natural habitats. Ecology provides us with the knowledge needed to maintain the balance of life on Earth, and our actions now will determine the planet's health for future generations.”;
“I think it was a good presentation! It helps others know how to take care of the environment better and know how to act instead of harming our Earth.”
Apart from the Eco Echo activities in high schools, we also took part in the preparation and development of events, interviews and campaigns. For instance, on the first occasion we had the chance to create as a team was the Earth Day Event. Participants partook in an Easter Egg Hunt focused on environmental issues regarding water, further along discussing the problems they had found as a group.
Environment Day Event
In addition to this and as a part of the Thirsty for Solutions Environmental Campaign, we prepared some street interviews planned to understand in depth what Bucharest citizens thought about certain topics. Out of the presented subjects, we asked about public transport and its usage versus private transportation, and which did they use more, and also about the concerning topic of water accessibility in Bucharest’s Otopeni Airport. The answers received built some reels to bring the information obtained closer to the public, and as an aim to raise awareness about the Thirsty for Solutions campaign and its objectives.
Overall, this ESC mission was enriching, inspiring, it pushed us to be more environmentally aware and reflect on how we can sensitize our respective environments about crucial actions everyone should implement in their own daily lives; strong individual actions can add up a whole lot of change when united with international cooperation.
Eco Echo Workshop in Theoretical Highschool „Jean Monnet”