Friends of nature, followers of environmental education, those who care about the future of the Earth and its green mantle, 2021. 6 May was brought together by the traditional event “ECO Ideas for Lithuania 2021”, organised by the President Valdas Adamkus Gymnasium and the Kaunas Teacher Qualification Centre. Although the quarantine meant that the corridors of the President Valdas Adamkus Gymnasium were closed this year and the eco-workshop was not open, the conference moved online and attracted a great deal of interest from participants.
The event was held internationally. Presentations were given not only by the Lithuanian ECO-Schools plastering institutions, but also by educational partners from Romania, Turkey and Finland. Teachers Jugar Gabriela Mirela, Çağla Özonur and Umut Uysaler from Turkey and Romania shared their insights on how to organise eco-education activities in their schools.
Gülümser Özpinar from Turkey highlighted the importance of sustainability in today’s society and presented the educational activities organised by EKO House. Maire Turunen (Finland) presented the activities of the international network ENO (Evnironment online), which currently involves some 60 countries from all over the world. As the Finnish coordinators of the network themselves say, although there are many participants, they are all united by the same goal – to replant the Earth’s green mantle. The institutions of the Lithuanian ECO Schools Network have been invited to join the ENO activities in Lithuania, which will be coordinated by the Gymnasium of President Valdas Adamkus. There will be tree planting weeks, weather observation weeks and sustainable art competitions.
As many as ten Lithuanian educational institutions shared their best practices on how to organise rich experiential activities, develop a responsible personality for oneself and the surrounding environment, and reduce the culture of consumerism.
We are pleased that the conference attracts more and more participants every year who are indifferent to environmental ideas and contribute to creating a beautiful, safe and sustainable environment.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Rita Mikalauskiņa, the Headmistress of the President Valdas Adamkus Gymnasium, and the entire community for their hard work in organising the conference, as well as to all the speakers and participants.
Inga Žebrauskaitė, Deputy Director of the President Valdas Adamkus Gymnasium,
Ilona Teresienė, Methodologist, Kaunas Teacher Qualification Centre
