• Romanian students worked with their Norwegian colleagues to find sustainable solutions to the challenges from the field of environmental protection, sustainable development and energy
• The initiative is part of the educational project Greenovation Challenge which involves over 900 high school students from mountain areas of Romania and Norway
Playgrounds for children could become in the future small centers of green energy production and also environmental education centers, according to a project realized by a team of students from Romania and Norway.
Their idea - Energy Ground - was awarded during a competition of projects for sustainability, organized in Sandane, Norway during a Romanian-Norwegian exchange of experience, which involved, during the period 29th of September – 3rd of October, Romanian and Norwegians students together with their teachers. The initiative is part of the project Greenovation Challenge, conducted nationally by the organization Junior Achievement (JA) Romania, in partnership with Ungt Entreprenørskap Sogn og Fjordane and Romontana Association.
Ground Energy Park, designed by high school students, allows the production and storage of energy after sports activities. In this playground of the future, activities such as jumping rope or pedaling turns motion into energy, with the help of special equipment fitted with sensors, photovoltaic panels and monitors on which are running explanatory animations on renewable energy.
"Through this experience I learned to have more self-confidence, I overcame my fears and limitations, I made friends, I had the opportunity to take part in activities that normally I would not have been achieved in Romania or at school. Together with my team, I won the first place in the competition of projects, but the biggest achievement was that I understood that the concern for nature has no boundaries, limits of language or prejudices", declared Teodora Elena Ghiuta, student at High School Alexandru cel Bun, Gura Humorului, Romania.
The young participants worked within mixed teams to solve a challenge of sustainable development with a more possible creative approach, having to choose between two themes: renewable energy and the house of the future.
"Greenovation Camp is a fantastic exercise of socialization which manages to create bridges between the experience of Norway and Romania in the field of sustainable development, with particular emphasis on issues related to the intelligent use of renewable resources. We feel privileged to contribute to these activities which are, in fact, a generator of ideas meant to support sustainable development of mountain areas", said Andrei Coca, Project Assistant, Romontana, project partner.
Good practices for students in mountain areas
The visit in Norway allowed the Romanian students to acquire new knowledge in the field of sustainable development and experiment the working system and interaction from a multinational company, developing skills for innovation, teamwork, socialization, coordination, critical thinking and cooperation in a foreign language with unfamiliar teammates, coming from a different culture.
During the first year of implementation of the project Greenovation Challenge, more than 500 students from 14 towns in the mountainous regions in Romania took part to the ecological education activities in the classroom, using free educational materials and got involved within webinars about the competition, sustainability and about the skills they need for a future career in a growing field - protecting the environment and resources.
The project Greenovation Challenge is run in partnership with Ungt Entreprenørskap Sogn og Fjordane (UESoF) from Norway and Romontana Association and involves, during 2014-2016, over 900 students and 40 high school teachers in mountainous areas from Romania and Norway. The project is financed by the EEA grants 2009 – 2014, through the NGO Fund in Romania. For official information on the EEA and Norway grants visit
www.eeagrants.org
Information for editors:
• The team from Romania was represented by students and teachers from the High Schools Alexandru cel Bun (Gura Humorului), Constantin Brancoveanu (Horezu), Mircea Eliade (Intorsura Buzaului), National College of Informatics (Piatra Neamt) and volunteers of the Association Romontana.
• The participating students at the camp were selected from the best teams ranked during a competition organized at national level, during which they proposed solutions to major environmental problems that communities from mountain areas in Romania are facing, such as unsustainable consumption of resources, population exodus, lack of jobs, coupled with environmentally harmful activities.
• Norway is recognized as a promoter of environmental protection policies by implementing extensive policies for waste recycling and renewable energy development. In Norwegian schools, the ecological education component is an important part of the curriculum, promoting positive models of responsible behavior and introducing information about nature, environment and sustainability from kindergarten. At governmental level there are made efforts to develop environmental education programs at national level, in order to enable children and youth to develop the knowledge, attitudes and skills through practical learning experiences, out-of-school.
