1. Day
Our project took place in Banská Bystrica in May 2023. On the first day of the project we welcomed our participants at the District Office, where we rented a conference room. We prepared refreshments and several different presentations.
Each country presented its output from the project: Retool-kit.
We also presented our Stefani organization and the work we do. We informed the participants about the beauties and attractions of Slovakia and in the end we discussed together the stereotypes that are associated with this country.
2. Day
This day we devoted to a day trip to the town of Banská Štiavnica, which is touristically, culturally, historically and naturally famous. Our intention was to show the participants the natural Tajchas, which were once hand-made by our ancestors and used to obtain energy resources for mining and ore processing in mining. They are also a UNESCO protected site and have the potential to be used for renewable energy.
The presentation was led by a member of the non-profit organization Štiavnicky tajch, which in recent years, with the help of many volunteers, has been clearing the ditches to serve the same purpose as they did 100 years ago, capturing the water that is thus held in the forests and serving as irrigation instead of quickly draining away.
After the lecture, we walked to the city centre, where we visited the Packaging-free shop. Before entering, we explained to the participants what its main idea was. We have more similar projects in Slovakia and therefore we motivated them to create a similar concept in their own country. At the same time, we also introduced them to the idea of a draught drugstore, which is still rarely seen in their countries.
3. Day
We started the day in the conference room with video presentations on how to recycle different materials – plastic, paper and glass. The main idea of the presentation was that we need to recycle EVERYTHING that can be recycled. Once it goes to landfill, it’s just a waste of resources. So the landfill is the worst place for waste to end up.
4. Day
The Slovak Environmental Agency organized several presentations for us and prepared refreshments for our participants.
Networking, discussion, international cooperation, EEA (European Environment Agency) activities, specialisation of selected natural resource protection services, presentation of the Green Economy Platform and the project on Improving Air Quality in Slovakia.
5. Day
On the last day of the project, we distributed a printed Retool-kit to each participating organisation, which is also our output from the project. It contains information on renewable energy from all participating countries and is over 100 pages long.
Then our partner organisation Innovative green steps from Turkey brought us their creative practices, which they have incorporated into their work with primary school children in the fight against waste in the framework of upcycling.
We then had a discussion about what we can change in our personal lives to contribute to a greener planet. What we are already doing today and what we can improve.
In the end, we presented our participants with Youthpasses – certificates of successful completion of this project.
