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The World From Our Doorstep is an innovative, three year project designed to tackle the challenges children growing up in increasingly complex and globalized societies are to face. Concepts of Interconnectedness, sustainability, and fairness will be addressed through a broad range of learning materials. These materials include story books, topic boxes, storytelling, outdoor and experiential learning, and enquiry.
Project Aims
- Develop outdoor and experiential learning as a means to introduce global issues of interconnectedness, sustainability and fairness to children
- Foster links with food producers and rural craftspeople so that the project themes are relevant and real to children
- Work with practitioners in regular Focus Groups to introduce learning resources like the “Meet Zogg” storybook and topic boxes, and develop new activities and classroom resources alongside practitioners
- Support practitioners to develop ways to engage parents and families in learning about the project themes
- Enable practitioners and children to establish links with the Cumbria Fairtrade Network
- Support schools and EY settings to establish and nurture links with schools and food producers overseas, including EU and sub-Saharan Africa
- Our final project will be a World from our Doorstep Practitioner Handbook, which will include all the methodologies and activities which have been developed, tried and tested, and which can be used by practitioners to build on and sustain the learning.
Target Groups
Pre-school practitioners, infant teachers, teaching assistants and other adult helpers. The learning materials and activities will be targeted at young learners, aged 3-8.
Outcomes
- Increased understanding and confidence for pre-school or infant practitioners to integrate sustainable development and fair trade issues into their teaching and activities with children
- Teachers and practitioners will have access to storybooks, topic boxes and related outdoor learning resources to help teach young children about development issues
- Developed skills and knowledge to engage outdoor practitioners, food producers and craftspeople in working with children, families and members of the school community in learning about project themes.
Participation in Cyprus
A large number of teachers have participated in the workshops. As a basic prerequisite, 8 schools had to participate from Cyprus. However, 43 educators from 32 schools (Greek-speaking and English-speaking) have participated in the programme’s workshops. Currently, 34 teachers are taking part in the programme, representing 24 schools.
The programme’s success in Cyprus was so vast, that the country has been projected as an example of best practice, which is of exceptional importance for our country both on a national and a European level. In order to thank all the teachers that are actively participating in the programme, we have organised a ceremony that took part on the 20th of May 2015, where we brought them all together and provided them and their corresponding schools with a certificate of participation.
Local and Fair and the 2nd Ecofair in Cyprus
On Sunday the 7th of June 2015, we participated at the 2nd National Ecofair in Cyprus, an annual event which occurs as an outcome of the collaboration between local producers, predominantly involved in organic or biological production, numerous craftspeople exhibiting their handmade creations and various organisations, whose foundations are grounded on sustainable development and support of local producers. It is a collective experience where all participants share the same amount of responsibility and can demonstrate equal extent of initiative.
Future Worlds Center has participated with the primary goal to promote our project “The World From Our Doorstep” in regards to its activities, its values and to promote some of the producers that we have worked with. We provided information regarding the journey that some of our food requires to take from its production to the shelf of a supermarket, discussed about the issues raised that some of the products that we consume come from faraway lands, talked about the importance of supporting our local producers along with the difficulties that they face from competing with big corporate entities and most importantly about the vast importance of fair-trade.
During the event we had a kiosk where we were disseminating the above information. Additional information was provided about the activity boxes in schools and their implementation process, and we were providing the public with a brief preview of the activity books (Exploring the World). Another particularly useful example that we were providing the public with, was that of the chocolate journey in order to demonstrate the complex journey that the cocoa beans take to be processed into a chocolate bar and the number of people involved from various parts of the world, thus highlighting the interdependence and interconnectedness of our world. Furthermore, we used the activity “Food: Where does it Come from” from the “Appreciating the World” box as a point of reference, with the food bag, through which we were showing the public about the information written on the products thus highlighting the immense journey the food has undertaken.
Instead of the usual flyer giveaway, we have purchased a certain quantity of honey and jam in little glass jars from two of the producers that we have collaborated with in “A Day In The Life”, Dominique the Beekeeper, and Maroulla the Flaouna Maker. However, instead of flaounes which are an Easter-time delicacy that would have not lasted in the sun, Maroulla has provided us with one of her seasonal specialties, her strawberry jam, which she makes using her own strawberry production. We were explaining to the public about our collaboration with the producers and were giving the small jars as giveaways along with our informational leaflet. There was additional information provided about the producer, on the jar and with an additional business card. This way we feel that besides making the giveaways more fun to be, we helped the sustainability of our small scale producers by promoting their work to the wider public. Lastly, a local bio farmer that we have formerly collaborated with, was present at the local fair, selling his products on his kiosk with his wife and two children.
Disclaimer
This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Future Worlds Center and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.