"School of little eco-heroes": how Mykolaiv kindergartens raise environmentally-conscious children
If you still think about environmental problems as if nothing depends on you — be careful! Now you can change your mind. After all, even the youngest Ukrainians are already making changes.
News about climate change and environmental issues can now be heard everywhere. They sound from the Internet, televisions, and radio. Even though we are all surrounded by this information, some of us still live with rose-colored glasses and do not understand or know what is behind eco-consciousness. What way out can be found? How to deal with ignorance? The team of the Mykolaiv Development Agency found the answer to this question.
With the support of the Department of Education of the Mykolaiv City Council, the Department of Housing and Communal Services, and the general partner, PepsiCo Ukraine, the team, in partnership with the Resource Center for Public Initiatives, launched the educational project "School of Little Eco-Heroes." This project was created specifically for kindergarten students, with the help of which the youngest students learn about eco-awareness and essential habits that save our planet and their future. Rubryka asked the head of the project, Anna Ganzhul, how their institution's team managed to implement the project.
Beginning of the project
"In 2016, we launched a sorting waste project on the city schools' basis," says Ms. Anna. According to the project manager, the team started with literally nothing, but there was a desire to change something in their hometown, so they started to act. The first step was the organization of a waste sorting marathon, resulting from which four schools in the city received containers for sorting. "On this example, we saw that it works, and with the support of the city authorities and the mayor, with the funds of the local budget, we were able to implement this system in all schools," says Anna Ganzhul.
As part of the project, every school in Mykolaiv started eco-patrols, managed by students. They conduct environmental training for younger children, where they are taught how to preserve the environment. After seeing the results among first-graders, the team had the idea to implement similar practices in kindergartens. This is how the project "School of Little Eco-Heroes" was born, which started on December 2 last year.
How to interest the youngest in environmental issues?
Part of the initiative was a team of animators-eco-heroes who playfully taught children how to properly sort garbage and told them why recycling waste is useful and essential. Solomiyka and Bohdanchyk became the main characters of the animated program. They are members of the school eco-patrol. "When the children go to school, they can even become members of this eco-patrol; for them, they are eco-heroes they can aspire to," the project manager explains.
How to interest the youngest in environmental issues?
Part of the initiative was a team of animators-eco-heroes who playfully taught children how to properly sort garbage and told them why recycling waste is useful and essential. Solomiyka and Bohdanchyk became the main characters of the animated program. They are members of the school eco-patrol. "When the children go to school, they can even become members of this eco-patrol; for them, they are eco-heroes they can aspire to," the project manager explains.
For the project implementation, they also developed a coloring book, "Coloring your economic skills." With these materials, after the animation program, the children and Solomiyka and Bohdanchyk saved the island from waste. "We had islands littered with various types of waste," says Anna Ganzhul. — We also developed a specific additional character for each faction of waste. Now they're called Trash Cans. We don't just have color-coded containers — each container has a specific character that thanks for being fed this type of waste."
The project's next stage will be the development of methodological materials for kindergarten teachers. According to Anna Ganzhul, based on the feedback and efforts of educators of 26 pilot kindergartens, where a system of separate waste collection has already been implemented, and the work of professional psychologists and teachers, an interesting universal system of teaching children about ecology will be created.
Beginning of significant changes
Thanks to the project, all kindergartens in the city have already received large storage containers for waste. The team is now working on equipping all kindergartens with small sorting containers this year. The Department of Housing and Communal Services helps them with this.
According to the agency's leader, the path to the organization and implementation of eco-projects was not easy. Ms. Anna told Rubryka that initially, there was a lot of misunderstanding and skepticism about waste sorting. Many people, especially adults, did not believe in the necessity and, in general, the possibility of eco-initiatives. During the whole project on waste sorting, the Mykolaiv Development Agency team struggled with myths about what happens to waste after sorting.
We explained the path of the waste, where it goes, and what happens to it. If it ends up in a landfill, what will happen, what benefit or harm does it bring, so children and teenagers, and then their parents, gradually developed an understanding that we are responsible for our garbage," the initiative manager emphasizes.
Thus, thanks to training and promotion of eco-awareness, the team manages to change the townspeople's mentality. "Gradually, we see that people are ready for this process. Everyone at their own level can become a real project partner," says Ms. Anna. During the implementation of the "School of Little Eco-Heroes" project, the agency's team saw the active position of parents, who are very happy that such an initiative is taking place in Mykolaiv. As for children, the game form of learning stimulates them to achieve results – children become interested in preserving the environment and cleanliness of their own city. Children grow up with an understanding of environmental issues and with the necessary skills.
As Anna Ganzhul said, even she felt the impact of this project:
"My nephew, now 5, also participated in the program, like all the children of our town. I can already see changes in him – he already starts sorting waste at home, names the characters and says that it is necessary. This is where big changes begin, even in not very big cities." More than 10,000 children have already become project participants and have begun to develop useful habits that will help them make Mykolaiv more ecological in the future.
The project "School of Little Eco-Heroes" changes the attitude of children and adults to environmental problems and raises a new eco-conscious generation. Every day thanks to this initiative, a more ecological city is formed. The team proves that it is never too late to learn and change. Everyone can take the first step towards eco-consciousness and become a real eco-hero right now. It's time for all of us to take off our rose-colored glasses and start making real changes. Let's learn more about the environmental situation and join the global movement for environmental protection! It is awareness that will be the first step towards saving our planet.
Photo: Mykolaiv Development Agency
