OUR PROGRESS
5th Transnational Project Meeting in Kaunas – April 2024
The fifth transnational project meeting was blended and took place on April 17, 2024, organized in Kaunas, Lithuania, by the Vytautas Magnus University. Representatives from Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania) and University of Tartu (Estonia) were present personally, and members from the University of Pannonia (Hungary), West University of Timisoara (Romania), and Militos Consulting S.A. (Greece) participated online.
During the meeting, participants from five different countries discussed various topics including financial matters, dissemination strategies, Q&A sessions, and project management issues.
There was a particular focus on reviewing the overall project progress and key milestones, with special attention given to the implementation of the Blended ECoC Greenfluencer International pilot course.
Additionally, discussions focused on preparations for upcoming Tartu Meet-UP activity, the fine-tuning of the Open Platform and the workshop with stakeholders.
Fine-tuning of the Open Interactive Online Platform 2023/2024
We are continuously testing, improving and fine-tuning the GreenCool Open Interactive Online Platform (https://training.greencoolproject.eu) in English, Hungarian, Romanian, Estonian and Lithuanian languages. The Partnership have also decided to add new content and allocate resources for this task.
The Platform can be of great value to individuals, organisations and actors in the public, the private and third sector of economy, environmental and communication education providers, and anyone aspired to create environment protection awareness.
Blended ECoC Greenfluencer pilot course (international level) – Spring/Summer 2024
The GreenCool MOOC “Greenfluencer: innovative green communication” was offered to the international audience by University of Tartu in 2024 Spring semester. The course was running for eight weeks in total: from February 26th until April 22nd. The MOOC was warmly accepted by the students who participated in the learning process. We had 200 participants from 18 different countries that decided to take part in the course.
The MOOC was able to attract students with very diverse backgrounds including communication, geography, marketing, logistics, economy, IT, political science, philosophy etc. We were also able to gather not only students, but many professionals who are already experts in the field. Many of them were working in the field of communication or sustainability and were interested in learning about the other field and how they can be connected. Unique multidisciplinary nature of the course helped to attract diverse participants and build on their expertise in a new field.
The MOOC featured two feedback questioners that helped us understand students’ background and evaluate their satisfaction with the course. Overall, course participants provided positive feedback. 92,5% has agreed and strongly agreed that the course material on the platform was clearly organized and facilitated learning. 95,1% has agreed and strongly agreed to the statement that the course has covered the topics in an effective way. Many people mentioned that they liked the diversity of the course materials (not just text, but also many videos and visualizations) and activities (we used a wide range of different group and individual assignments).
Trash art gallery as part of assignment Inspiration: Gallery 5.3.
By the end of the course 51 students has completed all the assignments with a satisfactory grade and received a digital certificate from University of Tartu equal to 1 ECTS.
International GreenCool Meet-Up in Tartu – July 2024
The top four students and two lecturers from each university attended the final GreenCool ECoC event in Tartu, titled the International GreenCool Meet-Up, between 1-5 July 2024.
On the first day, participants took part in a Sustainable Urban Planning TOUR in Tartu: From the dormitory- Botanical garden- City centre- Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies. In Tartu, trees and plants are everywhere and people prefer to walk, scooter or cycle. Estonians attach great importance to the environment, which is reflected in the above activities. Then the plans and agenda for the week were introduced and the Group work started. There was a session on ‘How to speak publicly? Tips and tricks.’ followed by a group session focusing on organising the event with mentoring from teachers.
On the second day, a Tour of the Emajõe community garden was organised: The garden works on the principles of what activities they already do in the direction of the community. It was a good example that the garden is maintained by volunteers, creating a cohesive community. Students and teachers had to cook their own pizzas in the open air in the garden’s pizza oven. In the afternoon they attended a workshop on communication of green topics, then the event space was introduced. Afterwards, the students also had the opportunity to discuss their project tasks with their mentors in groups.
On the third day, a social media expert gave a presentation on how to promote different events and how to reach people effectively. The knowledge gained was later applied by the students during their presentation. Then they did a group work before the coach excursion to Wild bits, a wooded area with various art exhibitions. Participants could see how nature, art and sustainability meet, and the students were able to gather inspiration for their presentations. They closed the day with group work to prepare for the main event.
Tartu Meet-UP participants started the fourth day with a group work, and preparations for the event and setting up the stage together. In the afternoon they organized the main Event titled: “Let’s talk about green Future”. The event started with a presentation of the GreenCool project and a panel discussion (there panellists: Kertu Vuks – head of the space creation department in Tartu city, Johanna Maria Tõugu – politician and environmentalist, Mariia Kristiina Prass – communication specialist in UT, moderator: Marit Piirman), followed by presentations by the students in four groups on food waste, sustainable businesses and fast fashion. The students used different communication techniques, such as short movies/films, presentations, Ted talk etc.
On the last day, they held a feedback session for the students and teachers as well. The whole week was discussed, and everyone had the opportunity to share their personal experiences of the project and their team members. Most of them had positive opinions about the week and gained valuable knowledge. In the afternoon they visited A.Le. Coq. Factory, the oldest brewery in Estonia and currently the beverage producer with the widest product portfolio in the Baltic Sea region. The factory won the title of the most sustainable company in 2023.
Students’ comments:
‘I am very grateful to have been part of this programme and to have been able to give a thought-provoking speech on sustainability as a young university student.’
‘All in all, the study trip to Estonia was not only useful from a professional and academic point of view, but also for our personal development and for broadening our cultural horizons. It has helped me to feel and act as a Greenfluencer, both now and in the future.’
‘I felt that our presentation was enjoyable and engaging for the audience, and that our message came across during the presentation.’
NEXT STEPS
- We are going to organise a Workshop with stakeholders, lecturers, ECoC experts, students, online learning experts, civil organisations in September 2024 in order to sum up the experiences of the international course.
- Creating a Guideline on ‘How to build developed techniques and sustainable awareness into existing university curricula?’
- Developing a User manual for the Open Platform by Militos, including some pathways, suggestions on how to benefit from this material as an organisation, action community, NGOs, etc. in environmental protection issues.
CONTACT DETAILS:
This project (n° 2021-1-HU01-KA220-HED-000027563) has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author(s), and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
