23/11/2025
🇭🇷At the 5th Symposium on Biology Education, held as part of the 15th Croatian Biological Congress with international participation, teachers Katarina Medić and Adriana Ivandić delivered a presentation titled “The role of practical ecological workshops and local activities in developing students’ environmental awareness.”
They presented the results of the two-year Erasmus+ project “Act eco-locally to change into eco-globally” (2023–2025), which involved 159 students and 46 teachers from six European countries. The presentation focused on practical workshops and local environmental activities that proved highly effective in fostering students’ ecological awareness and responsibility.
Activities showcased in the presentation included making candles from waste cooking oil, creating eco-accessories from old T-shirts, designing 3D ecosystem models, crafting a sustainable Christmas Eco-Tree, creatively restoring old school chairs, participating in reforestation through the Šumoborci (Forest Fighters) programme, and contributing to the national environmental clean-up campaign “Rezolucija Zemlja.”
Project evaluation conducted throughout the two-year period showed a significant increase in students’ interest in environmental protection, greater engagement in local ecological initiatives, and a stronger willingness to adopt sustainable everyday habits.
Participation in this important scientific and professional event represents a notable recognition of the teachers’ work and highlights the importance of involving students in hands-on, experience-based activities that connect the school with the local community.