Our mobility in Bulgaria

The project meeting in Burgas – Bulgaria has taken place from 4th-8th July of 2022. This was the last mobility of the project. We travelled with 6 students of our school.

On the very first day of the project, we were warmly welcomed by the host country and wonderful Mrs. Marineta, coordinator of the project. We made a tour of the Vocational School of Coding and Innovations – the host school. It is a very modern and good looking school!

After that, all of the member countries of the project have presented their work on this blog site, so far. After that, students have worked with the IoT platform. We have learned some new and useful stuff!

At the end of the day we even had time to visit the beautiful Burgas beaches.

On the second day of the project, we have visited a a permaculture farm. Very interesting!

After that, our students got a chance to bake a typical Bulgarian salty cake, Banice, and pizza. They loved it!

On the third day, we were back at school and students have worked on sustainable solutions within transport.

In the evening, Bulgaria has prepared a grill party for the rest of us and also open-air cinema!

On the fourth day, we made a trip in Sozopol, a beautiful historical town. We have visited wonderful places and enjoyed some beautiful views!

The last day of the project was sad, as we had to say goodbye to each other. As usual, we were handed out the certificates for the hard work on Smart and sustainable solutions.

The very last activity of the project in Burgas was a visit to St. Anastasia island. Thank you very much, Bulgaria, we had a great time!

How we created our own botanic garden

One of the tasks of this Erasmus project was to create our own botanic garden in our school.

We started in the spring of 2022.

The first task for our students was to plant plants from the seeds. They had some fun doing it! For most of them it was the first time. But they said they are willing to do it every spring!

We then took care of our plants in the class, watered and grew them.

Then it was the time to replant these in the school garden. As summer started, students in the project planted plants outside. We used some of our own grown plants and also bought some more in the garden store.

Our school is green for several years already. We are creating our own soil in the compost. Everything that comes from the school yard, branches of the trees, leaves and other bio-waste comes in the compost.

For our botanical garden, we have used our own soil.

And it is finished!

Mobility in Romania

The Erasmus meeting in Romania took place on May 30th until the 3rd of June. As all of the meetings before, it was focused on smart and sustainable solutions and the environment. There were 2 teachers and 6 students from Slovakia present.

We started the program on the first day of our mobility in the partner high school. The Gurghiu Forest High School is a wonderful school which includes all the levels from the kindergarten to high school. It is located in a wonderful natural environment and combines classical education with agriculture.

Gurghiu Forest School

Students have their own grenhouse, fields and even horses! They take care of everything by themselves and in this way are learning all of the skills that are needed for the work in the garden, field or a farm. Great!

A school field
Horses in the school yard

On the first day, we also have visited the Dendrological park in the town. A big and wonderful green zone! There is also the Bornemisza castle that we saw.

On our next day- Tuesday, we made some more interesting activities. We started in a company that develops and bulds all kinds of agricultural machinery. A very modern factory! And what is even more important – they are sustainable!

They created some fun activities for our students. There was even a competition.

Our students tried their best!

The next stop of the day was an Ethnographic museum in Reghin. Then we peeked in some very modern greenhouses of the region – Darina greenhouses. The are growing tomatoes.

Our final stop of the day was in a city Targu Mures. We visited a city park and the zoo. Students loved it!

On Wednesady we met in the Gurghiu Forest school again and did some project activities. Students worked in groups in the classrooms. The theme, of course, was smart and sustainable solutions and the environment.

We, the teachers, had a work meeting. We discussed and planned our next activities and also already spoke about our next mobility – which will take place in Bulgaria.

We finished the day in the Gurghiu Dendrological park where we left a “message” for the future generations. We planted trees.

The next day – Thursday, was also full of interesting activities. We visited several natural sites in Romania. The first one was the “Dead sea of Europe” – Lake Ursu (The bear lake). A very unique place! It´ s a protected area that “lays” on salt. The salty soil was created thousands of years ago and combined with water of the lakes, it creates a unique salty mud which is today used for therapeutical purposes.

But that was not all. After this we visited a town Sovata and Praid salt mine.

On our last day we met in the Gurghiu Forest high school and we got our certificates. Then we said farewell to each other. But we already knew we would see each other again. In Bulgaria, this summer.

Mobility in Poland

The visit in Poland took place from April 3rd until April 9th. We visited the town of Bilgoraj and were researching the ecological and smart solutions within the region.

On the first day of our stay, we visited the partner school in Bilgoraj.

We had a warm welcome from the deputy of the school!

Students from Slovakia presented what has been done so far in the project, and also “Smart and ecological solutions based on the work of our school”. We watched presentations of other schools as well.

During our stay, we have researches smart and sustainable solutions within towns of Bilgoraj, Zamocs and Sandomierz.

Slovakian students in the center of Bilgoraj
Sandomierz
An unique geological base in Sandomierz
Beauty of nature in Sandomierz

Our students have also worked in the school. They have worked on the given tasks using the Pecha kucha platform. Students have afterwards presented their solutions.

Students were divided into interantional groups and worked very diligently on their tasks

There was certainly also time for some fun! Students have made wonderful relationships between each other! And most importantly, they have improved their english.

In the end of our mobility, certificates were given out and we said farewell to each other.

Preparing for the mobility in Romania

Students of our school have been working on another set of tasks. Our school – Secondary technical school for transport is focusing on the ecological issues connected with transport and traffic in our capital city – Bratislava.

Bratislava at sunset – aerial view, Slovakia. Source: TTstudio – Fotolia

Our students are focusing on these 3 main eco-transport problems of Bratislava:

Traffic (We are researching the worst areas with the heaviest traffic in Bratislava and suggesting resolutions)

Route D4R7 (How does this new traffic knot effect the ecosystem around our city?)

Parking policy in Bratislava (Is it eco-effective? Does it dicrease the usage of cars in everyday life? How to improve it?)

Mobility in Slovakia

In october, Slovakia hosted students and teachers from other European countries.

We were very happy to welcome participants of the project from Poland, Bulgaria and Greece. Due to Covid restrictions, it was impossible for participants from Romania to attend.

The mobility in Slovakia took place from Oct. 18th to 23rd. We did a lot of fun and also useful activities!

Students got assignments which they had to work on throughout the week of the visit in Slovakia. All of the work concerned environmental issues. We proceded according to the assignments given by the project itself.

We prepared a full program for the teachers and students for every day of the week.

On the first day we met each other, got to know each other, talked about what is ahead of us and gave out the assignments. We also had some fun tasting of the national foods of each of the participating countries. It was a great way of getting to know each other, break the ice and also find out something about the other countries!

Students in the Secondary school of transport in Bratislava
International food tasting

Students also got to see Bratislava. We were especially focused on the green parts of the city, as this is what the project is about!

A view on Bratislava. One of the teachers of our school provided students with a lecture about the green zones of Bratislava. They were on the sight from the tower on the Danube bridge.

On the first day we also had a program in the evening. We all went bowling together. Students loved it!

Bowling

On tuesday, all of the students and teachers got to participate on our school classes. They got to see what are our students learning and also they got to try some of the activities.

A practical part of the education in our school
Participating on the education in our school

On Wednesday, the program consisted of a light hike in the Bratislava´ forest. It is a very important green zone in our city. We have finished the hike on the Devin castle – an old ruin outside of Bratislava where two rivers meet – the Czech river Morava and Danube.

On thursday we went to visit the Bratislava plainflood forest. The flora and fauna there is unique.

The lakes – water reserviors of Bratislava

On the last day we met in school again and students presented what they were working on during the week.

Then we had a lunch together and said goodbye. It was very hard! Kids got to know each other very well during the week and saying goodbye was very hard! There were some tears as well.

Our students were excited of everything they did during the week! After the activities they all want to be a part of the project in the future. They also said it had a great benefit for them when it comes to their english speaking skills.

Sad Janka Kráľa in Bratislava

There is a unique green space in the center of Bratislava – Janko Kral orchard

Right in the middle of the city jungle, there is a unique piece of tranquility and nature – Janko Kral orchard. It´s last remain of an ancient floodplain forest right in the center of the city. Next to the Danube river.


This orchard by the Danube river in the center of Bratislava was founded at the beginning of the 18th century. It is the oldest public city park in the central Europe.
Orchard is located in the city district of Petržalka and lays on an area of ​​42 hectares. It is a popular place of recreation for families even today.

Water treasure of Bratislava

Bratislava lays on a location of a great significance. Slovakian capital is laying on an ancient floodplain forest. The remains of this forest are still everywhere around. This type of environment creates a significant habitat for a special kind of fauna and flora.

Floodplain was in creation for thousands of years. It´s a forest with high levels of underground waters. Floodplain locations are created in high flood cycle areas.
The floodplain was created by the Danube river which originally floated in many meanders. Some of the meanders have a dead end. Life boasts in these steady waters.
Many of the meanders were destroyed. They became victims of the urban development. On many of these locations, there are residential areas today.
Floodplain forests create beautiful sceneries around the city of Bratilslava. People like to visit these sights.