From October 17, 2022 to October 21, 2022, within the framework of the Junior Nordplus project „Ecological Issues” (Nr. NPJR-2020/10152), Daugavpils College of Technology and Tourism was visited by project partners – teachers and students from Lithuania, Estonia and Finland. It was the second meeting of the partners, the first happened in Lithuania in Seduvos gimnazija.
During the visit, students and teachers were introduced to the technical school, as well as to the institutions of the city municipality and various companies whose activities are related to the topic of ecology, and participated in various cultural activities. All activities were chosen taking into account the main theme of the project – ecology.
On Monday project participants visited no-residue cooking master class, with a help of Daugavpils College of Technology and Tourism teacher they made pumpkin dishes, namely cream of pumpkin soup and pumpkin cookies.
On Tuesday morning with a help of company “Getlini EKO” happened a virtual tour, on the big screen, project participants had the opportunity to watch video material about the history of the “Getlini” waste dump and the new waste sorting and recycling landfill “Getlini EKO”. After participants visited Daugavpils public transport company “Daugavpils Satiksme” where they got acquainted with an ecological form of public transport – trams – as well as the representative of the company not only showed the tram depot and told about the history of the company, but also showed the new gas-powered buses that the city has started using instead of diesel-powered buses. In the second part of the day the leading researcher of the Institute of Life Sciences and Technologies of Daugavpils University, Uldis Valainis, told the project participants about DU’s achievements in the field of green environment and biology, and also showed various laboratories. In the end of the day happened the meeting with company “SWEECO” where students and teachers had the opportunity not only to learn a lot about chocolate, its preparation process and properties, but also to taste and compare organic chocolate with store-bought chocolate.
As part of the cultural events on Wednesday, the project participants visited zoo, then the Mark Rothko Art Center, where the tour guide conducted a tour with great enthusiasm in the form of a dialogue. The Daugavpils Clay Art Center was also visited, where the project participants took part in a practical workshop and could create a lovely object from clay with their own hands. Project participants will receive the burned figurines during the next project meeting.
On Thursday project participants visited the municipal institution “Daugavpils water”, where they learned about the history of water treatment in the city in the company’s museum, and then visited biological water treatment facilities to observe all processes in action. In the second part of the day the students, forming international subgroups, prepared presentations about what they saw and the most vivid impressions of the week, as well as shared their personal experiences and opinions on various topics related to ecology. The partners also exchanged mementos and souvenirs, thanked for the warm welcome and also discussed the next meeting of the project, this time in Estonia.
Presentations prepared by students: