On the occasion of the International Climate Action Day, CR "Gutta-Club", in partnership with AO WiSDOM, has organized an interactive program for the students of the Orhei High School and the students from GHG Herdeschule General School in Bad Piramont, Germany.

Luminita Burachinschi, member of CR "Gutta-Club" initiated the program through an interactive game, where each participant, besides presenting themselves, had to present their vision on environmental protection.

Furthermore, Luminita presented the main "Gutta-Club" activities in the field of energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and climate protection.

Participants learned much about the summer camps that were initiated in 2001 under the SPARE program, the Energy and Biomass projects and the Climate Ambassadors. Luminita also spoke about the 350 international movement and the "Power Shift" international campaign who also participated in the "Gutta-Club."

The students also learned about the CLEEN project, which included different activities, including the creation of a non-governmental organizations network, promoting the ideas of energy efficiency in Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Moldova. Another important action of this project was the assemblage and installation of 44 solar collectors for water heating in Moldovan farmers and public institutions.

The participants also had the opportunity to watch a cartoon movie on the topic of resources saving. The author of the cartoon was a pupil from Moldova, the winner of the international competition "Energy", which managed to distinguish herself among the 15 countries participating in the contest. See the video here! 

There were also other short videos created by students during the "Action on CO2" project, which included using eco-graffiti in awareness campaigns. 

Furthermore, the expert of the Institute of Ecology and Geography, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Ms. Rodica Cojocari presented to the participants the basic concepts about climate and the main factors leading to climate change both at the global and national level (Moldova Republic). The main adaptation measures were presented over short and long term periods.

Nadia Andreev, chairman of AO WiSDOM and collaborator of the Laboratory of Hydrobiology and Ecotoxicology, the Institute of Zoology presented information on a recent project implemented in Slobozia Mare, Cahul for the implementation of an action plan for adapting to climate change for water resources. Students learned the demonstration facilities built under this project for the use of wastewater for the irrigation of the willow tree - a great perspective for adaptation measures. Interesting information was presented on the possibilities of planting willow in eroded areas, the ability to restore soil moisture, biodiversity and ecosystems, as well as economic activities, such as weaving of hedges or child accessories.

After that, students had to create an environment-friendly menu by using minimal water consumption. For this they have electronically accessed a water consumption calculator and a list of products. Thus, they have found that for the cultivation of one kg of potatoes for a vegetation period soil water, surface water is required, residual water is generated - a total of about 100 liters of water and about 1 kg of corn - about 1000 l of water. Instead, the production of one kilogram of beef requires an enormous amount of water - 15,000 liters (with regard to the plants feeding the cows, the use of soil water, surface water and residual water), so to see the beef steak on the plate, one shall use in the production stages about 4500 l of water.

The participants were very surprised by this data and decided that in the future they should be more attentive to what they eat and what damage to nature can have a simple decision when choosing food.

At the end of the program, the students responded to climate questions in a small contest, the most active receiving as an award the book "The House You Will Build by Yourself". Literature and posters for the high school library were also distributed.

Time of course has been very short for this activity. Many other interactive games and practical exercises were planned, but unfortunately they did not fit into the very busy schedule, because the goodbye moment came too soon, however, the visitors were open for collaboration.

There is a hope that everyone found useful information. The children received new knowledge and offer to get involved in volunteer activities in the ecological activities of the two participating organizations, whose members were happy to share the experience of environmental protection projects.

According to the tradition, a group picture was taken and everyone said goodbye to each other.

The guests were wished many successes in all their endeavors as well as civic and environmental actions and were invited to come back.