EVENT 5: Street Activities for Children
INTERACT: Inclusion Through Environmental Activities, 2013-2015
Europe for Citizens Programme, Action 2, Measure 3, Decision No 2013 2474/ 001-001
EVENT 5: Street Activities for children
The objective of both street events organized in Cyprus and Italy was to implement activities with an environmental education and awareness raising focus, presented in a fun and interactive way as the main target group were children. Both partners encouraged the participation and interaction between Cypriot/Italian and immigrant children and arranged for environmental and traditional games. The concept of both events supported social cohesion while enhancing children’s environmental awareness. In total, 116 people participated in INTERACT Event 5.
The event in ITALY took place on September 19, 2014 at the Ritaldi castle in Spoleto.The event involved 46 children in Italy, including 41 participants from the city of Castel Ritaldi, 3 participants from Montefalco and 2 from Spoleto. The 46 children originally came from Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Germany, Russia, Lithuania and Morocco. The Event 5 in Italy was co-organized with the Valle Umbra Servizi. The event’s invitation in Italian was widely disseminated through the GSI Italia website and social media. In terms of media coverage, the event was covered in Tuttoggi info on 16 September 2014 and Corriere dell’ Umbria on 18 September 2014. For event’s photos from Italy, see below:
The event in CYPRUS took place on September 20, 2014 at the municipal garden next to the House of Representatives in Nicosia. It was attended by more than 70 people from the city of Nicosia (Cyprus) with a background from Cyprus, Russia, Greece and the UK. The event was under the framework of the European Mobility Week and specifically the Car Free Day 2014. The 2014 slogan of the day was ‘Our streets, our choices’. Based on that, AKTI developed a series of interactive activities to attract Cypriot and immigrant children. Environmental games were organized urging the children to become more aware of waste management issues and realize how they can support and play a role in changing habits specifically concerning used cooking oils and how those can be turned into energy – biodiesel. Because of the theme of the day, specific emphasis was placed on traditional games to encourage children to reclaim the streets as public spaces turning them into safe social zones instead of just racing tracks. During the event, besides the games that were organized by the AKTI team, information that was produced during the project was also disseminated widely such as the INTERACT leaflet/poster, the training materials and other information on environmental issues. By taking part in the activities organized by AKTI, participants had the opportunity to win a children’s bicycle. The winner, Mr. Tasos Milonas, was announced after the draw which was done by the Cypriot Environment Commissioner, Ms Ioanna Panayiotou. The event’s invitations in Greek and in English were posted on AKTI’s website as well as its social media and were also sent to more than 550 e-mail subscribers. An event was organized via FB and numerous reminders were sent before and after the event. The event in Cyprus was covered in Politis newspaper on 13 September 2014. For event’s photos from Cyprus see below:
Both events were filmed and the footage was used to develop the project’s short documentary which was aired during the final event (EVENT 6) on 18th November 2014 in Nicosia, Cyprus.
