Students create information posters about human actions in the case of a disaster

The students took part in a discussion about which natural phenomena could lead to disaster and for what reasons; then we discussed the key points everybody should know in order to ensure their own safety as well as the safety of the people around them. During the activities the students learned what the colour codes in the weather forecast stand for; ‘code yellow’ means that the forecasted meteorological conditions are not unusual for the particular season but they could be dangerous so people need to be cautious; ‘code red’, on the other hand, signifies highly dynamic meteorology posing a great threat for human life together with material damage, power cuts, water supply and communications failure, traffic jams etc.

Divided into groups, the students proved what they had learned on the subject and then they created posters with DOs and DON’Ts in the case of flooding, forest fires, thunderstorms and snow blizzards. The elaborated creative posters will be on display on the walls of the students’ schools so that everybody can benefit from the information. The extracurricular activity was met with great interest and enthusiasm; for homework all participants had to make a family response plan in the case of an emergency and also to prepare a survival kit. The lucky ones received prizes, too.

An activity dedicated to water took place in the St. Kliment Ohridski General School in the village of Zverino, Mezdra Municipality, and in Nikola Vaptsarov GS #1 and Ivan Vazov GS #3 in Berkovitsa. Together with the students we found out how much water there was on the Blue Planet, what portion of it was usable and what the ‘water footprint’ of each of us was. In order to find out how huge an amount of the precious resource we use in our everyday lives, we asked the students to carry out an audit of water use in their schools – they checked for dripping taps or leaking toilet cisterns; then they calculated the amount of water each of their classes needed for drinking and washing, as well as for cleaning the premises. In the end the teams created lists of recommendations which were put on display in the schools in order to stimulate their schoolmates to use water reasonably.

Bulgarian Environmental Partnership Foundation plans to continue its youth activities in the following months. They are a part of an initiative aimed at educating the young generation about our responsibilities towards the environment, as well as about adapting to the new conditions of life resulting from climate change.