MEETING IN POLAND (1-7/12/2019) ON SMOG

First Day (2nd December)

 The first day of the meeting was spent with tours of the hosting school, so the guests could get familiar with the place they were going to work on for the week of the visit. Apart from the tour, each country presented the work they had done on the presentation of each school and country, so that everyone would introduce themselves to the rest of the team. In parallel, some students that had prepared on the topic presented their work on the issue that the visit was based on: smog. Later in the afternoon, we visited the local Town Council, where we talked with the politicians responsible for the environment and the Mayor himself. This visit helped us understand the dimensions of the problem of smog in Poland and the exact measures taken against it. 

 Second Day (3rd December)

   The second day we visited the historic capital of Poland: Warsaw. Specifically, we toured mainly the old part of the town, seeing the most important landmarks, learning the rich history of the city, guided by a professional. Later, we visited Copernicus Science Centre, where we had plenty of time to gaze at the miraculous science and chemical experiments displayed there. To close the day, we watched the history of space exploration in the Planetarium of the Centre. 

 Third Day (4th December) 

  Οn Wednesday we visited Warsaw again, but this time we saw different places. The first visit was to the University of Technology, where we met with a professor and a student of the university and took lectures on the air quality of Warsaw and Krakow, on why Poland is facing a problem, what are the factors behind it, and also some possible solutions to it. After the lecture, we toured the main part of the city and stopped at the Uprising Museum, where we learned the modern history of the country, like the catastrophic consequences of World War II and how Poland managed to get back on its feet. 

Fourth Day (5th December)

   On Thursday, we had some workshops in mixed groups, mainly about smog. Specifically, we learned how to use an anti-dust device by two professionals. We also assembled a home-made device which measures the level of smog in the area. Finally, in our last workshop we installed some devices in order to join the global smog measuring system. In the evening, after a long day with our hard morning work, we were rewarded by a spectacular talent night which was organized by the Polish teachers and students. Many talents appeared and it was a pleasure to have the ability to watch them.

Fifth Day (6th December)

   On the last day, Friday, we made a workshop about the reflections of the week. We created a lot of posters about smog and we went to a street column, we put glue all over it and sticked them on it in order to give a message to the people and to make them realise how serious the situation of smog is.