Project Footprints - Environmental and Educational project

Already for few years I am a group member of the Project Footprints - an NGO in Latvia that promotes environmental education and organizes sport and environmetnal events for children and youth all around the country. Since the beginning of becoming a member of this organization, it has been the place of inspiration for me, due to the great people with whom I was working there, and due to results we saw after all our accomplished efforts... During 6 years the organization growed and expanded very quickly, and nowadays it is the most popular, reliable and highly recognized organization in Latvia, which activities people are eager to support, to get involved and to bring their own contribution. So what is this organization about? And what are those environmental activities it does toward education the young people in Latvia? Let me briefly share with You some ideas and spotlights that make this project to be special and as well effective :)





“Project Footprints” – is environmental project that combines:
Environment+art+sport+music= alternative education for XXI century!

• The core of the project is already included in its name - Footprints.... The individuals who decide to participate in our events, leave their footprints behind and in:
  - the clean forests,
  - joy of contribution,
  - participation in action and competition,
  - physical activities,
  - chance to express ourselves in creative way and sense of responsibility.
• ART. "I love my Planet" is a competition for the schools, where children together with their teachers create various art works that represent and demonstrate ideas related to environment, humans and the nature, and sustainability. Children and young individuals bring contribution to this competition through painting with their own efforts diverse pictures, and creating with their hands various artworks, sometimes even using waste materials and transforming them into into brilliant ideas of new utilization and use! All the best artworks afterwards are collected together and presented for public view in the annual Footprint Art, Sport and Music event!
• MUSIC. We support the new talented musicians and groups, and annually organize for them the music competition with very recognizable sponsors, competent jury and great prices! This way we indirectly involve into our activities individuals who consider the music as their lifestyle, and by participating into our competitions and performances they get closer to the environmental concepts too, and in many cases by appreciating the project Footprints efforts to support them, they afterwards in a feedback are eager to participate in our environmental and sport activities too.
• SPORT. The “Project Footprints” has been actively cooperating with Latvian Olympic Club, and in common efforts together accomplish different objectives and tasks in connection with the popularization of environmental protection and education programs. All together 47 Latvian Olympians have taken part in the project, and by participating in various sport and environmetnal events together with the children and youth, they show to young individuls a necessity of physical activities and healty lifestyle, and inspire them to get involved in programs of environmental protection and sport exercise.
• ENVIRONMENT. Twice a year joint work occurs (April, May, / September, October) together cleaning about 20 territories. This activity combines both the elements of sports and competition, and therefore successfully attracted many hundreds of enthusiasts. The Olympians are as well participating in the join works together with other activists.
• To raise awareness about sustainable transportation and to promote sustainable mobility, bike riding trip “Kr. Barona path” has been organized annually in July. It is the trip of the length of 1000 km, which performs during 2 weeks, and beside the opportunity to discover own country and the local nature, it involves tree planting actions in each place of the stop.
• Other activities of the project involves organizing environmental campaigns, youth camps and to get involved in various international conferences on environmental education.

By personally participating and organizing some of the join works in cleaning terriotory, and by seeing how actively the opther particpants get invovled in this action, I decided to share with you a scenario of join work, which maybe somehow could bring inspiration for you to organize similar action in your community!!! :)

Footprints waste-collection joint work ”Today we will tidy up a small part of the Planet!”

Scenario:

1 – to choose the territory;

2 – to inform nearest schools and universities about clean-up day;

3 – to spread information, as possible capaciously (posters, fly-sheets, radio , TV , performances in the schools and universities etc...)

4 - in chosen territory place containers, for example in the forest/ park, usually about 4 – 6, big amount (8 m3) containers are placed so, that they are positioned in the center of a relevant distributed location and amount of waste.

5 - Containers are numbered as can be seen on map;

6 - Present joint workers are separated in as many teams as there are containers in the area;

7 - Team leaders are invited to receive the maps of cleanable territory and every leader leads his team to the place in wood where the container of the respective team is located;

8 - Further the competition in waste collection begins. The team whose territory is afterwards the cleanest and whose container contains the largest quantity of waste are the winners and after finishing the joint work receive prizes.

9 - To ensure smooth proceeding of the activities and to make the work more interesting DJ is hired ho travels all around the territory and stops by each container to distribute mineral water, gloves and sacks if necessary and takes the musical orders of the respective teams. DJ stays 10 minutes at each container and travels the territory all time around also informing inhabitants about the ongoing Footprints joint work and inviting them to participate.

10 - Jury visit all the containers and decide the winning team which is presented with various prizes.

11 - Such cleaning joint work competition contains elements of various sports: orienteering, cross-country running, gymnastics, weight lifting.

12 - And if usually there is waste left after the competitions then on the contrary these competitions leave the ground clean.

13 - As a result of such attractive arrangements large areas are being cleaned, lots of youth are attracted as volunteers and from that clean territory, successful educational work as well as integration and creating of contact among schools and high schools is achieved.

:)