The fourth short-term exchange of groups of pupils took place in Gdynia, Poland, from 6 October untill 12 October 2019. Host school was Szkola Podstawowa nr 12, im. gen. Mariusza Zaruskiego, Gdynia. They hosted pupils and accompanying teachers from partner schools from Croatia, Greece, Italy, Lithuania and the Netherlands. Pupils stayed at their peers' homes. All groups arrived on 6 October and the host school organised transport from the airport and Gdansk bus station to Gdynia. On Monday, 7 October , there were activities at school. At welcoming ceremony we saw a performance of the school choir and we had some ice breaker activities. As the title of the meeting was „Save the forests, we need oxygen“, each delegation planted one tree in the school yard. All participants went to Gdynia Infobox, where we learned about the history of this young and fast developing city and had a view of the city from the viewing tower. Then the whole group went sightseeing. We saw different ships in the port. At the city hall we were welcomed by representatives of the city administration and they told us about efforts they make to reduce the amount of CO2 by encouraging people to use public transport, city bikes and by keeping a significant percentage of the city area covered with forests.
On Tuesday, 8 October, we went to Marszewo Forest Botanical Gardan and had lectures and workshops about the influence of climate changes on forests and migration of birds. Pupils were divided into groups. First they had an educational game, they had to find tasks in the forest and solve them. Then they saw the identification and ringing of birds. Pupils could let them free then. After that we went to visit Gdansk and had a guided tour, so we saw its most important builldings and learned about the history. On the way back we stopped in Sopot, walked along a long pier often damaged by strong storms.
On Wednesday, 9 October, pupils rehearsed the play „Save the Lofty Trees“ and later they performed it for the project meeting participants, other pupils, teachers and parents. Coordinators had a meeting to discuss the ongoing and future activities. The whole group went to Gdynia Experiment Centre, an interactive educational centre for pupils. They made a model of low-carbon city and did lots of interesting experiments, especially the ones tha show how water energy can be used – energy of waves, sea currents, tidal energy.
On Thursday, 10 October, pupils attended climate based lessons in Englsih conducted by teachers from all 6 countries. Lessons were about deforestation, climate changes through history, sustainable development. Then we went to Gdynia Aquarium, where we could see different sea animals from the whole world. We had a lecture about the Baltic Sea and recent changes influenced by climate changes. Pupils had workshops, they learned about some creatures from the Baltic Sea and had to identify them using microscopes. Pupils had a free afternoon with their host families.
On Friday, 11 October, we went to a samll town Hel on Hel peninsula. We visited Seal Station and watched feeding of seals. Then we had lectures about fish and mammals in the Baltic Sea and workshops – pupils got waterproof clothes, went into the sea and tried to catch small fish with drag nets. Then experts helped pupils to identify them. We also visited the museum Dom Morświna. After a walk along the windy peninsula we had lunch and returned to Gdynia. All groups departed on Saturday, 12 October. Transport to Gdansk bus station and airport was organised by host school.