YAVAŞ ŞEHRİN YAVAŞ OKULU

Schools should be active in all studies aimed at increasing the awareness of the students in schools and then the entire local population about the environment and sustainable development. Seferih...

Schools should be active in all studies aimed at increasing the awareness of the students in schools and then the entire local population about the environment and sustainable development. Seferihisar Necat Hepkon High School is a Cittaslow school which has its own garden for farming where there are local trees, plant species and wildlife species (rabbits, ducks, pigeons, hens, turkeys, etc.). In line with the Cittaslow criteria related to schools , this project succeeded: -Providing training to school administrators, teachers and students on organic farming activities and slow nutrition -Developing our school's "Garden School" to grow local products using traditional methods -Providing the necessary equipment and infrastructure to establish an organic vegetable garden in the school yard -Ensuring that traditional dishes are produced and preserved at school as opposed to fast food culture -Providing regular taste and nutrition training at school in line with the slow food philosophy -Contributing to the survival of local culture through good agriculture and slow food practices -Raising conscious and active citizens in terms of sustainability from local to national -Carrying out international Slow Food /Cittaslow activities

Each partner organisation established a planting area to plant the exchanged seeds in their homeland. The farms in the school yards were prepared for farming . Local ancestor seeds were taken from local farmers and planted with the help of local farmers. Farming studio was built in Necat Hepkon School's yard near the farm. In this studio, many local foods were prepared, tasted and sold. 1st mobility was to Ljubljana which is a slow food destination. The teachers had the chance of seeing schools on organic farming, observing and experiencing slow food activities, joining a lecture about the place of bees in organic farming. 2nd mobility was to Lisboa where teachers and students had the chance of joining bread making workshop, visiting local farms in the suburbs, visiting a school farm maintained by parents, using old farming tools in a local farm. 3rd mobility was to TODİ which is an Italian cittaslow. Teachers and students had the chance of observing Cittaslow movement where it flourished. They joined lectures in the farming school they visited. 4th mobility was in Turkey. It was a big festival where each institution cooked their traditional food, many street games played and seeds exchanged and planted in the school farm.

The most concrete output of the project was the school farms established in each country's school yards. Also, the coops for poultry in Turkey which gave students the chance of living with animals was another concrete output of the project. The products produced from the fruits and vegetables in the school yard were the most important output of the project. Because, the students had the chance of experiencing how to grow a vegetable, how to water and hoe it, when to collect it, how to keep it and how to produce local food from it. Besides, the students experienced to sell their own products in the local market and festivals which fostered their financial literacy skills. The international mobilities also gave participants the chance of observing different cultures, practising thier language skills, bridging cultures which meant to create connection between European counterparts and themselves, letting European partners understand the Turkish culture and be aware of our rich cultural heritage. Another concrete output of the project was the Booklet of the project prepared in 5 languages. All in all, at the end of the project, participants understood the importance of being a cittaslow citizen in terms of global sustainability.