LTT 4 in Gotland/Sweden and Results

LTT4 Meeting was held in Sweden/Gotland on 13/19 April 2018.

Project related teachers and students gathered in the Stockholm City Terminal and started getting to know each other and the city better.

KulturHuset (Culture House) was the another meeting point for everyone so that a brief free time was available for all. When we were there, firstly a smart model of Stockholm was introduced to us in Stockholm Room.Then, there was a short visit to some eco-friendly built or located places. Teachers and students were informed by the Swedish about those.

Right after some more free time it was time to go the bus station to reach Nynashamn where we got on board ferry to Gotland. It took three and a half hours to get to Visby-Gotland. The ensemble rode their hired bikes to Gustavsvik at around midnight.

Sunday, April 15. 2018:

All were introduced to biomimesis.

Biomimesis is when you get inspired by nature and use it as a model to build / make something useful.

International 6 groups had to make a bridge out of paper and glue. Then they were asked to go outside to get inspiration from the nature. Each group was inspired by sticks. When we were researching the nature we found that the sticks were the strongest material apart from stones. We wanted to mimic the structure of the stick and that is why we rolled the paper really compact to get a hard texture. The bridge was supposed to hold a bucket while water would be poured into it. The strongest of the bridges could hold 4.5 liters.

16 April

Schools in nowadays have the duty to educate students about a more sustainable future. The CO2 in the atmosphere, the green house effect and the development of manifacturing technology are constantly rising which cause a big problem on the earth. Nature and technology need to cooperate and keep a balance to reduce the consumption of the lacking nature resources. That is why a trip need to be organized for the students to understand the importance of biomimesis, that technology and nature goes hand to hand.

Today’s trips was at the wind mill park. In total there were nine wind mills in the area surrounded by a race track. Six out of nine wind mills are the older ones that were build in 1999, and the rest were build in 2014. The older design can produce around 660 kWh, and this amount of energy is enough for 150 households in one year. Whilst the newer wind mills produce 2000 kWh and it is enough for 450 households. Wind mills are giant energy sources. This invention is eco-friendly, effective for producing lots of energy and it contributes to reducing the amount of CO2. It is sick and at the same time weird that there are taxes that need to be paid if the wind mills produces energy that exceeds 1500 kWh. In that way it will result in that many people choose to use less eco-friendly way to expand energy, for example firewood, fuel and so on. Because of the regulations, it is important to remember; quick solutions are needed to stop the expansion of CO2 and green house effect.

However, later on we went to Fårö with the ferry. On Fårö we went along the coast and stopped by to see the famous ”rauks”. Rauks are big sedimentary stones of a Silurian age. Furthermore, Fårö is characterized by vikings, we could see and we have been told stories about vikings all the way long. Today’s trip I got to see wild bunnies everywhere on Fårö, they were super adorable.

At the end of the day we stopped by a farm. There were many lambs, cows, cats and many other animals on the farm. It was an educative trip. The staff talked to one of the farmers, and he told that the rest product of food will become biogas once it’s recycled. It is sustainable and productive.

17 April

Go Enterprise – Case Gotland 2025

International 5 groups were given a case about how to live eco-friendly using sustainable energy sources with the inspiration of biomimesis in the target of Gotland 2025.

The groups, with the assistance of the Swedish, started to focus on the case. The game had 4 main steps including two phases each. The steps were called RIKA (RICA) with the abbreviation of Research, Idea, Consept and Action stages. Step One included the features and skills Analytical and Aware, Step Two – Creative and Brave, Step Three – Realistic and Strategic and Step Four – Confident and Communicative. Each group has come up with some realistic,applicable ideas such as getting rid of using plastic bags, building a bridge between Main Land and Gotland, using water tribunes to produce energy to sail electric ships going between the Main Land and Gotland etc. At the end of each phase the groups were asked to evaluate the ideas and their presentations. A jury consisted of teachers joined the evaluation at the same time. Finally, right after the final evaluation Group 2 won the game by gaining 71 points in total.

After the go enterprise game, students were informed and asked to make posters that express their ideas best and effectively.

18 April

It was the last day in the cottages. So everyone had to clean the cottages and pack the suitcases. As soon as everyone was out, we went into the conference room and continued working on our posters. After that we went to Visby. We gave our bikes back and had some free time there. We split up in some small groups and went in the city. After two hours we met at the meeting point and went together to the ferry which brought us to Stockholm. Then we ate on the ferry and were after three and a half hours in Stockholm. We drove with the bus to the train station where we split up. Some of us went to the host families and the others went to the hostel where we all fell asleep.

19 April

Visit To Taby Enskilda Gymnasium

We all went to visit Taby Enskilda Gymnasium and to present the posters as products of our LTT4 meeting on our last day.

Taby Enskilda Gymnasium, indeed, quite a few facilities for all kind of educational activities and all the staff looked happy and enjoying to be a part of the school.The school has a special Erasmus corner and it looked very well organized. Students have succeeded to collect run-out batteries and contributed to their school 25.000 SEK.

The international 5 groups that have had a workshop about the case Gotland 2025 presented their products through assistance of hosting school in turn. In the meantime,the Headmaster, Mr. Jan Liljegren came to greet all the staff with his kind regards.

That was the end of LTT4 meeting in Gotland/Sweden. The Turkish,the German, and the Danish partners have gone back home right after collecting lots of unforgetable memories.