Erasmus projects (2022-2024 and 2024-2026) of the lower secondary schools of Ylivieska

New school year - new project starts!

Erasmus Club has started again - now with a new project. This means that students will again get to know Agenda 2030 goals, but they will also aim further, to the 2050. New project is called Influencers of the 2050. 


During this project we interact and work with three different schools: 

Again our goal is to get to know sustainable lifestyle. Our project goal is also to act and influence to future!

Some students from Erasmus Club will have a chance to travel to Bratislava in November. Students from Bad Nauheim, Candás and Bratislava will visit in Ylivieska in February. 

Last gathering before summer holiday 14.5.2024

On Tuesday 14th of May Erasmus group gathered together for the last time. We made together some slovakian delicacy: Lokse (slovakian potato flatbread) and laskonky (marenque pie). See you next year! Then we will start another project with other European schools. 




Bratislava, Slovakia 14.-20.4.2024 Responsible Consumption - clothing, clothing waste, consumption, shopping, recycling

In April 2024, eight students were in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, with two teachers. Their target was to join German, Spain and Slovak students and learn about responsible consumption. Students stayed at their host families all the week and studied in their school. The first day students made their presentation of sustainable consumption and food waste and fast fashion. The other days they had many preworks and workshops about the same subjects at the school. They made for example homemade candles, soaps, beeswax and bux hotels. They also had a fashion show using recycled clothes different ways. 





In the evening students played frisbee, laser tag, shopping and just hanged around together. The last day we were walking at the beautiful old city and after that we had escape room play in the old city. On the tour around the city students got to know some history of the old Bratislava. 

A visit to the Vestia waste treatment plant (20.2.2024)

Today Erasmus visited at the local waste treatment plant. We had the chance to get to know how this quite new plant works, how the materials are sorted and what happens to the sorted materials. It was very interesting and well organized! We will use all the new information in one of the presentations made for the Slovakia trip. 

Thank you Vestia! 




Measuring food waste and celebrating friendships (16.2.2024)

This week Erasmus Club members have been measuring food waste in both schools (Taanila and Kaisaniemi). Food waste will be measured again on the week 12, when the menu is the same. Before that clubbers try to influence their peer students to minimize food waste that they produce! 



This week we also had a litte Valentine´s day (in Finland it is "friendship´s day") gathering, where we thought good things about our Erasmus friends with some juice and good cake! 

Erasmus starts to plan new mobility (16.1.2024)

Next student mobility in going to be a visit to Bratislava, Slovakia. Our friends from the Skola pre mimoriadne nadané deti a gymnázium (The school for the gifted children) will host our students in April. In Erasmus Club we will prepare well to our mobility. 

The topic of the mobility is sustainable consumpition and production. Our Erasmus students will prepare three different presentations, which will be presented in Bratislava. Presentations will deal with 1. Basic things about sustainable consumption, supply and demand, fair trade etc. including a presentation of a local waste treatment plant, 2. A campaign to minimize food waste at school AND an interview/questionnaire about food waste, recycling clothes and cutting down textile waste, and 3. National costumes (different variations, production, development, use then and now) and sami costumes in Finland. 

Before all this we finished a beautiful Erasmus sign at Taanila school. Kaisaniemi school will have it´s own sign later. 

Last gathering before christmas (11.12.2023)

Erasmus club members gathered today together in Taanila school. We had some baking in our agenda! Students bakes traditional Christmas cookies - as we traditionally usually do in Erasmus. 

Happy holidays!

Having a good time and remembering Germany! (13.11.2023)

The trip to Germany was a great experiance, but only eight students had the chance to experience it. That is why we had some fun at Erasmus Club and made something from Germany and Hessen area! We found a recipe for Laugenbrezel and all students could make their own brezel at our home economics classroom! Some laugenbrezel had too much salt on them, but some of them tasted really good with some Apfelsaft. :) 




Bad Nauheim, Germany - how to live a healthy and sustainable life (14.10.2023)

In the beginning of October eight students started their trip to Bad Nauheim, Germany. Their target was to join German and Slovak students and learn about healthy and sustainable lifestyle. Students lived with their new German friends all five days, studied in their school (Ernst-Ludwig-Scule) and had fun with each other! 

Week started with some warming up activities in the gym. Students also had the chance to get to know the school and the city of Bad Nauheim. 


Making images about Erasmus! Here you can see Erasmus+. 


On the tour around the city students got to know some history of the old spa city Bad Nauheim and some current points of sustainable development. 

The trip was very versatile and interesting. Students practiced processing and interpreting emotions in a poetry workshop and got to know how Frankfurt airport aims to be carbon free. Leisure time was not forgotten either: students spent time at the city (Bad Nauheim and Frankfurt), went to see ice-hockey game or had fun in trampoline park or climbing park! 


Climbing park was fun but little scary! 

We also had fun in the traditional Culture night where there were served food from different countries and performed some dances or presentations. 


Flags of the participating countries - Finland, Germany and Slovakia - made from fruits and vegetables. 

During the week in Bad Nauheim students learned several new things and had the chance to practice their language skills. All in all, the trip gave a lot of new experiences and new friends!

Erasmus Club prepares different assignments for the learning week in Germany (2.10.2023)

Erasmus Club started work already in August. First gathered together all "old" members who were part of the club already last semester. After that also new members were welcome to join!

This semester some of the members of the Erasmus Club will travel to Germany, Bad Nauheim and Slovakia, Bratislava. First trip is to Germany and we started to get to know the country and the school and prepared different works for the trip. Some students made a video about Kaisaniemi school, some prepared a presentation about addictions in Finland and in Ylivieska and some made a Kahoot!-game about Finland. A questionnary about substances and substance use was made for Kaisaniemi and Taanila secundary school students and the answers were used in the presentation. 

Questionnary template about substance use in Ylivieska secundary schools (in Finnish) 

Presentation about substances and substance use 

Wow - this autumn has been full of work!

Erasmus is back!

Erasmus Club starts again in August! The first gathering is on Monday 21.8 at 14.30 at Kaisaniemi school (classroom 158). You are welcome there to hear what is Erasmus.

End of the school year is near (10.5.2023)

Our Erasmus year 2022-2023 has been busy and quite versatile. We have made a lot of work and hopefully you also had fun! Erasmus Club has gathered together 10 times during the autumn season and 15 times during the spring season. 

Our projects for this year were: 
  • presentations about our schools (presented by the teachers in Bratislava teacher´s meeting in October 2022)
  • posters/presentations about our partner schools (to screens and to walls)
  • presenting ourselves in a slide show (appearance, hobbies, family etc.) for our partner students 
  • Ylivieska News: pre-work for the Erasmus week in Finland
    • for the news students interviewed professor Markku Ollikainen, made a questionnary about sustainable living for the whole school and got to know how climate change effects to Finland 
  • Erasmus week in Finland 6.-10.2.2023
  • Meeting with the researher: docent Harri Mattila tols about his work and Finnish waters.
  • Water in Finland: pre-work for the Erasmus week in Spain
    • for the presentation students got to know the characteristics of Finnish natural waters and drinking water and found out how our waters are protected
  • Erasmus week in Spain 17.-21.4.2023

We have also had good time with our friends: we baked some Christmas cookies before Christmas and after Erasmus week in Spain we made some spanish style food: vegetable and tuna empanadas, cucumber gazpacho soup and churros! Delicious! 

Badajoz, Spain - the importance of water (17.-21.4.2023)

Second project week we spent in Badajoz, in south-west Spain. Eight students and two teachers travelled all the way to the opposite site of Europe in the middle of April.

We learnt how climate change is making the lack of the water worse, how allochthonous species, like camelette, has filled the river Guidana and how difficult and expensive it is to get rid off it. We also did some water research and learnt about Spanish culture, made new friends and spent an unforgettable and hot week in Spain. 



Our next issue is water! (1.3.2023)

Right now students in Erasmus Club are working with the topic water in Finland: what kind of water areas there are in Finland, how drinking water and waste water are treated in Finland and in Ylivieska, how Baltic sea is different compared to other sea areas and how water areas are protected in Finland. 

On wednesday 29.3 students will have an online meeting with scientist Harri Mattila from HAMK. He will tell us more about waters and water research. 

All the information gathered will be presented in Badajoz, Spain, where our next Erasmus meeting will be in April. Eight students and two teachers will travel to Badajoz to learn more about water situation in Spain. The topic water is connected to sustainable development goal number 6: Clean water and sanitation. Also the goal 3: Good health and well being will be connected to the week.

First student meeting in Ylivieska (6-10.2.2023)

The first student mobility of this project was held in Ylivieska, Finland on 6th-10th February 2023. Eight students from Bratislava, Slovakia travelled to Finland with their teachers. Because either Spanish or Portuguese students were not able to come to Finland, students from Bad Nauheim (Ernst-Ludwig-Schule), Germany had the chance to join the project. 

 

Students had prepared to the mobility in abvance and they performed presentations on the topic climate change after some warming up activies at Kaisaniemi school. During the week students acted - as active citizens do - against climate change, but also had the chance to relax with each other and to ease their (possible) climate anxiety. 

 

Students planned and implemented a peaceful demonstration against climate change in Ylivieska. Demonstration was held by snowmen. 


One of the demonstrating snowmen. 


Students also had the chance to participate in citizen science research Talviseuranta (Winter follow-up), which gathers information about snow situation and different animal around Finland. After this activity students also studied how nordic animals survive during winter and how climate change will affect to them.


Making measurements to Talviseuranta civil science research. 

Students also participated in a Climate Action Summit Simulation. This was a roleplay where students had to adapt to their roles as important decision makers in the world and to make decisions to mitigate climate change. Real data was used in the simulation model En-ROADS. As a result the increase of the temperature was limited to 1.8 degrees celsius compared to pre-industrial levels! 

 

In addition students also enjoyed Finnish nature; skating, skiing, sledging and frying sausages by camp fire was part of mobility´s cultural experince in Finland. These activies also helped students to get to know each other and Finnish culture, but they also showed how you can relax in the nature with little effort. 

The whole group: students and teachers from Finland, Germany and Slovakia. 

Working and waiting for the Erasmus week in Finland (24.1.2023)

All the students in Erasmus Club have been working with the topic climate change. They have been making a short film, Ylivieska news about climate change. 

One group made first a questionnaire about sustainability and climate change for the students of Kaisaniemi and Taanila schools. They gathered all the answers and presented the results in the "news". 

Other group interviewed professor Markku Ollikainen, who is also the chairman of the Finnish Climate Change panel. Interview was recorded and some parts were also added to the students own news broadcast. 



The finished Ylivieska news will be presented as a pre-work during the Erasmus week in Finland in February.

There are over 30 members in Erasmus Club in Ylivieska (20.12.2022)

Erasmus Club is open for all students at age 13-15 in Ylivieska. From the beginning of the autumn semester over 30 students have been regularly at the club. The main point is of course to meet new friends from Europe, but at the same time students want to practice their skills and knowledge. 

 

Our Erasmus Club has been very active - on the project Active Citizen! - and they have made presentations about their schools (Kaisaniemi and Taanila), they have got to know the project partners (countries and school) and presented theirselves. They have also learned about eco-anxiety and their own feelings towards huge environmental issues. But students have also had fun: the last club before christmas we baked Finnish ginger breads! 

 

Erasmus Club members in Ylivieska baked Finnish ginger breads before Christmas.
Erasmus Club members in Ylivieska baked Finnish ginger breads before Christmas.

 

Now Erasmus Club members are planning and working for the student meeting in Ylivieska. They are waiting for their guest impatiently!