Changing the Community - Dragomirești Secondary School, Dâmbovița
The students from Secondary School Dragomiresti decided to get involved in environmental activities to bring change in their community. The students found countless problems in the community and school they would like to address. They decided to build awareness in their community regarding the environment and living a healthy harmonious life.
The students when to the city hall to speak withe the vice mayor, the mayor and local environment representative to talk about how they can bring change together. The students created brochures to promote the project and recruited volunteers to support their community cleaning and school beautification initiative.
Change story facilitated by teacher Dragomir Cristian.
List all the problems identified by students:
- School - lack of gym for the PA;
- Locally - lack of sewage system and the lack of an after school center.
-Community - students realized that the community is not aware of the importance of keeping a clean environment for a healthy living and they are not involve in protecting the environment;
What problem was selected and why:
The students decided to focus on protecting the environment because they want to live in a healthy place.
Who is affected by this problems and how?
Community members who want to spend time in nature are the ones affected the most. The environment is not taken care of and this bothers the students.
List all the solutions you have thought of:
Students goal was to spread awareness at the community level regarding the negative effects of pollution by conducting the following activities:
- create awareness environmental awareness materials;
- engage with local leadership to help them reduce pollution by supporting their initiative;
- organize an info session at the community level;
- engage the parent and other volunteers in the beautification of the school;
What solution was selected for implementation and why?
The main solution was to spread awareness in the community to care about the environment, by organizing info session any getting involved in certain activities.
Describe the solution implementation process
The students organize a leadership group to coordinate project activities;
- They organized info sessions at community level;
- They requested the local government to install more trash cans;
- They cleaned certain areas where there was a lot of trash (paper, plastic, iron, glass)
- They planted flower in school yard
What are the results or the impact of your work?
- the project had a positive impact, the community understood that they need to be more responsible regarding trash collection and that the environment needs to be protected. The students realized that change start with them.
How many beneficiaries did you have?
more than 100 people
What did people say about your work? Write 2 quote.
- we did not expect the students to take this step and bring awareness in our community.
- we are encouraging the students to continue to stay involved in their community
What challenges did you face and how did you over come them?
The main problem was that people pushed back, they didn't want to recognize that each one has to be involved to create change.
How long did it take you to implement the solution?
7-15 days
What did you do to promote the project? With whom did you speak? What answers did you get?
- we organized info sessions at the community level;
- we spoke with local leadership and teachers.
- we received positive feedback and we realized that more people decided to volunteer
How many people heard about your project?
- 20-50 people
What are your plans for the future?
we are planning to conduct regularly awareness building campaigns, greening, recycling, maintenance and beautification of green areas in the community
