ERASMUS German Exchange

For the third year in a row, students from KCS have been dedicated to their ERASMUS project, entitled Challenges, Choices, Changes. The project focuses on promoting sustainability among school students and their wider communities, by comparing practices at an international level. Our partners for this initiative hail from Poland, Sweden and Germany, with the most recent exchange taking place in the city of Shneverdingen, located south of Hamburg.

On Wednesday the 7th of September 2022, six 5th year students who had dedicated time during their TY year to participate in international online ERASMUS meetings, had the opportunity to travel abroad and meet their partners in person. The students were delighted to receive such a warm greeting from their welcoming party as they arrived in Germany, while looking forward to the week of environmentally themed activities ahead.

The students were greated with some heavy rain on their first full day in Geramny, however it didn’t stop them from getting to know thier international partners through some ice breaker activities! In the afternoon the students attended a talk from local councillor Peter Plümer at the Schneverdingen town hall.

On Friday the students travelled to a nearby farm, where the students prepared a regionally sourced meal from scratch. The students worked hard to harvest their own potatoes, pick and chop their own vegetables, make butter and cheese from cows milk, grind wheat to bake bread and waffles and cook some eggs that they collected from chickens at the farm. Once this meal was cooked, each group gave a presentation and explained how they carried out their role in the process. After it was time to dig in, everyone unanimously agreed that it was Sehr lecker! All the students working together on the meal from start to finish made the end result so rewarding.

After dinner, the students (and teachers) displayed some impressive performances at the Farm Olympics, along with some familiar, Greece the Musical themed entertainment for the bus journey home!

The students spent their weekends with their host families, enjoying being tourists in a foreign country. Some had the chance to go to the nearby HeidePark theme park, while others visited Hamburg for some sightseeing, shopping and even a trip to the Hamburg Dungeons!

On Monday the students visited to Lüneberg town hall for a sustainability talk from the mayor. They then walked to kalkberg, where the soil is predominantly made up of calcium sulphate and a salt dome has formed. Everyone climbed 55m up the Lüneberg water tower for a guided tour! The Global Goals for Sustainable Development were on display within the city’s water tower, which the students were quick to recognise despite them being auf Deutch!

On a wet Tuesday morning, the students headed to the Peitzmoor bog to learn about the flora and fauna that live there. In Peitzmoor, you can find typical heathland plants such as cotton grass, cross-leaved heath, sphagnum moss, or sundew, just as you can dragonflies, moor frogs, black grouse, or short-eared owls. The students cleared the heath in order to protect the species that inhabit this unique area.

That evening, the students painted some reusable bags using potato stamps. These bags can be used time and time again, to reduce the use and sale of plastic bags. The students had fun signing each other’s bags before the exchange was over, so that they can be reminded of each other and the memories made throughout the trip.

On Wednesday, the students presented their projects and activites in an Eco-Fair which was attended by local press. Many of the students gave interviews for the local newspaper. Some of the new activities included, planting a tree as a memento of the exchange, hosting a clothes swap to combat fast fashion and selling regional and locally sourced ingredients without packaging, to be purchased and placed in re-usable bags. Some students also presented the wire-frames of our up and coming Eco-App which is still under development but will be part of the finished product of our project in 2023.

With heavy hearts, memories made, lessons learned and friendships formed, the students said slán tamall to their German hosts, along with their Swedish and Polish friends made throughout the week. It was an action packed week for all involved, and we look forward to our next exchange, which will take place in Poland in March of next year.