C A N, 2nd issue, January 2022

Climate Action Now

2nd issue: February 2022

Croatia, Finland, France, Poland, Portugal, Spain reporting on social sustainability.

Compassion may be the missing link of the Climate Change!

How to put the OECD learning compass into action

Words by Ida-Sofia Maliniemi and Noora Vuorenmaa

If we hope to make a change in the world, we should make the first change in our mindsets. We need to be hopeful, optimistic and have a sense of agency towards difficulties to be able to solve our biggest problems. For this to happen, our core needs, the core foundations for learning, must be in good balance.

One of the aspects of building a solid core foundation is mental health and well-being. How to create a life with energy and balance, so you also have the power to do things that are sometimes uncomfortable. Self-care is an important part of our daily routines, especially, when facing hardships. Having good energy reserves helps us make good choices for ourselves, our community and climate.

In this newsletter we would like to challenge everyone to make small mindset changes, reflect on how they affect your personal life as well as your social surroundings.

FINLAND

A summary of the 8th graders' well-being journals

One of the aspects in building a solid core foundation is mental health and well-being. What kind of choices could we make to positively affect our mental well-being?

A group of 8th graders of Puolimatka school were asked to keep a well-being journal for one week to monitor their eating, sleeping, and exercise habits as well as relaxation and things that bring them joy every day. After a week had passed, they gathered to discuss their findings. Here is the summary of the 8th graders’ well-being journals.
SLEEP
We need sleep for our body and mind to recharge. If we don’t get enough sleep, our brain cannot function. On average, a young person needs to sleep 8-10 hours per night – not only on weekends! According to the studies, the Finnish youth is the most tired in Europe. Sadly, this was also seen in our little research.
Sleep seemed to be a bit of an issue during the week. There were some students who reported that they suffer from insomnia, and some had stayed up late for other reasons, therefore the students reported that the hours they slept varied from 0 to 10 hours each night. The students pointed out that lack of sleep was the main cause for moodiness or irritability. They stated that it also affected other areas of well-being the most. Some found the daily routines of waking up early to school very difficult since they were heavy sleepers in the mornings and preferred to stay up late. They also discussed how waking up to an alarm clock is different than waking up according to one’s natural sleep cycle. Everyone agreed that they slept better if they had done some physical exercise or work.

NUTRITION
What and how much do you eat? With whom and where do you eat? These are important questions about nutrition. A balanced attitude and habits are needed when concerning food.
Young people need nutrition for their growth and everybody needs good nutritional habits in order to stay healthy and productive.
When Puolimatka students discussed their notes about eating, they noticed that they had been monitoring very different issues. Some had kept a very detailed journal of their menu, whereas others had just monitored their meal frequency. Some had started doing weight training and had strong ideas about calorie consumption. Others thought it is more important that you remember to have regular eating habits. The students discussed individual differences and activity levels that require different amounts of food. Everyone agreed that a balanced diet should have enough vitamins and nutrients.

Having a good self-care routine in our everyday lives is especially important when we find ourselves in challenging times.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Regular physical activity helps us to control stress, improves the quality of sleep and decreases anxiety. The most popular sports among Finnish youth are football, cycling, swimming, running/ jogging, and skiing. In addition, floorball and going to the gym are popular hobbies for children and adults. These hobbies were also mentioned in our own student survey.
80% of the participants had a hobby where they had to exercise weekly. These included e.g., dancing, going to the gym, floorball, and football. The amounts varied from 2 to 6 times per week. The students who didn’t have a hobby that included exercise reported that they enjoyed walking for relaxation, walking to school, running errands, and doing small acts in everyday life that are meant as exercise.
Taking care of the body consists of all means that relax our body and activate endorphins (body’s natural chemicals). Therefore, taking a bath or going to sauna, stretching or light gymnastic exercise during the day support well-being.

RELATIONSHIPS, EMOTIONS, PLAY AND CREATIVITY
Describing our emotions and talking about them to each other are important for us to understand ourselves and each other better. Finding the words to describe how we feel from early stages in life will give us tools for good communication and functioning relationships.
Most students liked to relax by listening to music or watching movies or series from streaming services. They discussed that some of them need a lot of alone time to replenish energy levels and some feel most relaxed in the company of others. They talked that the division between introverts and extroverts may be a bit simplistic because most of them found themselves somewhere in between. Most listed interaction with friends either online, in school or face to face with their peers as the thing that brings them the most joy. They said that during the world wide pandemic interactions with friends has changed and where they used to spend time at each other’s homes they now mainly saw each other in school or online.
We often think that we are being creative when we, draw, compose or design etc. But creativity is more than that and everybody can do it. We can all be creative and discover new options and find more possibilities. Doing things differently in our everyday life is a sign of creativity. An example of this could be taking a new route to school or trying a new recipe to experience the spark of creativity.
CONCLUSIONS
Most students found that keeping the well-being journal was easy. They thought that writing things down might have helped them pay more attention to each area they monitored. However, they didn’t think keeping the journal had affected their everyday routines very much.
To make consistent changes in the routines that help us maintain or improve well-being,discussion and teaching is often needed.It’s important to create a life with energy and balance, so there is also the power to do things that are sometimes uncomfortable.

France

"The Hand of Mental Health" experienced by the students of Collège La Combe de Savoie in Albertville.

Self-care: an unusual concept to most of our fellow students.

Written by Meï and Candice

We spoke with students of our school and in general they have never heard about self-care before. With this activity we’ve learned about it. The differents points of the « Health and well-being journal » are not simple for everyone, and we all have weaknesses, but we can improve. For some people, it’s so complicated to take 5 minutes a day, they don’t have the time, or they find that taking care of themselves is a bit « narcissistic » or just complicated to ask these questions. We need to try and to « build » a self-care routine. We would recommend you to really take your time, not going too fast. You have your entire life ! Be kind with yourself, you deserve it. Do things that make you happy, with the good persons! Don’t compare yourself with other people!

By Lou and Méline

We carried out a test, during one week, to make us take time to take care of ourselves, to feel good, to be well with our relationships (friends and family especially), the nation, then the countries between them, and finally to take care of the Earth and the environment.

We all had a paper with a hand on it. This is called the « Hand of Mental Heath ». There were some questions on it like : « Did you fall asleep easily ? », « What did you eat today ? » or « How was your mood today ? » to make us think and remember each day if it had been a good day or not .

Not everybody has heard about self-care. Most of those who had heard about it had on social networks and very few people had heard of it at school.

For the majority of people, eating and sleeping were easy. Some people eat too much junk food. But sometimes we just don’t want to eat, we’re not really hungry or we don’t like the food. And generally, we go to sleep too late. As we grow up, we sleep less and less. So some people sleep very well, but others find it more difficult.

The most dificult parts of the experience were exercising an relaxing because we don’t really exercise everyday and we didn’t think about taking 5 minutes to do it every day. We don’t have these habits. We want to go too fast and we don’t take our time.

For the relationships some days it will be okay but sometimes you’re just not in a good mood. When you’re happy it affects people, as it does when you’re sad.

It’s really important to be « disconnected » with the world (like social networks for example) because we’re too often on our phones, we don’t enjoy the moment, and we don’t go outside often enought when it’s beautiful.

« Take care of yourself, and you will take care of the planet . »

From the We CAN project to the whole school

The Erasmus+ team

We were so impressed with the "Hand of Mental Health" that we talked a lot about it with our colleagues and left severall copies of the diary lying around in the staff room. Many teachers showed a great interest and asked if we could get a copy in French, in order to use it with their students during Tutoring periods, or for personal use. So we translated it. Miss Bruyère also used it with the mothers of the "Café Parents" workshop and they really enjoyed it. Thank you so much to the Meli team !

Croatia

"Consumerism" experienced by the students of Elementary School Pantovcak, Zagreb

Written by Jana B. & Ema G.

CONSUMERISM - THE WAY WE SEE IT

Consumerism is a term that describes the attitude according to which an individual's happiness depends on the possession of material goods. It refers to an excessive desire to buy and own things. It began around the 18th century in western society, and it spread among many others. As a result, people started buying unnecessary, often luxury items, affecting their social status. Even though it can be bad for you, that does not mean there isn't someone who can profit from it, like the market and economy. Just as there is competition between firms, there is competition between the customers. Dollar voting is an analogy that suggests

every dollar spent on a product equals a vote for the producer. So, you should be careful where you invest your money. Certainly, consumerism isn't all bad as for it the brands strive to improve the quality of their products.

If you've been to a supermarket recently, you have probably noticed a specific liking for green products. A green product is a sustainable product that is designed to be harmless to the environment during its whole life cycle, even after it's of no use. Green products usually have two main goals: reducing waste and maximizing resource efficiency. Green consumerism is a situation in which consumers buy things that have been produced in a way that protects nature. The phenomenon of

green consumerism reflects some sort of awareness of environmental issues. People are increasingly less willing to purchase goods that have been developed at the expense of small animals' lives, and they are more willing to buy organic, energy-conserving, or recycled goods to change what they buy to show environmental responsibility. Market research has suggested that consumers are, in some cases, willing to pay more for "ecologically safe" products, which means that corporations are considerably more likely to produce them. We surveyed the upper grades of our school on how they relate to consumerism. Our students gave us a few ideas on how to reduce it. For example: buy refillable products. Recycle packaging waste and use less plastic. Throw trash in the garbage, not in nature. Before shopping, make a list of things you need and bring your reusable bags. In conclusion, most of our students are partially aware of the problem it represents today. However, still many people aren't, and we must educate them.
We believe Jean-Jacques Rousseau was right when he said "Money can't buy happiness. "

MORE STUFF WON'T MAKE YOU HAPPY

Changes in the way we buy things can directly affect climate change. One of the Erasmus Group goals this school year is to encourage students to research consumerism, and then carry out several actions in the school.

CHRISTMAS CAN BE SPLENDID BUT SUSTAINABLE
Due to the Covid rules, the school did not hold a Christmas fair this year. We could not organize the exchange of decorations that community members don't use. Still, we introduced the students to ways to continue enjoying the holidays and think about

the environment in the long run through posters and presentations.

Here are some student tips:
-Make the decorations yourself and use them for many years.
- Donate the spare decorations.
- You can also exchange some decorations with friends.
- Don't buy new gift bags, but use those you have at home.
- In a creative way, you can wrap the gift with newspaper or other recyclable material
- Choose local producers and products without additional packaging when buying presents.

IS THERE A CONNECTION BETWEEN CONSUMERISM, MENTAL HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT?

Croatia

"Health and Well-being" experienced by the students of Elementary School Pantovcak, Zagreb

WHY AND HOW TO LOOK AFTER YOUR MIND?

Artwork by Lorena D.

Stay calm and positive.
Check our short videos with tips about self-care.

The students expressed great interest in this topic and recorded short videos for other students with examples of how to take care of mental health.

Written by Karla Š. & Sonja Č.

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It impacts our thoughts, feelings, and how we act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is essential at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

We studied in detail the materials sent to us by teachers from Finland. All members of the Erasmus group kept a diary of their feelings for one week.
After that week, we talked about our daily routine and the feelings we were experiencing. We concluded that there is no health without mental health. We talk a lot about physical health but barely ever about well-being and mental health in school.

Many things can affect our mental health, like not sleeping or resting enough, bad eating habits, relationships and emotions, mindset, healthy lifestyle, and many others. The more risk we are exposed to, the greater the potential impact on their mental health. Factors contributing to stress during adolescence include exposure to adversity, pressure to conform with peers, and exploration of identity. Media influence and gender norms can exacerbate the disparity between adolescents' lived reality and their perceptions or aspirations for the future.

Other important determinants include the quality of their home life and relationships with peers.

Violence (especially sexual violence and bullying), harsh parenting, and severe socioeconomic problems are recognized risks to mental health.
Every person is different, so everyone has different things that they are good at and some things that are harder for them. We did a questionnaire in our Erasmus class, and it showed that most teens have a problem with their sleeping habits. The reason could be stress. Kids our age are under huge stress because of school. Good friends are really important in life. They will always make you laugh, and they will never let you down

Although pressure is big, it doesn't mean life can't be nice. If you organize, you can do all of your chores, do some sports, hang out with your best friends. But, remember! Take care of yourself! You have to be happy with yourself so that others can be happy with you.

Portugal

Mental health through music, creativity and inclusion

After the presentation "Art of affection" students were invited to two hearts. In one heart they could express their feelings by writing a sentence on a post-it. For example: " We cannot write affection, we can feel it!". On the other heart they shared their feelings by choosing a color or a drawing to show their affection. For example they could draw something by the river, mountain, school, tree depending on what location invokes their inner peace and state of mindfulness.
By doing these activities students have shown their creativity, they shared their emotions.

The way to mental health

Students from different classes (5th to 9th grade) participated in the activity where Conservatory students played music for regular students and students with special needs. All the students talked to each other and danced together. It was a marvelous time that connected students with different academical achievements, personalities and helped improve the mental health of all students. Music can connect persons and solve problems.

Words by Diana Pereira, student

Many students feel overwhelmed with everyday school works, activities, tasks and helping around the house.

How students charge batteries and unwind

80% of questioned students said that they need some time for themselves to unwind, find inner peace and charge their batteries.

Most of the students love to spend time with their friends, go out to the cinema, walk around the city, go out for a soda and talk or just hang together at a friend's house.
Some of the students love to let out negative energy through sports, swimming or running. They say it relaxes them and clears their mind.
Some of them love to paint and draw. They love to get lost in their drawings and relax for an hour or two.
Only a few of questioned students love to relax with a good book and enter imaginary worlds to empty and relax their minds.

Words by Manuel Costa