Mobility week in Campo Maior, Portugal

The mobility week in Campo Maior, Portugal took place between the 19th-25th January 2020. 13 teachers and 26 students from the 4 partner countries met in order to arise awareness of humanity concerning environmental issues.

It was also a glimpse into the beauty of nature and into solutions to preserve it. The activities embraced nature in its wilderness as well as human traces that sometimes can be dangerous without the proper knowledge and without the gentle and wise management of human resources.

All the activities were shaped around the importance of preserving nature starting from a very important aspect which was that of observation.

Pictures taken in nature, the study of the region’s bird habitat followed by bird watching activities with the help of two experts, a biology teacher and a National Geographic photographer helped the students understand that without nature humankind wouldn’t exist.

From observing to practice, the students learnt how to camouflage shelters for bird watching, how to build bird shelters and how to cultivate and grow in a garden.

They even wrote a message in a letter to the world about the way we all should protect our environment as wisely and as consciously as possible.

Another aspect touched during the mobility was that of the use of the resources that nature provides as. The students learnt how honey, olive oil, plum products , and wine are produced and got familiar with the cork tree, a very expensive tree that is exploited to produce cork materials but in a safe way and with care in order to avoid damaging it.

Growing animals in a clean environment for meat production was another subject of debate and the students could visit a huge farmland to see everything with their own eyes.

Healthy food from healthy nature resources from a clean environment was one of the main aspects of the project meeting in Campo Maior where traditions still do exist in there food, music, art, and love for nature. Folding paper flowers and exhibiting it all over the city is a tradition and favourite pastime of the inhabitants of Campo Maior that expresses their love of nature and beauty.

Our students participating in paper flower workshops and learning how to fold them now are the messengers of a precious Portuguese tradition. Human traces go back far in the past and prove a strong symbiosis between mankind and nature.

The city of Elvas and the Fortress of Graca part of the UNESCO cultural heritage that our students visited are the proof that the people from the very beginning used all means to protect and defense there rich and precious land. The Fortress of Malvao also gave us the possibility to admire the beautiful landscape of the region of Alenteje.

After a wonderful week spent in the region of Alenteje, the students of our school are richer in knowledge and more aware of nature preservation, familiar with healthy lifestyle with healthy food, they are wiser and happier.