“Have you heard of Dyson’s sphere? It’s a way to save the planet.”. The question is from a fifth grader from Shabla. And his thoughts are provoked by the seemingly boring topic of global warming and how we can change it. The creative thinking was provoked by the students’ conversation with Ilian Iliev from the Public Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development. On 5 June, International Environment Day, he was a guest speaker at the educational forum “The Riches and Risks of Dobrudja” at the Green Education Centre in Shabla.
And while Dyson’s sphere (a giant megastructure surrounding a star to capture its energy) still remains in the realm of fiction, the rise in our planet’s average annual temperatures is an undeniable fact. Why has this been happening since the Industrial Revolution, and are we going to fry like frogs on a slow fire? These and similar questions were pondered by students from 5th and 7th grade of “Asen Zlatarov” School – Shabla, and “Yordan Yovkov” School – Kavarna.
Ilian Iliev gave several visual examples of what will happen in different parts of the world if we continue at the same rate of pollution of the Earth. And how everyone, whether an adult or a child, can reverse this trend. The ecologist demonstrated how to use the en-roads.org platform, a climate simulator that makes it possible to calculate the contribution to global warming of any human activity and plan for change.
At the end of the presentation, the children thought aloud and asked: How is paper produced? What is the path of waste before it reaches the landfill? Why is what is thrown away in the coloured containers collected in one place?
To apply what they learned, on the second day of the educational forum, they will engage in an “Interactive Climate” game. Using the climate simulator, children will take on the roles of politicians, industrialists, farmers and green hawks, and implement different policies to tackle global warming.
“The world we live in is a consequence of our thinking. We cannot change it if we do not change our thinking.” With this thought of Einstein, Ilian Iliev concluded his presentation on climate.
In addition to global issues, the children were introduced to local agriculture by Shabla farmer Georgi Enchev. And Georgi Stoyanov from Green Balkans talked about the rich biodiversity of Dobrudja. The children observed birds in the wetlands of the Shabla Lake and visited a farm.
“The Riches and Risks of Dobrudja” was organized by the Green Education Centre and the Municipality of Shabla in partnership with the Public Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development, Green Balkans, RIEW – Varna and ZP Georgi Enchev.
