"Green Pack" brings environment into CEE classrooms By Kliment Mindjov The first version of a new curriculum and training kit, designed to help educators in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) teach students about pressing environmental issues, was published in Polish and launched at a Feb. 12 ceremony in Warsaw. The so-called "Green Pack" multimedia educational resource kit breaks new ground in educating secondary-school students about environmental protection and sustainable development. It will be distributed free of charge to teachers in 2,000 secondary schools. The Green Pack kit was developed by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), with a grant from the Toyota Environmental Activities Grant Program 2000. The kit contains a variety of educational materials for presenting the overall curriculum, including: a teacher's handbook, with lesson plans and fact sheets for students; a video-cassette, with animated clips and educational films; an interactive CD-ROM, with extensive information on various environmental topics; a dilemma game; and other printed materials. The pack is designed so that lessons are complemented with video presentations and additional information from the CD-ROM, which also offers links to related web sites. The Green Pack includes 22 topics related to environment protection and sustainable development. It is divided into five chapters: Environmental components: air, water, soil and biodiversity. Threats to the environment: urbanisation, noise, waste and chemicals. Human activities and impacts: energy, transport, industry, agriculture, forestry and tourism. Global challenges: climate change, ozone depletion, acidification and pressures on seas and oceans. Values: ethics and values involving consumerism, human health and the environment, rights and environmental responsibility. Each of the main Green Pack components - the CD ROM, the teacher's handbook, the videocassette and the dilemma game - follows a uniform structure. At the launching ceremony for the Green Pack, Witold Pietrewicz, president of the Polish National Fund for Environment Protection and Water Management, told the more than 100 journalists, officials and educators present that, by cooperating with Polish institutions and contributors, the REC team was able to develop an effective and vitally needed curriculum. During his speech at the launch, Makoto Seki, a representative of Toyota's operations in Poland, congratulated the "Green Pack" team and announced that, after seeing the excellent curriculum package, Toyota's Environmental Activities Support Programme again selected the REC as one of 15 organisations to be supported in 2001-2002. With this support, a similar education pack is to be developed for Hungary and Bulgaria in 2002. Alexander Juras, the deputy executive director of the REC, told those gathered for the ceremony that the development of the Green Pack was made possible with the cooperation and assistance of Polish teachers and environmental experts from all over Poland, contributors from Bulgaria and Hungary, the Polish Ministries of Environment and Education and the Polish National Fund for Nature Protection and Water Management. He explained that the pack emphasises the formation of new values and behaviours at school, at home and in society at large - rather than simply offering a collection of facts about the environment. The Green Pack materials have been evaluated, approved and recommended for use in the Polish schools by the Polish Ministry of Education and Sport and the Polish Ministry of the Environment. Updated information on the further development of the Green Pack may be found at: http://www.rec.org/REC/Programs/GreenPack. - Kliment Mindjov is a project manager of environmental education projects at the REC.   REC helps manage DANCEE assistance for NGOs Following up on the project "Support of NGOs Within and Beyond CEE Borders," Danish Cooperation for Enviornment in Eastern Europe, Ministry of Environment and Energy (DANCEE), is giving additional support to environmental non-governmental organisations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Newly Independent States (NIS). This support involves giving direct funding to NGOs and assisting them in developing positive cooperative ties with partner NGOs in CEE, the NIS and Denmark. There is also topic-related support for NGO initiatives on nationally specific issues and general international ones. This project, implemented from January 2002 until July 2004, has three components: Nationally based granting programmes for environmental NGOs in 15 CEE countries: EUR 500,000 is available for these grants, which focus on national priority issues. A regional grant programme offers EUR 200,000 to support international environmental projects that are realised through regional cooperation efforts by NGOs from CEE and NIS countries. A programme to assist the development of joint projects and facilitate partnerships between NGOs in CEE, NIS and Denmark. This project will be managed by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) in cooperation with the Danish Outdoor Council. Interested NGOs should check the NGO Support section of REC's web site, at: http://www.rec.org, for more information. The announcement for the regional grants is available on REC's website. National grants will be announced by the REC country offices in each country. For more information, contact REC's NGO Support Programme, ngo@rec.org.   New REC publications The last few months at the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) have seen the usual busy publication schedule. Along with regular publications like The Bulletin, the REC puts out a wide range of directories or books describing best practices. Among the recent REC publications are the following: "Good Practices in Policies and Measures for Climate Change Mitigation: A Central and Eastern European Perspective." Edited by Elena Petkova and George Faraday. March 2002. "Directory of Funding Sources for Environmental NGOs." Edited by Grazyna Krzywkowska and Ausra Jurkeviciute. January 2002. "Directory of Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations in Central and Eastern Europe" (Fourth Edition). Edited by Sergiu Dragos Serban. December 2001. "Environmental Funds in the Canditate Countries." Edited by Stefan Speck, Jim McNicholas and Marina Markovic. December 2001 "Government and Environment: A Directory of Govermental Institutions with Environmental Responsibilities in CEE." Edited by Emese Gal and Grazyna Krzywkowska. November 2001. For free copies of these and other publications by the REC, contact the REC office or send an e-mail to: egal@rec.org. Find REC publications online at: http://www.rec.org/REC/Publications/publications.html.   REC staff on the move NEW STAFF Marco Basile - Project Officer, Italian Trust Fund. Peter Bodo - Civil Servant, Business and Environment Programme. Irena Brnada - Local Representative, Country Office (CO) Croatia. Eva Csobod - Director, CO Hungary. Gergely Dobra - Civil Servant, Administration Department. Jasna Draganic - Project Manager, CO Bosnia and Herzegovina. Paulina Janiak - Project Officer, Environmental Policy Programme. Tomas Kazmierski - Project Manager, CO Czech Republic. Suncica Kopjarevic - Financial Manager, CO Croatia. Heidi Kohlman - Project Manager, CO Estonia. Zlatana Maletic - Project Manager, CO Yugoslavia. Yordanca Minkova - Project Manager, CO Bulgaria. Jeton Morina - Project Officer, Field Office Kosovo/a. Dana Olarescu - Financial Administrator, CO Romania. Vadim Ostapenko - Assistant Webmaster, Information Programme. Nelly Papazova - Project Office Manager, Bulgaria/Project Office Belogradchik. Tamas Prohaszka - Civil Servant, CO Hungary. Damir Selak - GTZ-Local Project Officer, Environmental Policy Programme. Daniel Skobla - Project Manager, CO Slovakia. Kristiina Soone - Project Officer (REReP), Environmental Policy Programme. Gregory Spencer - Sub-editor, Information Programme. Kristina Strukanska - Project Office Manager, Bulgaria/Project Office Belogradchik. Helena Tosoki - Project Assistant, Environmental Law Programme. OTHER CHANGES Adriana Craciun back from maternity leave. Sunita Selak on maternity leave. DEPARTURES Tatjana Alekse - Project Manager, CO Latvia. Morana Belamaric - Local Representative, CO Croatia. Sidonia Ciomartan - Financial Manager, CO Romania. Inese Gmizo - Project Manager, CO Latvia. Milos Katic - Project Manager, CO Yugoslavia. Vedrana Sekely-Kiseljev - Financial Manager, CO Croatia. Maria Kralj - Project Officer, Japan Special Fund. Jasna Malus - Financial Manager, CO Croatia. Marina Markovic - Project Officer, Environmental Policy Programme. Ernst Max Nielsen - Head, Business and Environment Programme. Jacek Podkanski - Project Manager, Environmental Policy Programme. Laimius Saminavicius - Grants and Financial Administrator, CO Lithuania. Stefan Speck - Project Manager Economic Instruments, Environmental Policy Programme. Andreja Tonc - Project Manager, CO Croatia. Endre Turbek - Porter, Administration Department. Darek Urbaniak - Project Manager, Environmental Policy Programme.

Contents off this page:  "Green Pack" brings environment into CEE classrooms REC helps manage DANCEE assistance for NGOs New REC publications REC staff on the move   Photo: Robert Atkinson Sylvia Magyar,one of the Green Pack developers explains how the CD works. Top Top Top Top Top