This section focuses on the countries that are involved in theproject. Represented countries are: Germany, Estonia, Poland, Spain and Italy. Every country has a general overview about thebasic information and in addition to that, different subjects thatshow the most interesting aspects of the country. The authorsof this assignment are: Elisabeth Perk, Anna Garcia Folguera, Natalie Born, Marlena Trafial, Vanessa Scheidemann, AriannaLopez, Margherita Salerno and Elena Moroni.
Dr. Avishai Teicher / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY 2.0
Estonia
In general
Estonia is a sovereign state in northernEurope. Its capital is Tallinn and national language is Estonian. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland with Finland on the other side, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia (343 km), andto the east by Lake Peipus and Russia (338.6 km). Estonia’s total area is 45 339 square kilometres, although it was larger before the WWII. The territory is divided into 15 counties. Estonia’s population is 1.3 million.
Tourism
There is very much to see and to do in Estonia. Firstly, Tallinn is the capital cityof Estonia and a perfect holiday destination if you want to combine the comforts of modern world, versatile nightlife and luxurious adventures with rich cultural scene in the local historical setting. The main places to go visit are Tallinn Old town, KUMU (Estonia’s biggest) art museum, Pühajärv and St Olaf’s church. Also outside of Tallinn there are many interesting places to visit, for an example Lahemaa national park and the summer capital Pärnu.
Barcelona
Barcelona is a city in Spain. It is the capitaland the largest city in Catalonia, aswell as the second most populated municipalityin Spain. With a population of 1.6million within the city limits, its urba narea extends to numerous neighboring municipalities in the province of Barcelona and welcomes about 4.8 million people, which makes it the Sixth most populated urban area of the European Union after Paris, London, Madrid, the Ruhr area and Milan.
Catalonia.
Sant Jordi (Saint George) is celebrated on the 23th of April. The tradition is that boys buy roses and give them to girls to declare their love and girls do the same but instead of roses they give books, but nowadays girls can give roses to boys and boys can give books to girls. A lot of people put up stalls in the most popular streets of the city, especially in La Rambla, and sell roses or/and books. To set a stall you need to talk with the town hall andthey give you a permission.
Origins
This tradition comes from an ancient legend from the third century. In the medieval period there was a town that hada dragon that killed people and ate sheepand goats flocks. People were scared andthey couldn’t live peacefully but one daythe King of the town decided to solvethe problem: In order to be able to leada normal life they would have to makesure that the dragon was not hungry. Toaccomplish it they decided to offer everyday a person for the dragon. The Kingwas very unlucky because the first personwho was chosen was his daughter. The King faithful with his choices accepted what chance had marked. But suddenly, mounted on a horse appeared a gentleman called Jordi and he came to save the princess. He fought with the dragon andfinally he managed to stab him with his Arenas de Barcelona Multicines, Barcelona, Spainlong spear. Days later, from the dragonblood, a lot of red roses grew.
Sant Jordi at our school
On 23th of April we celebrated at our school this festivity by selling roses at the entrance of our school to raise money forour end-of-year trip to Italy. We installed a small stall and all of us bought a totalof 400 red roses to sell. Some of us had to hold a sign to promote the roses and the others had to stay at the stall collecting money. We ended up selling all 400 roses, each one for 3,50€. Then we bought 200 more yellow and red roses. If you’reasking yourself why yellow coloured roses, it’s because of the actual political situation in Catalonia. Yellow roses show solidarity with some Catalan politicians that are currently locked up in jail. At the end we sold them all. It was a fun and interesting experience.
Berlin
Carnival of Cultures
The “Carnival of Cultures” is a music-festivalthat is celebrated in Berlin´s districtKreuzberg. It’s celebrated to show offthe cultural diversity of Berlin. Aboutone million visitors make the carnivalof cultures to one of the most popularin Germany. But there are also a lot ofdifferent music festivals in other citiesof Germany, for example, in Cologne or Frankfurt am Main.
At the Carnival are many colorful costumes and parades where they play different music for each culture. In the end of the 1990’s about 500,000 people of 80 nations came together in a factory to meet each other and to present artistic projects. They developed the idea of a festival that would last for several days every year. In the past there was the „Berlin carnival“, which didn’t show the features of Berlin, which is why they ended this one. The first carnival of cultures was celebrated on the 15th and 16th May in 1996.
The carnival consists of musical and dance performances and there also is a carnival for kids. The number of visitors increased from 50,000 visitors in 1996 tomore than one million visitors each year.
Next to German groups there are a lot of South American and African groups. The artists have been receiving awards for their costumes and performances each year since the year 2000. To complete the carnival, there is a party on the last dayof the festival.
The visitors of the carnival aren’t just Germans or specifically the people of Berlin, but there are also a lot people who travel to Berlin just for the carnival.
The carnival of cultures gets many people a place to work at. Berlin profits by the carnival because it shows off the diversity of the city. The media shows Berlin as a happy, young and cosmopolitan city.
Berlin: To put up Signs
Students from the Berlin UNESCO schools are engaged in the Unesco project day.
The pupils of UNESCO Associated Schools in Berlin worked diligently and creatively toward a project day on 26th of April 2018. This day under the slogan “Focus Future” was designed in cooperation with Greenpeace but mainly by the students themselves.
The UNESCO demonstration on this day in April had the background to evoke a better consumer behavior of the Germans in the clothing sector.
Together with the other Berlin UNESCO
Associated Schools a central event took place, which was planned by students with and was organizationally supported by Greenpeace as a partner.
The demonstration passed the Brandenburg Gate and ended on the green field in front of the Reichstag building. There, a “Future Compass” was unrolled as a banner. After brief speeches students organized hand-on actions on the topics of climate change, food, youth participation and clothes at four stations.
As a member of the after school club “Unesco” at my school I would attend again next time, because I want somethingto change in consumption.
Italy
Italy is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares openland borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. With around 61 millionin habitants it is the fourth most populous EU member state.
Italy comprises of some of the most variedand scenic landscapes on Earth and is often described as a country shaped like a boot. Italy’s towns and cities have a historyof self-sufficiency, independence, and mutual mistrust. Visitors today remark on how unlike one town is from the next,comment on the marked differences in cuisine and dialect, and on the many divergences that make Italy seemless a single nation than a collection of culturally related sites in an uncommonly pleasant setting.
Known for the tasty food and the good weather, Italy counts 52.4 million visitors each year and it is one of the most visited countries in the world. But apart from the common information about Italy you may all know about, there’s another interesting aspect of Italy:
teenagers
What about teenagers in Italy?
We grew up with the image of youngsters in Italy who, just a few decades ago, fought and kept their voice high to achieve specific aims and to defend their ideals. A strong imagine, so recent, that, thought is vanishing into the minds of current generations as like as they are watching the big drama of life without playing.
Nowadays the phenomenon of abstinence from political life is very common but also from more restricted areas, as, for example, inside the school life not as a pupil but as a member of the school community. Just to make the situation clearer, in our school, once a month a kind of “studentday” is organised to discuss issues that directly concern us and the percentage of those present is lower than 1/5 of all the students, that is because the absenceis not counted.
Youth, strong and constantly active movements are few; one of them, probably the most addictive, is SCOMODO (translation: uncomfortable), an independent information monthly paper realized by students aimed to create an alternative approach to contents of each area for young people.
Anyway, most of the members are our peers, mostly aged from 16 to 25 who dedicate a big part of their time to the production of the paper: also the young people who attend university coursesor the go to high school, all in all, busy people. However, they are capable to find time to move a project like this forward. So it is not a mission impossible!
Therefore, why don’t we keep fightingto defend the privileges achieved in the past? The possibility to gather in autonomous communities, to receive opportunities as students etc, are all goals we don’t understand the value of as we take them for granted.
Gdansk, Poland
Poland
Places you need to visit in Poland
Poland undoubtedly is one of the most beautiful countries. From the Baltic Sea, through Mazury, the castles of LowerSilesia, to the Tatras themselves, everyone will find something interesting here. We compiled for you a list of places that are really worth seeing once you come to Poland.
1. Gdansk
The first place on our list is in Gdańsk.The city guarantees a unique atmosphere and extraordinary experiences. The atmosphere consists of old, beautiful monuments and the smell of thesea. Tempting shops and 20 kilometers of beaches will suit your taste. Unprecedented cultural events and nature reserves are of great value. Restaurants, cafes an dclubs, as well as the spirit of freedom and tolerance, which has repeatedly made itself known in the thousand-year, multinational history of Gdańsk.
2. Mazury
Is there anything more romantic than a beautiful sunset in Mazury? The land of the Great Lakes is the pride of Poles. The region aspires to the title for the New Wonder of Nature. You are welcomed tovisit Mikołajki, which due to its picturesquelocation are also called MasurianVenice or The Pearl of Mazury. Duringthe summer, St. Nicholas’ Day becomesa meeting place and a starting point forcruises around the surrounding lakes. There are excellent conditions for practicingmotorboat sports, windsurfing, canoeing, fishing, as well as horse riding, cycling and hiking, and hiking in the forests.
3. Malbork
The main attraction of Malbork, lying onthe edge of Żuławy Wiślane, is a huge redbrick castle rising on the Nogat river bank- the largest Gothic building of this type in Europe. In 1309 Malbork became the capital of the Teutonic state and it was here that the Grand Master of the Order was moved from Venice.
4. Torun
The Copernicus Castle is definitely one of the most beautiful sites in Poland.Thanks to the unique architecture, with a medieval spatial layout, the city was inscribed on the UNESCO World Culturaland Natural Heritage List. It is a must for every tourist to eat at least one of Toruń gingerbreads. The inquisitive ones can even learn the secrets of baking - for this purpose, go to the sixth-century bakery (Museum of Gingerbread) restored to the smallest details.
5. Poznań
Poznań, one of the oldest Polish cities,has enjoyed the interest of European rulers and politicians for centuries. During our walks around the capital of Wielkopolska, let’s have a look at the Old Town, let’s take a look at the building of the Renaissance town hall and the play fulgoats that appear in the very south of the town hall clock. Let’s take a stroll around Ostrów Tumski, called the cradle of Polishstatehood. The modern city center, with modern buildings housing offices, banksor hotels, makes Poznan similar to the West European metropolises. No wonder it is a business, science and entertainment center at its best.
Zakopane, Poland
6. Bialowieski National Park
It is possible to say that this park is theonly and last surviving area in Europe of primary forests. However, neither the climate nor the very moderate soil fertility are sufficient to explain this natural phenomenon.
Żubr (the European bison) is a symbol ofthe park. In the wild, it lived in the forest forever until the First World War, during which it was made extinct. Few individuals that survived in zoos were propagated and reintroduced to the wilderness.
7. Wrocław
The complicated past has had a major impact on the current character of the capital of Silesia. It makes Wrocław a historical, political, cultural and sociological phenomenon. If time permits, apart from walks in the center, it is worth planning a few trips around the periphery. There are old churches, monasteries and palaces of former village near Wrocław, gradually absorbed by the city and modernist housing estates from the last century.
8. Slovinski National Park
The park that protects the unusual and unique stretch of the sea coast in Europe,fascinates with the intensity of sculpturing processes and exotic landscapes with high, moving dunes. This is the only place in Europe where sand dunes, lakes, peatbogs and forests stand side by side. The landscape is constantly changing. The wind shifts huge parabolic dunes at the speed of up to 10m per year, and in some years even up to 15 m. This is the mos tstunning and dramatic spectacle on theseaside, a battle scene of elements.
9. Zakopane
It is undeniably the winter capital of Poland. Nobody needs to specifically advertise this place. We recommend a view from Kasprowy Mountain, a walk around Krupówki, Morskie Oko, the Valley of Five Ponds, and for the ambitious ones, climbing Rysy - the highest Polish peak(2503 m above the sea level).