“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks…”, anti-smog education, above all!

You are invited to read another article in the Get to Know Your ecomanager! cycle The cycle is connected with the workshops for ecomanagers during which they share their experiences, knowledge and creative ideas to fight smog. Today we present the activities of Katarzyna Stadnik – the ecoanager employed in the Municipality of Liszki as part of the LIFE project entitled: “Implementation of the Air Quality Plan for Malopolska Region – Malopolska in a healthy atmosphere”.

Kasia, you are our specialist in running classes on air quality for children. We know that your lessons are very interesting, that’s why we asked you to run workshops on classes for children for other Eco-managers. Tell us where the secret of so much interest in your lessons is.

Katarzyna Stadnik, ecomanager, the Municipality of Liszki

Children are very careful listeners, they are interested in the activities concerning smog and air protection. Honestly, we are very lucky that we can use interesting materials, dedicated for this purpose. As part of the LIFE project, scenarios of activities for children have been created, which I recommend to every teacher. On the smog.edu.pl site, they will find a lot of interesting materials for conducting lessons for children of all ages, such as books, graphics, worksheets, activities, as well as ready ideas for activating workshops. Thanks to this, no child will be bored during classes, and teachers will find easy and interesting forms of work in very attractive forms there.

Why is it worth focusing on the education of children, isn’t it better to concentrate on conversations with parents?

Katarzyna Stadnik: Definitely, it is worth and important to communicate the problem to the youngest! Educational activities for children are our investment in the future, which also has a direct impact on adults: their parents and grandparents. We have to reach out with information not only to people who use old and non-ecological furnaces. Our task is to raise the awareness of children, adolescents and adults. The activities are closely related and no recipient can be neglected. In addition, children participating in a lesson about smog, often talk about it with their parents. If the given parent does not have knowledge of the field, there is a chance that he/she will get interested in the subject, and if he/she already has a certain level of awareness, it will be a great opportunity to have a talk with their children.

Let’s talk about other aspects of your work now, being an ecomanager is not only about meeting children.

Katarzyna Stadnik: That’s true. I am involved in many tasks, often very diverse. I try to be active in every field, not only in the field of education. I also want to help residents replace their heating sources, it is actually our priority. In recent months, 54 old furnaces have been replaced in the Municipality of Liszki. We obtained funding to replace another 140 heating devices. I am proud of this result because it is a measurable effect of our activities. I am very pleased that the person who deals with the air protection in the municipality has become available to residents. I try to reach my recipients in different ways, and direct meetings are just one of them. I am active in the Internet and in such social media as Facebook. Residents are aware that there is a person in the office whose task is to take care of the air quality and take actions that will lead us to this common goal, clean air. I consider this a very valuable achievement of the LIFE project, without which the inhabitants would have to look for information on their own in various, not always reliable sources. Employing ecomanagers in the municipality guarantees the service of its residents at the appropriate level and I would like every Polish municipality to afford such comfort.

More information about the activities of the Eco-manager:

The official website of the Municipality of Liszki: Liszki.pl

Facebook profile on the air quality protection: EkoLiszki

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