Project Week in Poznan, Poland

Monday 22nd January


After an evening with the host families, we met at school at 08.00. First we were divided into groups, and played some games to get to know each other, as the groups were made up of students from all the different countries. We made posters with our common interests, and had an activity to learn names. Then Ewelina introduced the project week and explained what we are going to do this week.

All the countries had orked on a task before travelling to Poland. They fuond out about how citizens, and especially young people, can get involved in decision making in their cities. They also took a survey of students and other citizens about areas in their city that could be improved. The results of the surveys and the other information were presented as a film made by each school. We watched all the films, and then worked in groups. We used the information from the surveys we made in our home cities to find common areas for each of the cities. Each Group chose one areas to work on, and we then made posters informing about these issues, for example pollution, public transport and clean energy,

Later in the day we had an international party where every school had brought some Food from their country. There was so much to choose from, for example, salmon, sausage and chocolate from Norway, pancakes, sausage and waffles from the Netherlands, sausage and bread from Germany, pirogs and salads from Poland, and cheese, quiche and cakes from Spain. There was a lot left for us to enjoy later in the week.

The Polish students had some entertainment for us, and they also taught us how to dance the Poloniase.

After the formal part of the evening, the DJ took over, and we all enjoyed an evening of dancing and socialising before heading home about 20.00

October 12 - 14 2017


Teachers' Meeting in Norway


The teachers from all the partner schools met in Norway. On the agenda was an evaluation of year two of the project, and planning the final year of the project.


The German team updated us on Project management issues and then the Dutch team went through the evaluation of the Project weeks in Amersfoort and on Nesodden. It was clear that the two project weeks were very successful in terms of both work completed and satisfaction of students and Teachers.
The Polish team outlined the programme for Poznan in January, and the Spanish team outlined the programme for the final project week on Ibiza in April. Pre-tasks for the Poznan week were also discussed.

Thursday 30th March

Today was a long day - we had a trip to Oslo and then, finally, we started to work on our projects.

We started the day by taking the ferry to Oslo in order to meet Yngve Hegrenes - an

architect responsible for management of transformation processes working in the Oslo municipality.

Although we were very excited for the trip, unfortunately, the weather greeted us with cold wind

and rain which made the walk a little more tiring.

We met our guide in the Oslo harbour and then we followed him to Studenterlunden. On the

way we discussed the experience of a car-free area and how creating a framework of development

of Oslo looks like. Then we admired the city layout

around the Royal Palace inspired by the ideas of

Enlightenment. It was a very inspiring and thought-

provoking lesson, especially that we were able to

hear a lot about how the architecture and space are

tied to the history of the city and the whole

Norwegian nation. We even had some time to walk

around the area and experience the importance of

harmony and order in city-planning.

Next, we walked around the Renaissance part of the

city, where we were able to see the difference

between the ideas behind city planning in the 1600s

and 1850s. It was really interesting to discover what

the reason behind the differences in the city tissue

is. We have also investigated the possible obstacles

which may occur during the introduction of a car

free area. How is the city going to manage the

deliveries? How are the inhabitants of these zones

going to commute? These are the problems that

have to be faced by city planners.

Another thing that we learned is how the priorities

change overtime and how the city planners have to adapt existing areas to new needs following the

example of Eidsvolls Plass. The City Government wants to create a greener and warmer city with

room for everyone. The life of the city shall be vibrant, the air cleaner and the arrangements for

pedestrians and cyclists better. A centre without cars shall be easily accessible and make more room

for life in the streets and pleasant meeting areas.

We finished the trip at Torggata, where we were introduced to the impact that different materials

have on the overall climax of the area. We admired some elements of cityscape like pot plants and

bike stops.

Later, with the heavy rain to accompany us, we ran to the ferry, which took us back to Nesodden.

To finish off the day, inspired by the three trips to Oslo, we started working on our projects. We

started drafting our plans for the area and made a framework for the next day.













In the evening we spent some time with our hosts, and some of us went to Oslo for the dinner and

other fun activities (e.g.: bowling!).

WEDNESDAY 29th March

During our 4th day in Norway we’ve visited its capital city
- Oslo. At 10 we were finally there, and could meet our
guide, who took us for a walk around Fjordbyen. We had a
chance to see Akershus fortress - a medieval castle that
was built to protect Oslo. It was king Christian IV who
had the castle modernised and converted into a
Renaissance castle and royal residence.



Then we visited a place broadly described in every
Norwegian guidebook - ‘ The Bank Square ‘. Also
called Bankplassen, it’s a square in the
neighbourhood Kvadraturen in Oslo, where the
Norges Bank and Engebret Cafe - a restaurant which
is well-known for the famous artists who have
frequently visited it, such as Henrik Ibsen and Edvard
Munch. Our guide talked about the purpose of the buildings that were there and how some of them have been repurposed over the years. She also showed us how some parts of the centre were from different eras. This was very interesting because it showed us that you don’t need to build new things in order to make a space useful again.



Around noon we’ve entered the Oslo Opera House
- the home of the Norwegian National Opera and
Ballet. The group was split in two smaller groups and we each went through the building. Everyone was astonished by the beauty of
this building - Tarald Lundevall, the man behind the
architecture of the Opera, most certainly did a
remarkable job.  The tour included an explanation of the choices that were made in relation to the architecture and the decoration. For example, the wood structure of the building wasn’t made by woodworkers, but by boatbuilders because they’re used to working with big structures.We were given an opportunity to go
behind the scenes and find out more about the work
of the opera’s employees. We even attended a
rehearsal of one of the shows which will soon be
officially performed.




After a lunch break we were walking along the Havnepromenaden, a walkway in the district of
Sørenga, guided by Jenny Ann Flø from Bymiljøetaten. She talked to us about a project she is involved with which involved using materials that could be reused in other places than Oslo. This was also very interesting because it taught us about durability of materials. In general, we thought the trip to Oslo was very educational and we picked up a lot of things to use in our own project.Having successfully caught a boat (whichwas not that obvious), we got back to our host families in Nesodden around 16.

Monday 27th March

Today was a very exciting day. We got the opportunity to meet all the people from the different countries in the morning. We started at 08.15 with a presentation about CITIES and later, all the pretasks from the different member countries. Norway started with a presentation about Steilene, followed by Germany about Rees. Later, the Netherlands talked about Amersfoort, Poland about Poznan and finally Spain about Sa Como.


We had a break where we could talk to the others, and got divided into groups with one from every country. We presented ourselves and had a chance to talk to each other.


We ate lunch outside at 11.30, where we got baguettes and Bris, Norwegian sparkling water, from the school's cafeteria.


Our fieldtrip started at 12.00 and we walked to Tangenåsen for a presentation about Nesodden by the planning committee for the municipality's planning department. They talked about the different issues we are facing, and what factors we had to consider when planning an area. It lasted for about an hour, and we then walked towards Tangen Brygge, the ferry terminal. We had a lot of time to look at the buildings on the way down, and visited Hornstranda, one of the local beaches and bathing places near the ferry terminal. We watched the Color Line ferry from Denmark and relaxed. Later, we walked to the actual terminal and took Pictures of the whole group. We saw the area which we later are supposed to develop, and then took the bus home.


We had the international evening which started at 18.15. Everybody brought something to eat. The Norwegians brought salmon, Poland brought sausages and many kinds of sweets, Spain brought bread, sweets and meat, and the Dutch brought stroop waffles and pancakes. Germany brought sausages and sauerkraut. There was plenty for everyone to eat.

There was Entertainment for everyone while they were eating. Nicolai Bo Fischer danced a spectacular Norwegian folk Dance, and students could try "Hallingkast" - when you have to try to kick a hat off a pole. Sabina and Kristin performed "Stay" and William and Jonathan Ho played a string duet. Nordre Nesodden skolekorps, the local School band, also marched in and played Three traditional Norwegian Marches.

We platyed a few games, "Zip, Zap, Boing", "Yellow Ball" and "Symphony" led by Jørgen Moltubak, one of the Norwegian teachers. Maya, one of the German teachers, taught us some salsa dancing and the rest of the night was just talking, dancing and laughing. Everybody had a good time before going home.

 

Tuesday 28th March


We started at the school at 8 am and did some work on the project "Erasmus +". Later we took the bus to the Ferry station in Nesodden. We arrived in Oslo and met our tour guide.The weather was sunny. First, we walked to Akerselva, a river which flows through the whole city. Akerselva was the industrial center from the 1840s to 1970s. Now the river is used for offices and leisure time. The river is also called "green lung of Oslo", there are many paths for hiking and cycling. Next to the river there are a lot of old buildings. The oldest one is from the 17th century. Furthermore, we saw a building which is called "Hausmania". It is a house for artists. Many of the old factories have been turned into new uses for example like cafès and restaurants. We walked from Grønland to Mathallen( foodhall), there we a had lunch at 1o'clock. Some of us ordered sushi, pizza or pasta.
After lunch we took the tram to "Vigelandsparken". "Vigelandsparken" is in the destrict Frogner, so the park is also called ''Frognerparken''.The park is filled with naked sculptures and shows the circulations for each life stages. The most popular sculptures are "Sinnataggen"  and "Monalitten". "Sinnataggen" is a male baby sculpture which stamps and cries. "Monalitten" is a pillar which is about 17m high with 121 people in it. The sculptor Gustav Vigeland made all 212  sculptures in the park. His idea of showing different activities like walking dancing love and death imparts emotions to the visitors. Finally, everyone was allowed to walk around in the park and visit Oslo again. We went to the castle, the parliament and the university.

Pictures: Galleri, Hausmania, colorful building, Oslo

Preparation for the project week in Norway

21/03/2017


Just a few days until everyone arrives in Norway for a Project week looking at neglected spaces. All the students are working hard on their pretasks, in preparation for the week ahead.


Polish students

German students