The educational project of Polenergia, UNEP/GRID-Warszawa and the Kulczyk Foundation Play Green with Us!®, which started in the spring of 2022, is being implemented in almost 70 educational institutions wherever the Group's facilities are present. With the development of new Polenergia projects, the number of schools and kindergartens involved is increasing. With such a strong commitment from educators, we can share our vision of a green tomorrow with others, and on an ever-increasing scale.
The Play Green with Us!® programme consists of specially developed lesson plans for educating younger generations on such important issues as environmental protection and ecology. The scenarios take the form of workbooks and are aimed at teachers and educators involved in teaching primary school children in three age categories: grades 1-3, 4-6 and 7-8.
Our aim is to involve as many stakeholders and students as possible and to run our environmental project on a long-term basis, without being prescriptive in our approach to implementation. Therefore, participating establishments are free to approach the implementation of our proposed programme. The number of students, teachers and classes involved is at the discretion of the director of the educational institution concerned.
As part of the Play Green with Us!® programme, teachers organise e-collections based on Polenergia’s green scenarios during biology, chemistry and geography lessons, in parenting classes, or by organising nature clubs. Each school has appointed a project co-ordinator to collect information on the implementation of environmental issues within the school or kindergarten. These lessons are documented in the form of photographs and also short notes.
In the first semester of the 2022/2023 school year, more than 130 hours of classes were conducted in the areas of renewable energy sources and energy transition needs, land and water conservation, and waste management principles. The teachers who work with us are positive about our educational project and, what’s important, emphasise the great commitment of the pupils participating in the Play Green with Us!® activities. Through the proposed tasks, exercises and experiments, they are able to maintain a natural enthusiasm for learning.
Completing tasks through practical action is one of the most rewarding ways of working with children, which is what we wanted to achieve when preparing our scenarios. Students are keen to do any work that requires them to be active. Intrinsic motivation and willingness to work are nurtured through the use of interesting resources and teaching aids during Play Green with Us!® classes.
Although our workbooks were prepared for primary schools, we managed to encourage kindergartens located in the area of Polenergia’s investments to participate in the programme as well. The “Niezapominajka” kindergarten from Nowa Sarzyna adapted the scenarios in such a way that kindergarten children aged 5 and 6 could also benefit from the green portion of knowledge. In this way, five classes on water and water management were held there in the first half of the year, which were enthusiastically received by the children.
Thanks to the great commitment of the Polenergia team, students also have the opportunity to see in the field how ‘green electricity’ is generated. All thanks to the eco lessons organised at our wind and photovoltaic farms. The best way to understand and remember an issue is to confront it. One such lesson took place in November 2022 at the Sulechów Photovoltaic Farms. Further lessons across the country are already planned for spring 2023.
It is worth noting that the freedom left in the approach to the green topics implemented allows the huge potential inherent in young people to be realized. One way to test but also to expand knowledge in this area is through competitions. At the Father Jan Twardowski Primary School in Kończewice, an art competition entitled ‘Renewable Energy Sources’ was organised in December 2022 with the major participation of Polenergia. The subject of the competition was a poster made using any technique, the aim of which was to promote one form of energy generation: solar, wind, water or geothermal. The students produced beautiful artwork
