Starting anew!

Dear Friends,

We hope that the summer break was a relaxing and refresh-

ing one for everyone. We are now back at the start of a new

scholastic year and at KOPIN we are gearing up for the final

phase of the S2C project, which comes to a formal closure

in February 2012.

In this edition, we look back at some interesting activities

carried out by one of the participating schools over the last

year, we take a look ahead at what the next few weeks hold

in terms of activities and events surrounding the project and

we look ever further ahead with information on the work

being done for the next cycle of the Global Action project

with out international partners. Furthermore, you will find

some information on reducing poverty, in line with the 17th

October, which represents the International Day on the

Eradication of Poverty.

As always, we offer links and resources which you can eas-

ily access for classroom discussions.

We would also like to take this opportunity to wish all

teachers a Happy World Teachers Day which falls on the

5th October. Well done to all!

Schools2Communities (GAS II)—Malta

October 2011

Back to school!

Links:

Stan Up against Poverty campaign: http://standagainstpov-erty.org/suap/ The Red Hand Cam-paign http://www.redhandday.org/index.php?l=en&view=info

Inside this issue:

School activi-ties

4

Announce-ments

5

Events, Events, Events

6

International Day against poverty

3

Networking Workshop

2

Malta Organic Agriculture Movement

http://www.moam.org.mt/

Earth Easy—solutions for sustainable living

http://eartheasy.com/

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/poverty/

Permaculture Malta

http://www.permaculturemalta.org/

Teaching Resources Global Engage http://globalengage.ibo.org/eng/teachers Taking Action: Sustainability, Climate Change and Fair Trade http://www.worldfish.org/GCI/mozlesson6.html Global Education http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/page1.html UN lesson plan on fighting poverty!: http://www.un.org/works/goingon/poverty/lessonplan_poverty.html

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Facebook groups and pages to follow: STOPoverty!—Neqirdu l-Faqar Campaign being organ-ized by Third World Group on the 15th Oc-tober http://www.facebook.com/pages/STOPoverty-Neqirdu-l-Faqar/115797811816133 Frott Artna Local Cooperative of farmers preparing fresh salads http://www.facebook.com/frottartnamalta Earth Hour International campaign calling on individuals, businesses, communi-ties and governments to commit to a positive action for the planet by switching off their lights for one desig-nated hour.

http://www.facebook.com/earthhour Hanut Arka Local fair trade shop in Valletta http://www.facebook.com/hanut.arka

www.kopin.org

UPCOMING EVENT BY KOPIN—LET’S GET NET-WORKING!

Workshop about developing joint actions between

schools and LCAs

Date: 28 October 2011. Venue: Hotel Intercontinental, St Julian’s. Time: 8.30h – 15.00h

Aim: The aim of the event is to promote the development of local community actions about the GAS2C themes between schools and other community stakeholders, and to actively support the target group in the joint development and implementation of such actions.

Agenda: 8.30 – 9.00h: Registration

9.00 – 11.00h: Presentation Session

• Welcome note, introduction to the WS and its aims

• Introduction to the themes – Fair trade, climate change, sustainability, in the context of Global Education

• Brief introduction of the participants

• Example: Presentation of a school action by a teacher

11.00 – 11.30h: Fair Trade coffee break

11.30 – 13.30h: Workshop and presentation of the out-comes

• Matching of teachers and LCAs

• Development of joint action(s) – thematic focus, target group, location, learning outcomes, reporting, time frame, etc

• Presentation of working session’s outcomes to other par-ticipants.

13.30 – 15.00h: Working lunch

We hope to see you there. This is an excellent opportu-nity to expand your network and meet different organiza-tions working in the area of climate change, fair trade and sustainable living in Malta!!!!

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty—17th October

The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty has been observed every year since 1993, when the General Assembly, by resolution 47/196, designated this day to promote awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution in all countries, particularly in developing countries - a need that has become a development priority.

The theme for this year’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty -- “Working together out of poverty” -- highlights the need for a truly global anti-poverty alliance, one in which both developed and developing countries participate actively.

Another Event not to be missed!

STOPoverty in partnership with the Valletta Local Council and Third World Group is organising an event to commemorate the

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

The Maltese MDG Campaign, STOPoverty! Neqirdu l-Faqar!, in partnership with Third World Group and Valletta Local Council

will organize a campaign in the lead up of the 17th October 2011 to support the UN in its efforts to boost progress towards the MDG as well as to push locally for the eradication of poverty.

We hereby cordially ask whether your organisations and your-selves as individuals will be willing to support this campaign.

A detailed program of the event is below for your information.

Date: Saturday, 15th October 2011

Venue: Valletta

09:45 – Opening Speech by Dr. Alexiei Dingli, Mayor of Valletta & Dr. George Abele, President of Malta, Great Seige Square

10:15 – Opening of the symbolic running lanes, Republic Street 10:15 – Opening of NGOs information stands, Great Siege

Square 10:15 – Opening of Boards "Today I Am Grateful For ______",

Great Siege Square 10:30 – Opening of Photographic Exhibition Hunger Free

Women, The President’s Palace 11:00 – Tama Tnabar Exhibition, Republic Street

11:45 - Forum: "Il-Faqar f' Malta; Jien kif nista' nagħmel differ-enza?", Aċċess Valletta, Triq Melita

12:00 - Jamming Session, Great Seige Square 13:00 – Closing, Great Siege Square

Page 3 Back to school!

www.kopin.org ———————-

Featured Site: —————- For further information please log on: http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/poverty/ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/STOPoverty-Neqirdu-l-Faqar/115797811816133

What can I do to help eradicate poverty? 1. Become better in-

formed about the is-sues

2. Inform yourself and share and discuss with others

3. Volunteer your time with organizations that help to eradicate poverty

4. Support campaigns and events aimed at eradicating poverty

5. Lobby with politi-cians to put it on their agenda

6. Connect with others who care

7. Shop ethically 8. Buy Fair Trade

Goods 9. Fundraise for the

cause

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With the aim of promoting Fair Trade the Global Actions School-s2Communities team at St Benedict College Girls St Lucija (now St Thomas More College Girls St Lucija), throughout 2010/11 organised a number of activities. These activities were aimed at targeting the whole school population. Our first activity related to Fair Trade was a Fair Trade Cake Bake Day. Here students from the Design and Technology option group were involved in baking cakes using Fair Trade ingredients. These cakes were sold to students and teaching staff at the school. Profits from this sale were donated to SOS Malta, to support the Malta Walks for Water 2011, international campaign. The aim of this pro-ject is to provide sustainable and clean water to rural villagers in Uganda, as well as greatly reducing the risk of children contracting waterborne diseases. Water projects will serve as an educational boost as children will not have to miss lessons due to the availability of water. Thus this activity has also served to increase awareness as regards the UN Millennium Development Goals amongst our stu-dents. Towards the end of the year the annual Fair Trade week was once again organised. Here in collaboration with the local Fair Trade shop l-Arka, we have organised a Fair Trade product sale. Students from React the school’s debate group were actively involved in this Fair Trade week by helping out in the sales, promoting Fair Trade with other students and participating in activities related to this event. Together with the help of volunteers from Koperattiva Kum-merċ Ġust our students were also given the chance to experience what Fair Trade truly is. They had the opportunity to participating directly in a Fair Trade related experiential activity. Apart from Fair Trade related projects, GAS2C collaborated with various NGOs so as to have students actively involved in various initiatives amongst which: YMCA: Homeless; JRS: Intercultural Ex-perience; NCPE: Equality Theatre Forum; LAND: Living Ability not Disability Car Wash; Child Soldiers Seminar and the GAS2C Interna-tional workshop held in Poland. http://www.stbenedictcollege.org/stlucija/index.php?option=com_content&vie=category&id=11:global-action-schools&Itemid=8&layout=default Jahel Vancell GAS2C Team St Thomas More College Girls, St Lucija.

St Thomas More College, Girls—St Lucija

Announcements

GAS 3—the new cycle of the GAS project

As most of you know, the current GAS2C project ends in February 2012. However, as part of the international project team, KOPIN is already in discussions to take part in the new cycle of the Global Action School project—GAS3. GAS3 will continue to build upon developing training material and support for teaching students about MDGs. However, additionally, schools will be awarded with the GAS certificate according to the actions they implemented, defined by a num-ber of criteria. We will of course keep you informed of any progress on the project once it is submitted and ap-proved by the European Commission. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with you over the next few years! :)

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

Do you use or have a lesson plan on fair trade / climate change or sustainable living? Would you like to participate in developing a national toolkit for teachers like yourself having lesson plans to use in the classroom? Then contact us at KOPIN. As part of the GAS2C project we are looking for teachers like you to help us produce a useful toolkit for enabling teachers to incorporate the topics of the project. We want to hear from you! Contact details can be found overleaf. Further information will be given to all those interested in participating in this activity.

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This newsletter has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of KOPIN and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union. The S2C Project is co-financed by Betsson Ltd.

WWW .SCHOOLS2COMMUNITIES .EU

For further Information please contact us on lucy.pacegouder@kopin.org, dominik.kalweit@kopin.org, or phone us on 79268125

Calendar of events… what you can look forward to!

But that is not all. Below are some other important dates in the coming few weeks which you and your students may find interesting!

As part of the GAS2C project, the international partner team are organizing a series of interna-tional actions with the aim that during specific days, similar actions are held across all participat-ing countries, thus creating a synergy and enhanced collaboration between the schools and partners. We will be in touch with you over the coming days to support you in ensuring that these actions are successful. We hope you are as excited about them as we are!

Here is the calendar of the "Global Action Weeks":Here is the calendar of the "Global Action Weeks":Here is the calendar of the "Global Action Weeks":

17th October : KICK OFF!

17th—21st October : Ethical Consumption Questionnaire

24th—28th October : Switch Off Day

7th—11th November : School Environmental Audit

14th—18th November : Fair Trade Info Day

21st—25th November : Climate Day

28th November—2nd December : Traffic and climate Change

Date Event

15th October STOPoverty! campaign in Valletta (see page 2)

17th October International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

28th October Networking workshop for Schools and LCAs

November MDG seminar— Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary, Naxxar