USE+FUL | Biodiversity on the Vardim island

Besides the Vardim oak, a specific hydrophile type of summer oak, other types of oak and elm can be observed on Vardim Island, as well as the white willow, white poplar, black acacia, black poplar, snowflake, etc.

According to the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, the island is one of the five most important nesting areas in the country for the great cormorant, the black-crowned night heron and the common spoonbill, making it a site of international ornithological importance. A total of 21 nationally protected species are identified on the island.

Of the 75 bird species that can be observed on Vardim Island, 31 are of European importance. The sea eagle can be seen on the island, and until 1985 other species to be observed on it included the squacco heron, glossy ibis and pygmy cormorant.

In order to protect the natural Vardim oak plantations and the large number of waders, The Old Oak area was proclaimed a natural reserve on 5 March 1971 by the Ministry of Forests and Forest Industry. The reserve spreads over an area of 0.718 km2, of which 0.646 afforested and 0.072 unforested. On 2 July 1998 it was recategorized as a protected area with an area of 0.987 km2 by the Committee for the Preservation of the Environment with the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria.

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Caterina Cioffi, intern@ICDET

VIE+W | “RETURNING TO SCHOOL… BUT ON THE OTHER SIDE”

My colleague Alice and I joined one of the Druzhba’s schools to assist and cooperate in an interactive lesson with a middle school class. According to the Non Formal Education principles and in collaboration with an art teacher and a psychologist, we created a creative educational environment to learn by having fun and experience.

The main activity was about painting and cooperation: the children had to reproduce "The Sunflower" painting from Van Gogh modulating their works with the ones of their pairs. The task for each child of the entire class was to reproduce only a little piece of the painting, depending on the place they were seated. The main final goal for the children was to be able to coordinate the different paintings by creating an ending harmonic drawing.

It has been interesting to be there, observing how children can work together to find common solutions and stimulating the process of cooperation and coordination to arrive at a shared result that doesn’t leave anyone behind.

During the activity we touched another important point of Non Formal Education: Alice and I joined the activity directly when the art teacher asked us to paint a piece of the whole figure; we were feeling like little children in school again sitting on those little chairs. We tried to build a symmetrical learning relation characterized by cooperation, respect, trust, appreciation, equity and parity between us and the children: we underlined the existent reciprocity between us putting ourselves in the position to learn something from them and this activity. While we were drawing we mainly stayed with a Korean child that was put apart from the other companions because of her shyness, her different ways of living and the language barriers. We searched to integrate her with the other children that were very curious about her disclosure toward us.

Throughout this experience I learned how alternative ways of teaching can be a useful way of expression and connection for people with different backgrounds, above all in children that in the age of middle school tend to create ingroups and outgroups (including the similarity and excluding the diversity) to better define their identities. I improved my awareness about the interesting match between creativity, art, teamwork and psychology and I will treasure it for my future ideas and projects!

“Tell me and I will forget, show me and I will remember, involve me and I will understand”

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Ilaria Staltari, intern@ICDET

VIE+W | The beauty of Sofia

This week, I will tell you more about the architecture in Sofia and my trip in the city. When I came to the city center, I was very impressed to see the historical buildings around. When I came to the city center, I was very impressed to see the historical buildings around. Not only the historical buildings, but also the parks and religious buildings in the center impressed me a lot. That's why I wanted to write about these and share it with you. When I came to the center of Sofia, the first building I visited was the symbol of Sofia - the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. The building was built in memory of the Slavs who died in the Ottoman-Russian war, with neo-Byzantine architecture. At the top of the cathedral is a dome that shines like the sun. This dome impresses those who saw the cathedral. It also affected me a lot.

Also many religions have lived in Sofia before. Some of these religions are: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It is possible to find places of worship such as mosques, churches and synagogues belonging to these religions in the city center. The fact that these worship services were built in the city shows the importance of Sofia both in terms of religion and human life. Because in the places where they live, first of all, people build the structure in which they will worship.

It is possible to see many art and culture buildings in Sofia. The most visually beautiful of these structures is the Ivan Vazov National Theatre. Because the external structure of the theater is visually very magnificent. In addition, the National Museum of Natural History and the National Palace of Culture are located in the center of Sofia and are actively working. There are many parks in the city. That's why people go to the parks frequently and spend time in the parks. The reason why there are so many parks shows the harmony of people with the environment. That's why I was happy not to see any garbage on the streets while walking in Sofia.

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Murat Bilmez, volunteer@ICDET