Muotiala day-care centre's project headed for a sustainable future
In 2018, Leena Laine, Director of the early childhood education and care unit, and Taru Vainio-oja, Deputy Director of the unit, participated in a contact seminar by the Finnish National Agency for Education organised in Tampere. They were enthusiastic about their participation but did not yet know in exactly what kind of international project they would like to be involved in.
In the seminar, Laine and Lainio-oja networked with actors from different countries. They found a shared goal: promoting sustainable development. The final project partners came from the Czech Republic, England and Slovenia. It worked like a snowball effect – one contact led to another one.
A three-year project was launched, during which the employees of the day-care centre were able to visit day-care centres in the other countries, familiarise themselves with different actors in the environmental sector and listen to lectures given by experts. The impacts of the project that received the European Innovative Teaching Award EITA in October 2023 are still visible in the day-care centre’s daily life.
Inclusion of the Children Is Central to the Project
Recycling, saving energy and monitoring water consumption are present every day at Muotiala day-care centre. This is ensured by both the employees and the children themselves.
“It has been very important to us that the inclusion of children is increased in the project. It means that we listen to their concerns and give them space to bring up ideas and insights,” explains Maija Huhtiniemi, the ECEC teacher in charge who participated in the project.
In the day-care centre, children are engaged in environmental activities all the time and they can themselves have a say in what is done.
“At the beginning of the project, our day-care centre received a huge pile of apples and we were discussing with the children how to use them. One of the children came up with the idea of making apple jam, and we decided to make a big portion of apple jam. The children could have it with the porridge in the morning, and it also made the porridge more popular among them. This way, we were able use the apples,” Huhtiniemi says.
The project emphasised interactive climate education that was not limited merely to theory. During the project, diverse practical measures were taken at the day-care centre to support sustainable development.
“At the general level, we want to teach all the children at our day-care centre to understand the importance of the matter in a way suitable for their age level. By learning practical measures, we can build a green future,” says Leena Laine, Director of the early childhood education and care unit.
Everyone at the day-care centre is also used to different theme weeks and theme days. For example, on some weeks, families are asked to come to the day-care centre on foot or by bike, if possible. During the week, a barometer is kept on what means of transport each person uses. Children monitor this barometer keenly.
“They also liked the eco-agent activity launched during the project. The children took turns in ensuring that lights were switched off in empty rooms and that both sides of the drawing papers left for recycling had definitely been used. They were given eco-agent glasses and vests for the day on which they were responsible for these duties.
The project has also made the children more sensitive to climate and environmental issues. The environmental friendliness of the recipe book designed as a Father’s Day present stimulated a lot of discussion among the children: should they send the book to their fathers as an electronic link? Does lamination produce too much plastic?
“In the end, the decision was made with the children that, if laminated, this recipe book will last so long that the children will be able to take it to their own homes when they are older. The children found this really interesting and began to reflect on how old they might be when they leave home,” Huhtiniemi says, laughing.
The Core of the Change Is In Values and Attitudes
The measures taken to promote sustainable development and combat climate change do not comprise only recycling, saving water or any other specific concrete measure. The most important objective of the project is to change people’s attitudes and cultivate a sustainable value base for the children. The climate and environmental friendliness-related issues that they have been discussing over three years are also visible as changes in the ways of thinking and attitudes of the personnel of the day-care centre.
“The project has influenced the models of thinking and operating of the entire personnel, which is still visible although the project has ended. The children, on the other hand, are genuinely enthusiastic about environmental issues and, unlike us adults, they do not have attitudes that they need to change. Children also do not find it laborious to think about matters from the point of view of climate or the environment,” Laine says.
As attitudes and values have changed, the people working at the day-care centre have actively brought up environmental issues. For example, they have reflected on what the day-care centre needs to order and what they can manage without. They have understood that a sustainable future is built from small actions and this way of thinking is also spreading outside the day-care centre. When we teach the children, we also teach the parents.
Parents have said that the children have also become enthusiastic and interested in matters related to recycling at home. Grandparents have also been taken out for walks to collect litter, for example.
“One child would have wanted to take the whole day-care centre to see their rubbish bins as they had a new plastic recycling point. We did not go on a trip, but the child’s parents sent us a picture of the new recycling bin so that we could all admire it on the smart screen,” Huhtiniemi says.
However, trips are an essential part of daily life at the day-care centre and environmental themes are very closely linked with them. For example, the children have been able to visit the nearby allotments to taste different vegetables.
“Children are more willing to try cabbage and carrots when it is not in the canteen of the day-care centre. This way, they learn about vegetarian and local food.”
Environmental Education Should Be Part of the Workplan
Promoting sustainable development has not been only easy. According to Laine, the challenge has been how to integrate the project into daily work at the day-care centre so that it would not cause extra work to the employees. The teacher should be able to combine it with the workplan for environmental education so that it would be an integral part of it and would not require any additional time.
The youngest children at the day-care centre cannot speak yet, which also poses extra challenges from the point of view of environmental education.
“Fortunately, our clever ECEC teacher was able to also include the little ones in environmental education. It requires creativity, but is by no means impossible. Good ideas related to environmental education can be adapted to make them suitable for children of different ages,” Huhtiniemi says.
Travelling for work is not a typical part of an ECEC teacher’s daily work, but Huhtiniemi had the opportunity to familiarise herself with the operation of the other day-care centres participating in the project.
“It was memorable and educational to be able to visit the day-care centres of our project partners in the Czech Republic and Slovenia. They had concentrated on the same things as we have with regard to topics such as food education and water consumption.”
However, the most eye-opening thing about the project was that it enabled them to understand that we are not alone. People across Europe prioritise climate and environmental issues and are enthusiastically looking for answers to them.
“It gives us hope that the next and the yet unborn generations will have opportunities to live a good life. These issues are equally interesting to other people, not just to Finns, and we are not alone,” Laine says, hopeful.
Towards a Greener Europe
Author: Iida Ilmola