We often do smaller eco-actions at school, such as cleaning the school yard. In the classroom students are given various assignments in which they need to investigate patterns and consequences of environmental pollution, create a natural water purifier yourself or demonstrate a method of recycling waste.

In collaboration with my colleague Marija Orbanic, professor at the Vocational School Eugen Kumičić Rovinj, I have organized several projects to develop environmental awareness among young people. These are for example the projects “Rovinj – the pearl of the sea” and “Maklavun, the roads of the hillforts” on which joined us our colleague Tanja Ranić Rovis.

The idea of the long-standing project “Rovinj – the pearl of the sea” was born in 2014 after participating in multimedia workshops at the underwater film festival “White Lion”. The students showed great interest in the magical underwater world and we decided to launch a project in which students and teachers will have the opportunity to participate in diving education and become acquainted with the marine ecosystem with the aim of preserving the underwater biodiversity. The project was implemented with the support of the City of Rovinj and the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Croatia, and in cooperation with the Diving Center (Puffer, Rubin and KPA Rovinj) and the Center for Marine Research at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Rovinj.

Each year, at the Dive Center, students and teachers have the opportunity to listen to a lecture about specific topics such as “The impact of plastics in the sea on the ecosystem” and “Diving safety”. This is followed by diving training and a test dive with expert guidance from the instructor and diving manager. Our students also sample seawater and perform a laboratory analysis of water quality. On World Environment Day we organize an eco-friendly beach and underwater cleanup action. Apart from students and teachers other citizens respond to the eco action, and at the end of the action the Blue Flag is raised, as an international recognition for clean beach and sea.

With the project “Maklavun, the roads of the hillforts” we wanted to connect two prehistoric tumuli in the area of Kanfanar municipality, Maklavun and Muše. The project was implemented with the support of the Museum’s archeological department The City of Rovinj, the Kanfanar Tourist Board and the Croatian Ministry of Tourism. At the Maklavun site, students and teachers cleared the driveway and the site itself. They traced the path between the two tumuli and produced brochures on the cycling and hiking paths, which provided information on Maklavun and other cultural contents along the route.

Also, we participated in other eco actions. Organized by the Rovinj Underwater Activities Club, for the third year in a row, a major action was conducted to clean the coast and undersea at two locations – the city port and in front of the Club itself. We have sorted and counted the waste to properly analyze the data at the Marine Research Center. 200 kg of waste was collected on the coast and 1 ton of waste was removed from the submarine. It is interesting that all the iron scrap will be used to create the sculpture of Rovinj architect Andrija Milovan.

Pamela Budicin, prof. chemistry