20 years Green Footprints - Join in!: Results > Results 2026 > Poland

Poland

In Poland, two schools from the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship also took part in the campaign this year. The comprehensive school complex in Wydminy participated with the 4. and the 8. graders, in Giżycko one group at the youth center for sociotherapy took part.

The students all showed great enthusiasm and developed quite nice ideas on the topics of climate and sustainability and eagerly implemented them into their daily and family lifes.

The 84 children from the two schools contributed at least 2,210 Green Footprints to the overall result. According to one of the teachers they could also count footprints from each child at school that took part in the previous years as the children are always continuing some of their good new habits because they have experienced how much fun electronic-free leisure activities can be, for example.

WYDMINY

Officially, Class 4a and the older year groups (Class 8) – a total of 50 pupils – took part in the initiative in Wydminy this year. However, a number of other people joined in quite spontaneously. As they have been carrying out these activities regularly for several years now, they jokingly say that the whole school is actually involved – “after all, we’re fighting for every green footprint,” said the teacher.

Once the initiative is over, they are always delighted to see the good habits the pupils continue to practise.

This year, they combined the project with the cycling proficiency test. The pupils in Year 4 passed their test successfully, using the Road Safety Centre (Miasteczko Ruchu Drogowego) for the test. Now they are officially allowed to ride their bikes, which gives them immense pleasure.

It has become clear that cycling is great fun and a major attraction.

The pupils of the upper classes produced a film for their younger schoolmates, showing how to behave safely in traffic. It also explains road signs and highlights the importance of reflective elements or reflectors – an investment one should never skimp on.

The topic of energy saving generated considerable interest this year, to the extent that the pupils began to observe the weather conditions very closely in order to assess precisely whether the lights in the school really needed to be switched on. Furthermore, they even successfully persuaded other teachers to move their lessons out into the open air!

The senior pupils also organised group activities during break times: They played with the younger children, showed them active games and dance steps, and encouraged them to spend more time outdoors in their free time as well.

The fourth-grade students realised that things which are part of their everyday lives are a real luxury for many other people: fresh air, farms, locally produced milk and eggs, or fruit and vegetables from their own garden.

GIZYCKO

In Gizycko, too, there were once again numerous activities as part of the “Green Miles” campaign, in which young people actively engaged in climate protection and promoting an environmentally conscious lifestyle. As a result, the 34 children and teenagers contributed an impressive 1,560 climate miles this year.

Throughout the project, they explored topics such as energy conservation, buying local products, and protecting our environment. Through various lessons and discussions, they not only learned in theory how to incorporate sustainable practices into their daily lives but also put these ideas into practice themselves.

A key part of the activities there were hikes and bike rides, which not only promote the use of eco-friendly modes of transportation but also foster a love of being active outdoors.

In addition, participants learned about the basics of healthy eating and the importance of regional and seasonal foods—a delicious pizza made with tomatoes from your own garden is good for the climate and the kids ;-)

Responsibility for People and the Environment:

Many activities were held under the theme “Water—the Source of Life”: testing water quality, going fishing together, and a visit to the water police, including CPR training, were all part of the program.

But that wasn’t all: the children and teens also took responsibility for the environment themselves, for example, by combining a bike ride with a litter cleanup along a lake.

They also helped rake leaves so that they could be turned into good soil in the compost bin for growing their own vegetables.

All in all, they learned that small, everyday decisions can make a positive contribution to climate protection.

The teacher wrote to us: “We are proud that our participants worked on the projects with great dedication and were thus able to gain valuable experience in sustainable and responsible behavior.”

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