Informational and Educational Meetings held during Sulejow Days St. John’s Eve Picnic, 23 June, 2013

On 23 June 2013, a St. John’s Eve family picnic organised under weekend celebrations of Sulejow Days was held in Sulejow. Many local residents and tourists attended that event. The key organisers included the Sulejow Town Office and Municipal Culture Centre in Sulejow, while institutions implementing EKOROB Project were the partners. Concerts of music groups and performances of folk ensembles were held during the picnic. The traditional St. John’s Eve ceremony of making flower wreaths and letting them drift along the Pilica waters crowned the meeting.

A LIFE+ EKOROB Project information and education stand was organised during the picnic, and an educational campaign to present causes and effects of the Sulejow Reservoir eutrophication as well as options to increase ecological capacity of this waterbody was also delivered. Information on the work (including its results) performed under EKOROB Project was presented on boards displayed next to the stand. Picnic participants received leaflets with information on EKOROB Project, while the youngest visitors got educational booklets entitled ‘Water is a Source of Life’ and ‘Water – Puzzles for a Young Discoverer’ (published by the National Water Management Board).

Ecological education activities for children were delivered in cooperation with FERSO, the Foundation for Education and Development of Civil Society. Games and experiments were used to emphasise issues of reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus emissions from households and rural areas, and the role of ecotones for reducing diffuse pollution. Everyone was welcome to take part in rounds of a board game played in the open air, and visit a Small Water Laboratory.