Turkey's 'Green Wagon' gets on a roll

Green Pack rides Turkish rails

All aboard! Photos: Pinar Akpinar

Completion of the first phase of the Green Pack project, after three years of work by the REC and its partners in Turkey, resulted in some important achievements. Up through end-2007, 2,000 kits of the Turkish version of the Green Pack were produced; 101 teacher instructors and 1,600 teachers were trained; and, finally, the Green Pack has now been introduced to nearly 200,000 students in 39 different cities all over Turkey.

A new phase of the Green Pack project is currently underway, thanks to an agreement to extend cooperation, signed by the Turkish Ministry of Education, Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and the REC. In 2008&ndash9, In order to ensure effective use of the reproduced material, a series of trainings for teachers is being organised for 2008-9, not only in Turkey but in all countries involved in the Green Pack project.

Unlike the previous phase, these training workshops will be conducted in two ways: one in which instruction will take place in typical venues, the other in which the teaching venue will be somewhat more unusual-namely, a railway coach, or 'wagon.' This 'Green Railway Wagon,' provided by the Turkish State Railways Authority, is equipped with all the amenities necessary for high-quality training, and has already visited four cities in Eastern Anatolia. It stayed in each city for one week, as training was provided for groups of up to 20 teachers.

It is hoped that this novel outreach programme will reach more educators and students, compared to conventional methods. The Green Wagon will make another journey in April 2009, hosting educators from Central Anatolia and Eastern Mediterranean provinces. By combining mobile and regular training venues, 5,600 teachers will be trained by the end of 2009.

The Turkish Green Pack project, sponsored by Bosch Home Appliances through years 2008 and 2009, aims to organise 12 teacher training workshops, reproduce 6,000 kits, and to reach approximately 600,000 pupils within the sponsorship period. Also, an online assistance service for teachers through the existing web page will ensure sustainability. Finally, a web page for students will be developed to enable support for environmental education activities.