I miss you all

some pictures of us

Let's talk about energy

ENERGY

The island of Ischia is situated in the Mediterranean sea in the bay of Naples at a latitude of 40° north. Ischia is also known as the GREEN Island. Its geographical position is particularly suited to capture the sun’s rays. There are also hot springs, spas and mineral water below ground which are widely used as Ischia’s main “industry”- tourism and wellness.
Unfortunately Ischia is not involved in any new technologies regarding the supply of energy although wind plants could be installed in some parts of the island without spoiling the landscape.
Wind power has become the cheapest way to generate electricity without any destructive by-products. The function concept is very simple: power is generated by the wind which turns massive blades which in turn drive turbines and the ensuing energy is fed into the National Grid.
An Italian region called Puglia (not very far from Ischia) uses wind power which covers almost 50% of its residential energy needs.
Through our studies we have discovered that Denmark, Finland and Germany have largely increased their use of wind power.
THINGS HAVE TO CHANGE!!!
Our massive use of fossil energy actually contributes to greenhouse gas emission and also affects ecological and economic systems in many different ways, at the same time climate change and global warming affect every country in the world.
Energy demand, influenced by economic and population growth, technological development and social trends, is forecasted to continue increasing in the future, yet the supply of fossil fuel, on which this society depends is not unlimited. Such a complex situation requires the development of alternative energy sources.
Unfortunately Italy has not been characterized by a successful energy policy and, with few exceptions, our councils are not involved in the development of alternative energy forms.
In the meanwhile we are destroying our planet and the actual rhythm of CO2 production will switch on a positive feed-back that will increase global warming, ice-reduction, catastrophic rains, draught and reduction of bio-diversity.
What can we do?
WE NEED TO ENLIGHTEN OURSELVES WIH GOOD IDEAS!
We must prevent energy waste and try to practice an energetic diet. First of all we should improve the efficiency of our energy supplies, reducing CO2 emission, stabilize our energy demand and increase the exploitation of renewable energy sources according to our features. For example Norway could use more bio fuel from trees, Italy could tap the sun’s energy and Ischia ,in particular, utilizing geothermal energy in a large way.
All this will consider the environmental sustainability in terms of human health, biodiversity conservation and integrity of ecosystem functioning.



BIOMASS is one of the most important resources for reaching our renewable energy targets.
It already contributes more than half of renewable energy consumption in E.U. providing a clean secure and competitive energy resource. As the E.U. looks to move forward on the road to meeting its 2020 climate and energy targets, which include a 20% share for renewable in all E.U. energy,it is better to give an insight into the future of biomass production or solar cells or geothermal energy.
In our country a strong development of geothermal energy is imperative to:
o Minimize dependence on imported fuels
o Curb the balance of payments deficit
o Mitigate the environmental impact of greenhouse gases.

sweet greetings

...Coming back to our favolous meeting, I just want to thank everyone for the complete success we had. My students are enthusiast and They are ready to afford another topic. In the meanwhile I try to add some photos. Kisses Saveria

Our first day

God kveld! Good evening! Buonasera! Jó estét! Goeden avend! Guten Abend!

Now I sit by table in Hans Olav’s (my welfare host’s) sitting room, my body rejoices the hot tea and I remember the first day of the COMMON-GOOD-AND-PEACE-Project in Brandbu (Norway).

The schoolday at Brandby dosn’t start so early in the morning, at 8:00 a.m. at the Hadeland videregående skole. Therefore we had slept well and were prepared to introduce the members (Ines, Vivien, Marie, Stefanie, Lars and I) of our group to the others.

Then the students talked about the history of their homelands and the teachers had a discussion about their focus to the COMMON GOODS.

After a lunch we went into the woods and enjoyed the beautiful Norwegian nature. The students prepared competitions between international groups coming from Norway, Belgium, Italy, Hungary and Germany. It was very difficult to put a student (I think to do that with a teacher is impossible!) through a net, to build a tower with marshmallows and spaghetti, to squeeze a wet soap into a bucket which was placed at a distance and … Lovely ideas.

And then, it was very cold in the wood. The teachers prepared a barbecue with pølse og lompe (large Frankfurter and pancake).

Fun!!!

But the best thing was the hot solbær (black currant) cordial to defrost feet and hands.

Now I sit by table in Hans Olav’s sitting room, my body rejoices the hot tea and the weather forecast said it would snow. Snow in this landscape, lovely.

Is it the pleasant anticipation for Christmas time?

Yes, I think so.

common goods and peace: Dear friends and partners,As the international c...

common goods and peace: Dear friends and partners,
I'm so glad to participate to this great project and I firmly believe in it. I hope to carry in my daily work the lesson that our pupils will give us. Hoping to realize something significative I send you all my best regards.

Dear friends and partners,

As the international coordinator of our new Comenius project "Common Goods and Peace"I would like to congratulate you all with the approval of the application we handed in a the beginning of 2010. The fact we've all been accepted means it is a very good project! I really do believe in it ...

We only have to realize our great plans now! Of course, we've got 2 tears to live up to our great ideals of a new green world for Peace!!!

You are all very WELCOME!!! I do hope you will feel fine in our team of teachers, coordinators and headmasters . New school, new partners, new friends. I feel very privileged to welcome you all in COMMON GOODS and PEACE.

And I also would like to WELCOME your pupils, all of them , who will join in and work hard in the comin,g 2 years to realize a greater awareness of the need to respect COMMON GOODS to reach a more PEACEFUL world! My deepest wish for them is that they 'll meet new people, enlarge their horizon and make friends for life in deep respect for different cultures, religions, traditions, schoolsystems.

I wish you luck in all the fields we're going to investigate, discover, deepen etc.

And , of course, my deepest THANK YOU SO MUCH to Arnfinn Nilsen, in Brandbu, who'll have the honour to open our COMMON GOODS forum next week, from 7 till 12 november 2010.

We're all looking forward to start working and to meet- this time for real, finally! - as new and old dear friends!

Good luck!
Warm greetings !

Bernadette De Cat
Heilig-Hartscholen
Heist-op-den-Berg, Belgium

Hallo, here I am. I still don't know how to use all these new facilities, however I'm sure that I will learn it.
Regina