Earth Day

Earth Day, celebrated on 22nd April, was marked by a workshop with first-grade students. The students watched two short videos from the Nature Is Speaking series. The narrators in these videos are well-known actors (Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford, and Ian Somerhalder), and the powerful visuals and narration are designed to capture attention and provoke reflection.

The students were divided into groups, and each group was given a task consisting of three stages: research, data summarisation and conclusion-making, followed by a group presentation.

We titled the workshop: Humans and the Earth – Synchronisation Request, and the assigned topics were:

  1. What have we done from the period of industrialisation to today?
  2. The effects of the brief global shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic
  3. What have we learned that we can apply in the future?
  4. Ways to raise public awareness

The students worked efficiently, collaborated well within their groups, and reached their goals quickly. We all agree that life in the 21st century inevitably puts pressure on the planet. We cannot – and should not – go backwards. A return to pre-industrial life is impossible—unless humanity were faced with a major crisis that left us no choice but to live without electricity, modern technology (in every sense), transportation, and, ultimately, the comfort we’ve grown used to.

The solution lies in finding a compromise: reducing and eliminating unnecessary pollution, planting trees and plants that absorb carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, cool the Earth, and prevent erosion.

We hope these solutions can be implemented soon, allowing us to achieve harmony with the planet, as intended by nature.

Marija Keržlin Trifunović