We wanted to strengthen our self-confidence and improve our foreign language skills. Contribute towards a more active participation in society, a greater awareness on European mobilities, ecology, using space as well as possible. Acquire knowledge and ideas about work, system and space adaptations for children with special needs, foreign-speaking children and children who have difficulties in social interactions. We wanted to improve different knowledge and competencies in connection with learning spaces. Besides, we wanted to improve the possibilities to set up challenging and encouraging learning spaces. Acquire ideas on how to (re)use materials and with that contribute to sustainability. By sharing the experiences of mobility and being active in learning communities in the future, we have already and will in the future influence the professional growth of our employees. An added value of our mobility was, due to the pandemic, also the improvement of the ICT skills and competencies and in the widest sense an increasing awareness of the participants for understanding other cultures and strengthening the network of international connections.
The reason we have decided for this project is our development of the educational field: learning space in cooperation with the Educational Research Institute. We have been included in the ECO kindergarten project for a number of years. Besides, our founder (Bled Municipality) is a zero-waste municipality. Therefore, the intention of our visit was to check and perhaps confirm whether or not our ecological orientation has already become our way of life/the way our kindergarten works. We wanted to find out if it is possible to motivate our professional workers into collecting and reusing materials and resources which would offer challenges to our children. We would like to encourage the children to develop the motivation to explore, to be curious, and to teach them how to be responsible towards nature and our planet. We wanted to see innovative ways of using recycled materials and get new, fresh ideas. We wanted to see space solutions, shaping space as playing centres, get an insight into new possibilities. We wanted to acquire experiences in international cooperation, a growing awareness about European projects and values, improve our foreign language skills and strengthen our confidence. As a follow up, we wanted to improve the self-initiative and motivation of other employees towards a greater ecological awareness and towards cooperation in international activities. We wanted to see the organization and efficiency of the outer and inner space in the kindergartens that we visited.