Schools should be active in all studies aimed at increasing the awareness of the students in schools and then the entire local population about the environment and sustainable development. Seferihisar Necat Hepkon High School is a Cittaslow school which has its own garden for farming where there are local trees, plant species and wildlife species (rabbits, ducks, pigeons, hens, turkeys, etc.). In line with the Cittaslow criteria related to schools , this project succeeded: -Providing training to school administrators, teachers and students on organic farming activities and slow nutrition -Developing our school's "Garden School" to grow local products using traditional methods -Providing the necessary equipment and infrastructure to establish an organic vegetable garden in the school yard -Ensuring that traditional dishes are produced and preserved at school as opposed to fast food culture -Providing regular taste and nutrition training at school in line with the slow food philosophy -Contributing to the survival of local culture through good agriculture and slow food practices -Raising conscious and active citizens in terms of sustainability from local to national -Carrying out international Slow Food /Cittaslow activities
Cittaslow, which is the combination of the Italian words Citta and English Slow, is a sustainability movement born from the Slow Food philosophy to preserve the texture, calmness and local characteristics of cities. Seferihisar district, where our school is located, is Turkey's first and the world's 129th cittaslow. In the early stages of Cittaslow membership, Seferihisar Municipality provided students with training on hoeing, planting seedlings and vegetable growing with the vegetable gardens it created in school gardens, meals were prepared in the school canteens with the products the students grew themselves, and a campaign was organized to inform the students in schools about the Slow Food philosophy and healthy nutrition. Yet, all the activities carried out by the municipality came to an end after a while. In order for these activities to be longlasting, school stakeholders had to take responsibility. In this context, Seferihisar Necat Hepkon High School school felt the need to be active in the studies aimed at increasing the awareness of the students and teachers about the Cittaslow and Slow Food philosophy in terms of sustainability and cultural heritage. They needed to learn the requirements of being a cittaslow citizen.