Estonian ja Finnish students celebrated the Baltic Sea day together on Rosala Island

Estonian and Finnish BSP schools’ students and teachers met on the Rosala island in the Baltic Sea to celebrate Baltic Sea Day. The Estonian students were on a 4-day sailing trip with the Estonian Youth Sailing Learning Society to learn about the sailing, team work and of course the state of the Baltic Sea. There were also specialists from the Estonian Marine Institute on one of the four boats. For some of the participants it was a prize for the Baltic Sea Webquiz 2022 and BSP Bird Quiz.

All the participants were from 15-19 years old and from 14 different Estonian schools. From Finland there were 25 students and teachers from Alppila, Orivesi, Vaasa and Martinlaakso upper secondary school and also from Helsinki´s language Upper secondary school and Finnis Russian school.

During sailing the Estonian students got to know the basic knowledge of navigation, watchkeeping, terminology, sails, ropework, anchoring and tying some knots. On the Rosala island the participants made observations with Tartu Nature House teacher Mai-Liis Vähi and the Arhipelago Sea UNESCO biosphere reserve experts Erika Silventoinen and Katja Bonnevier. Students explored the animals and plants found on the seashore and also did some chemistry experiments to assess the sea water quality. Students also had a nature hike with Tartu Nature House teacher Aire Orula who guided them how to notice different aspects of nature when hiking - how to observe birds, animals and insects and learn to identify species. 

In Rosala Viking village they got to know about the vikings’ everyday life and what we can learn from them in terms of sustainable living and being close to nature. The day concluded with a viking age style feist with traditional and local foods that vikings also used to prepare for themselves and eat. In the Viiking village`s workshop, it was also possible to learn about a sustainable way of life from the Vikings of the past. For example the vikings sailed and used products made from nature and by themselves. The Vikings' relationship with nature was also close. As modern people, we often consider the cultures of the past to be underdeveloped and primitive, but in the midst of today's various ecological crises, we should remember that the cultures of the past have often been much more sustainable than our own culture.

The students and teachers of Finland's Unesco Aspnet baltic Sea project´s schools also visited the Bengtskär island´s  lighthouse on the outermost island of the Archipelago Sea. The visit introduced the history and life of the Bengtskär lighthouse from its construction to the present day. bengstsäri lighthouse is the largest lighthouse in the Nordic countries and it was built at the beginning of the 20th century, when the newest merchant ship of the finnish merchant fleet ran aground. On the island of Bengtsäri, we also got to know the island's plants and natural conditions.

During the day, teachers and students also had the opportunity to network and get to know each other. The workshops gave the students the opportunity to observe and study nature themselves and make citizen observations. When you understand nature and see changes in its state, you want to act and influence nature and your living environment in a sustainable way.

The teachers also received tips for their own subjects on how to study nature and make citizen observations and develop their own teaching of environmental education and sustainability education.

One of the Estonian students concluded the trip with the thought "It was the highlight of my summer and it is hard to leave".