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Interview with Ana: Taking care of CICD-s organic garden farm

Together with our active and hard working WWOOFers and Humus the garden-dog
During the spring and summer, it has been a great help with Ana's support in taking care of our garden farm. Here you see here with our WWOOF-ers! We asked one of the students, Kriszti, to make a small interview for our blog: -Why did you choose to have gardening as responsibility at CICD? Do you have such experience from before? I chose it because I like gardening, I like to see how natural interaction can be managed and how we can live in a beneficial symbiosis. I grew up on a farm and got the knowledge from my grandparents,...
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About Tvindkraft - trailblazing to build the future

Tvindkraft, the world's first megawatt modern wind turbine.
By Brita Jensen When Tvindkraft was built, it trailblazed the wind industry, This story is about my work at Tvindkraft, the world’s first megawatt modern wind turbine. In 1999 I had been both a team teacher and a subject teacher at DNS (The International Teachers Training College also located in Tvind). Through that work I had become increasingly conscious about the deterioration of the environment, both through our DNS study tours and studies. I wanted to work full time for improving the environment. A position at Tvindkraft became vacant and this was my chance. I didn’t know anything about a...
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Leave the door open

I just walk with the key in my hand as long as I can
Leave the door open. Leave the door open to radiant hope! Give the key to the poor man! Whose key to hope is the only way When the weight of life is a bottomless well. How did the human get here? This is the deceptive system of greed. The number of weapons keeps increasing, And the cruel king's dream comes true. But what is the price of this? Maybe it's the captivity of the roaring difference... Starving children are forced to the streets... Or a lot of garbage in the ocean. hmm.. A song is written on the table of...
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Ms Earth Perfect

A poem of love for our beautiful unique home
By Mafalda Silva, Poverty Activist team August 2022 In 2022, after a RESET ECLIPSE, the History of Planet EARTH is rewritten, but this time, with some SPECIAL POWERS… In a neighborhood far away in the Universe, There is a young Woman Planet. Her name is Ms. Earth Perfect, Perfect for Her Planet friends. With Green Eyes and Blue Hair, She is full of Life and Energy. There are Humans and Animals, in all different shapes, sizes and colours. She also has many different accessories – covered in nutrients and colours. She is a beautiful young Woman, full of Life, full...
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An education for the 21st century: what is the role of education today?

Are we preparing the next generations for the challenges of the future?
By Anne Hoejholt, leader of ISET – One World’s distance learning programme. 2021 The world of today presents us with unprecedented challenges and situations. What would a competent education for the 21st century look like? As teachers living in outstandingly fast paced times, it is legitimate to ask ourselves: how can we imagine and design an appropriate education for the 21st century? In other words, what should schools look like, to prepare the students of today for the challenges of tomorrow? In this article, we would like to argue why the current educational system needs to be radically rethought, and...
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TCE - fighting epidemics with community mobilisation

Field Officers go door to door to spread awareness and mobilise
Hello there, I am Mel, teacher at CICD, recently arrived from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, after 2 months working with Richmond Vale Academy and environmental projects running there together with a team of 6 from CICD – the Climate Activist team. Today I want to share with you news from DAPP Zambia - one of our partners and a member of the Federation Humana People to People. This is more specifically about a project that I very much admire – Total Control of the Epidemic - TCE. This project delivers health services to fight some of the big epidemics:...
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ADPP Mozambique – 40 years of development work from people to people

Half of Mozambiques population are under 18 years
ADPP is short for Development Aid from People to People in Portuguese, the official language of Mozambique. Mozambique was a Portuguese colony until 1974. Mozambique is one of the World’s 10 poorest countries - with 73% of the people in multi dimentional poverty. The people have huge obstacles in their fight to improve their lives. International solidarity from organisations such as ADPP is an important support. Here below you get a glimpse of the stark reality of the conditions in this beautiful country. Further down you find the Year Report 2020 from ADPP Mozambique. It is full of impressive examples...
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Minga Indigena in Glasgow - about false solutions to the climate crisis

Indigenious people make up 6 % of global population and protect 85% of biodiversity
Minga Indigena - the Indigienous Way of knowledge and balance with nature All through the 2 weeks of COP26 there were hundreds of meetings and workshops and debates, many “in person” and many also online. Our small CICD delegation attended some different debates and presentations. We started with Minga Indigena. There is a large gathering of Indiginious elders and activists from the Americas at COP26, and we went to an event about “False solutions to the climate crisis – the disguise of Net Zero and carbon markets” where 5 speakers and 2 translators shared their experiences with the public and...
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On the streets in Glasgow during COP26!

War is not green! The military must cut their emissions, that are huge!
Please enjoy this short report from the streets of Glasgow during COP26! It was an amazing experience! We met so many inspiring people, including from different parts of the peace movement, as you can read more about in this story. Because even though it’s not widely spread information, the military has an ennormous carbon footprint. This is being largely “swept under the carpet” when countries discuss how to reduce their CO2 emissions. Here our teacher Mel tells about her experience... Our last days in Glasgow Joining big marches and demonstrations always boost our spirits. We have joined 2 marches in...
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Production in the garden - September 2021

There is nothing better than a meal made from own produce!
The Organic Garden Farm here at CICD covers an area of around 80 m x 45m, divided into two sections – one with the greenhouse and the raised beds, and the other for the potato field and the poultry. We have 20 chicken and six ducks, that give us on average 13 eggs per day. We have two greenhouses with raised beds for tomatoes and a lot of herbs and spices. We have a special section for potatoes: five big beds each of 25 x 2,5 m. Then we have all our other crops: onions, leeks, cabbage, courgettes, french beans,...
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Learning by doing in CICD-s organic garden farm

Mon and Roula in the potato field
4 months ago in April Monzer and Roula, two of our students, decided to take the responsibility for running our garden farm when their programmes were put on hold. They stepped up to the plate – and it has gone really well! They have learned a lot through own studies as well as through their practice. Learning by doing is one of the keys to studies, work and life here at CICD – and not only in the garden! There are a million details to remember and do the right way, and at the right time...everything from the spacing between...
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Global solidarity is needed to fight Covid19 and Climate Change

Global solidarity is needed to fight Covid19
Global inequality is worsening the suffering caused by climate change and the Covid19 pandemic. This summer extreme weather caused by climate change has seriously affected Europe, with devastating floods in Germany, Belgium and Netherlands....and while writing this, wildfires are again raging out of control in Greece, Turkey and Russia. But this and worse extreme weather has hit many countries in the Global South for many years already. Climate Change and Global Warming are caused by the marketing economy's continuos race for infinite economic growth. This is a contradiction, as we live on a planet with finite resources.  Covid19 is most likely another consequence of the...
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4 easy ways to make your own organic fertiliser and compost

Composting materials from the garden can give a lot of nutrition to the soil
By Melanie Pita, Climate Activist teacher: Today we will share with you some recipes for making your own organic compost and fertiliser, as well as compost from raw food scraps. A really good way to reduce waste and improve the yield and beauty of your garden! 1. Green compost Green compost is created by recycling green waste: grass clippings, leaves, flowers, plant stalks and other plant material from garden and park. What are the benefits of green composting? Green compost provides slow release of major and micro nutrients, improves soil structure as well as workability & rooting potential, increases moisture retention...
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April News from CICD's garden farm

Planting tomato seeds in the new green house
By Melanie Pita, Climate Activist teacher A new garden season has begun and with it a lot of new tasks. At CICD we have four sections for our garden production. The small walled garden, the big walled garden, the greenhouse and all the flower areas. We have made plans for our garden farm for the next 5 years and now it is time to get the hands into the soil and get prepared. Let me start by telling you about our new greenhouse, in a building outside the walled garden. There we have 3 raised beds where we will be...
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Earth Day - let's celebrate and take care of our only home

The earth provides us with everything - soil for food, water to drink and air to breathe. It's our only home. We must take care of it.
By Noemi Karacsony, Gaia team teacher at CICD From Earthday.org 22nd of April we celebrate Earth day!! This year, the headline is Restore our Earth. World Earth day is realised every year on 22nd of April to create awareness about pollution and to celebrate the Blue Planet - or our Mother Earth. The first earth day was in 1970 and gave a voice to an emerging public consciousness about the state of our planet — in the decades leading up to the first Earth Day, Americans were consuming vast amounts of leaded gas through massive and inefficient automobiles. Industry discharge smoke...
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The Military Complex, one of the biggest contributors to Global Warming and Climate Change

By Melanie Pita, Climate Activist team teacher Today I would like to write about the issue of the Military Complex and how it influences our Climate Crisis. First and foremost is good to understand that the Military protects commercial interests, that the commercial interests fund the Government- and that the government pays for/to the military. This is the very basic structure of this complex. Starting from the very basic connection between the Climate and military pollution… The production. Every single item produced and its production chain. The need of resources and the pollution that takes place. From the simplest to...
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Creating development shoulder to shoulder - Humana People to People progress report 2020

At CICD we are very happy and proud to be partners of Humana People to People, since we started our first volunteer programmes in 1998! Below an introduction from their Progress report - and click on the link further down to read the full report: "Humana People to People spans the globe through 29 independent national member associations. We grew out of a progressive education movement in the 1970s, rooted in the struggle against apartheid and colonialism. Today, we are committed to tackling some of the world’s major humanitarian, social and environmental challenges. Forty years after we began, the needs...
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Why I love permaculture!

Raised permaculture beds give intensive organic production
By Melanie Pita, Climate Activist team teacher Hi there. I just came here to write a bit about Permaculture as it is one of my favorite topics. Like the name itself says permaculture is a permanent culture. The main goal of it is to create a perfect ecosystem where everything works like it was a cycle, a living being cycle. Permaculture is not just a way of growing food. Permaculture to an extent is a way of life. We, humans, the ones starting out on applying permaculture techniques, are also part of it all, in the beginning it requires a lot of...
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About the struggle against extracting oil and gas in East Yorkshire

West Newton, courtesy of Hull Daily Mail
In the middle of the beautiful and peaceful Yorkshire landscape, hunters for profit and fossil fuels have found some very big oil and gas deposits. During the last 8 years, there have been several attempts to start bigger scale fracking or acidisation, and drilling for oil and gas here, but they have met a fierce resistance from the local people. One extraction site in West Newton was closed down after leakage of poisonous chemicals, but now the company is trying to get started again in a neighboring location. Until very recently there was a Monitoring Protection Camp that was manned...
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Teachers changing the world

You need to investigate other realities to become a good teacher
Education is the key to create change Education is the key when we want to create a positive future. The key to reducing poverty, to eliminating gender inequality, to creating a sustainable planet, to preventing needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace ….. The world needs passionate teachers who are willing and able to act and stand up for the people. Teachers who understand that the world can be a better place for all its living beings. Teachers who teach about the power of community and who can inspire by example. So to be a teacher is really one...
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