Implementation PDA 2
Implementation of PDA 2 – SUCOMINNO in Cyprus (April 12–18, 2025)
Last week, Cyprus hosted the second Project Development Activity (PDA 2) of the SUCOMINNO initiative, gathering participants from Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Poland, and Lithuania in the vibrant village of Pissouri. This dynamic week-long training combined environmental education, sustainability-focused workshops, gamification, cultural exploration, and team collaboration. Activities ranged from solar oven construction and ecological games to beach cleanups and science-based simulations like the PULCHRA game. Participants engaged with expert trainers, explored innovative green practices, and celebrated cultural diversity, while also strategizing for the continuation of their eco-projects initiated in PDA 1. The week concluded with powerful reflections, creative expressions, and strengthened commitment toward a greener and more sustainable Europe.
Day 1 – Saturday April 12, 2025
Re-introductions
The first day of the project, and with that, a lot of familiar faces. To start, Mr. Nikolas Nikolaou went through the program that we are to have until the end of the project. We also went through the rules and responsibilities each team is set to have until the end of the project.
We also had a short teaser to the game PULCHRA, a simulation game that can take numerous afternoons and even days, based on entirely on ecological businesses. This game is set to be played in the next few days.
After coffee break, jumpstarting straight into the topic, each organization as well as municipality presented all the mid activities they engaged in locally between this project, and PDA I back in Poland in January. Some organizations had done beach cleanups, clothing donations with youth, and some had even engaged youth with quizzes.
Below you can see the section of our website with all the mid activities each organization or municipality did between the two PDAs: https://sucominno.webnode.page/mid-activities/
Lastly, trainers Nikolas Nikolaou and Boghos Avetikian met, one to one with the mixed teams who had worked on the green projects as part of PDA I in Poland. Boghos and Nikolas gave advice and pointers to see how to continue these projects further and apply then for the October deadline.
Below you can see the section of our website for all the green projects developed as part of PDA I: https://sucominno.webnode.page/green-projects/
After lunch, in 6 mixed teams, the group headed to the center of Pissouri for the ever-popular picture-based treasure hunts. You can find the whole activity in the page:
Tasks in Pissouri: https://sucominno.webnode.page/tasks-in-pissouri/
The night ended at Hideaway restaurant, by getting to know the Cypriot culture with traditional food, Cypriot wine, lots of laughs and memories made.
Day 2 – Sunday April 13, 2025
The first part of the day focused entirely on Solar Ovens, their functions, uses and importance especially in countries where electricity and water supply is limited, but there is plenty of sun.
Hosted by external trainer and expert in the field, Mr. Andreas Fasoulidis, Andreas went through the work that Solar Cookers International. We found that, even to this day, Approximately 1 in 4 people today STILL lack modern fuel to cook food. Approximately 2.1 billion people cook with polluting fuels and look for a way out of energy poverty. SCI is the world's leading advocate and resource for solar cooking solutions. SCI links collaborators in communities, NGOs and agencies in 135+ countries.
We found out that solar ovens work by using the sun's energy to cook food instead of electricity or gas. They usually have reflective panels that direct sunlight into a sealed cooking area. Inside, the heat gets trapped, kind of like a greenhouse, which causes the temperature to rise enough to cook things like rice. They take longer to cook food than a regular oven, but they're super useful and easy to use once you get the hang of it.
Andreas showed the participants exactly how to make them, and they did!
The second part of the session focused on improving its designs, understanding its practical uses, and also how to look for local funding in order to implement solar oven based projects in places where they are needed.
The second part of the day focused on the introduction of the PULCHRA game. This workshop will have 4 phases, and this is marked as the first. For this session, participants watched the introductory video to the game, and trainers Nikolas Nikolaou and Nikos explained the game to the fullest. Each participants received the 6 cards, based on 6 factory types as well as 4 additional cards necessary for the game. Moreover each team received a full manual of the games rules, methods and how it all works.
PULCHRA VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=tCjACeSWdRE
For this session, participants, in each team, gave themselves roles. This included roles such as the engineer, accountant, dealer, communications and more. For this session participants, in their groups spent the entire session understanding the game, and are intended to come up with a stragedy at the next session.
The night session included the NGO and Municipality night. In this session, each organization and municipality presented themselves including what they stand for, the work they do locally and more
Day 3 – Monday April 14, 2025
The external trainers of the day were from the AKTI project. Based in Nicosia, AKTI has developed the Tiganokinisi Caravan experience. Tiganokinisi is an educational-environmental program that promotes sustainability and environmental responsibility through the collection of harmful used cooking oil (UCO). Through the workshop, participants learned how UCO can be transformed into biodiesel, and schools gain resources for environmental education and support of their environmental infrastructure. Using hands on experience with the caravan, participants learned all about this.
After the coffee break, participants also learned a second method to be more sustainable. This time around AKTI showed of how to turn old clothing, such as T-shirts or pants into tote bags! Participants learned just how easy it is to do so, as well as effective, thus avoiding the need to buy them.
For the afternoon, participants ha a cultural trip to Ancient Kourion and Limassol city. Kourion had the impressive ancient amphitheater, a historical venue still actively used for events today. We explored the Agora, the ruins of an ancient Greek city, discovering the fascinating Nymphaeum of Kourion, House of Gladiators, and the House of Achilles. At the House of Achilles, we were particularly captivated by the remarkably preserved ancient mosaics.
For the rest of the day we were in Limassol, looking at the marina, the Ancient Medieval Castle, shopping and taking walks at Molos. At night we were joined by Chrystalla for a dissemination event, as well as a showcase of CREATIYOK, a KA2 project ACPELIA is part of.
Day 4 – Tuesday April 15, 2025
Facilitated by external trainer Georgios Tsakalos, one of Cyprus' most innovative educators in science gamification, our participants took part in a set of games based on ecology and concurrently science. Georgios Tsalakos offered the participants dynamic and team-based experience. In 6 different teams, participants took part in the following mini-games.
Balancing nails
On a block of wood, fitted with a singular nail, each team was tasked to balance nails of different numbers on top. The fasted to complete all wins!
Fish, bird and mammals
A speed-based game, to bring the energy up for the following activities, participants received cards of animals and were asked to swiftly categorize them into fish, bird or mammal. Fasted to complete them all wins!
Balancing tennis ball with paper cylinders
Upon receiving 21 paper cylinders, participants were asked t obalance a tennis ball on top. With different designs, the one with the highest length (counted in units of cylinders) wins! A team with 10 "floors" of cylinders won!
The cartesian diver
A tube filled with water and air, participants were asked to figure out a way to make a paper clip move up and down. The trick was to fit the paper clip with pieces of straw. When pressing the bottle the density of the ecosystem would increase, resulting with negative buoyancy and the paper clip sinks.
Inertia and plastic cups
Armed with plastic cups and square paper, participants were tasked to stack paper with cups in between, and to swiftly remove the paper with the cups stacking. The team who managed to stack all cups without them falling wins!
Emergence of a sphere
Teaching about newtons laws of motion, participants received a water bottle, with a sphere inside, as well as sand. Participants were tasked to figure out how to move the bottle in order to make the sphere move through the sand from the bottom of the bottle to the top!
Nut balance on a straw
A fan favorite! Participants received a long straw, with a stuck nut (bolt) on the top. Using a singular finger, participants were tasked to balance the straw as long as possible. The team with the longest time balancing wins!
Pins on water (water tension)
In a bowl filled with water to the very top, participants were tasked to put pins on top of the water without it sinking, The participants with the most floating pins wins!
Chemistry in our life
Taking a break from activities requiring physical movement, participants did a small quiz based on understand chemical compounds of everyday items. The team that gets the most right wins!
Homemade water filter
Armed with cotton, sand, charcoal, pebbles and dirty water, participants used these every day items to filter out dirty water. The group with the clearest looking water wins! They didn't try drinking it though!
After lunch, the second phase of PULCHRA began, this time focused entirely on the strategy. Participants received the information that the game would be simulated from 15 to 20 years, as well as quick look at the Excel file that they would be operating with when the game begins the day after.
Trainers Nikolas and Nikos went around answering any lingering questions and teams, spread in their corners, strategized in order to execute their game plan the day after.
At night, participants went to the Pissouri beach. Joined by Giorgos Keliris and Vasilis Vasiliou from House of Science in Limassol, who graciously brought a huge telescope, the participants engaged in a night of discovering astrology. Based on their interests in science and particularly astronomy, they actively organize events for observing astronomical phenomena and general stargazing. With the expertise they have developed in astronomy and astronomical equipment, they offer expert advice and information on the proper use of telescopes and astrophotography techniques
Giorgos and Vasilis taught participants about the stars, planets and more, and participants had a good look at numerous planets such as Jupiter, Mars and lastly around 10:00 pm, the moon!
Day 5 – Wednesday April 16, 2025
Early day for us day! Starting at 7:30 am, we explored Pissouri's natural beauty, by taking a scenic hike "Dogs beach", discovering Pissouri's beautiful landscapes. The trail took a long time, and we ended up walking all the way to Panikos farm, where there were also free-range horses left to explore. This gave us ample opportunity to also pet them as well as take photos with them.
On our hike, we ended up walking all the way to the Pissouri square, where we also had some coffee and tried Cypriot traditional snacks, such as lochoumi, mahalebi and rizogalo. It was certainly an exhausting yet fulfilling morning
In the afternoon, the panultimate PULCHRA game finally began. After each team had received the excel files to run the game, as well as the station for the banker had been set up, 6 teams went head to head, building the best and most sustainable community. Some teams began straight in investing in factories or photovoltaics, while others focused on building up businesses and making tons of bank, before investing in taking care of pollutants. The game lasted a solid 3 hours and went to 9 simulated years, however 2 teams decided to take it up all the way to 20 years. With six different teams, with six different strategies, and even training with each other, it was a great experience.
At nighttime we had a reflection session dedicated entirely on the experience of the PULCHRA game, with participants giving suggestions on how to improve the game.
Day 6 – Thursday April 17, 2025
This time around, the external trainers were Angelos Pechlivanis and Christina Kakoulli from MER Lab, the Marine and Environmental Research Lab! Over the last 15 years, MER has successfully implemented many projects and research programs around coastal and offshore Cyprus in the fields of marine biology/ecology, aquaculture and fisheries. It currently leads and pioneers the marine research of Cyprus, acting as governmental consultant, and has close links with the fishery industry, divers, and other sea users.
For this workshop, Angelos and Christina, along with two inters from abroad, showcased the "Provision of services for the implementation of marine litter monitoring programs" here in the Republic of Cyprus/ This was the Adopt the Beach initiative, specifically, the sampling protocol. Angels and Christina taught us about the issues that microplastics in sea water, such as entanglement of animals, microplastic ingestion, destruction of marine habitats and even heritage loss and reduced aesthetics.
After teaching us how to sample and understand data of beach cleanliness, we went to Pissouri Beach to actually clean the beach and also calculate this. During the activity we picked up 416 small pieces of garbage from the beach and also got 4.73kg of small plastic and cigarettes. This comes out to a destiny of 2.365Kg/100m distance.
For the afternoon, we had our cultural trip to Paphos, we visited specifically Petra tou Romiou (Aphrodites Rock) According to the legend, this is the place where the goddess of love emerged from the sea, as well as "House of Dionysius" Its sites and monuments date from prehistoric times through the Middle Ages. Among the most significant remains discovered thus far are four large and elaborate Roman villas: the House of Dionysos, the House of Aion, the House of Theseus and the House of Orpheus, all with superb preserved mosaic floors, especially an Orpheus mosaic. For the remaining time, we had free time to explore Paphos.
The night was reserved for cultural night where the countries of Cyprus, Greece, Portugal, Poland and Lithuania presented their culture (and food!) in humorous and entertaining ways, whether it was a theatre, a song, and lots of dancing!
Day 7 – Friday April 18, 2025
Reflection theatre! In the same groups as PULCHRA, each team created videos as well as wrote poems or songs to reflect on the learnings they gained from this second training course. You can see the videos made my participants in the link: https://sucominno.webnode.page/reflection-videos/
The afternoon was dedicated to evaluations, follow-ups (to see what comes next) as well as the ever popular Youthpass ceremony!
At night, participants went back to Pissouri village one last time, for the Epitaphios processions of Holy Friday. The Epitaph procession begins around the city streets with bells ringing the funeral toll, commemorating the burial procession of Christ. Accompanying the solemn procession are the congregation's people, who continuously chant the Lamentations. While of course this was optional, the village of Pissouri was full of people