As part of the ERASMUS+ - Healthy Wav project, a study visit to the Anselmo de Andrade Cluster, in Almada, Portugal, took place between the 15th and 17th of May.
The Portuguese team, in its role as mentor, welcomed partners EMC Rotterdam (Annemieke Wargers and Wilma Jansen), facilitators, Gal Someș-Nadăş (Ana-Maria Marc, Daniela Onofrei e Ioanna Filipaş), as mentee and to represent the City of Rotterdam, the project coordinator (René Keijzer).
On May 15th, it was paid a visit to the main school (Escola Básica e Secundária Anselmo de Andrade), to see the facilities and some of the projects that the school develops, such as the Biological Garden, Vermicomposting, Science Club, Classes (during a 12th grade class we watched the production of bread and tomato jam - which we tried).
Afterwards we had lunch followed in the school canteen, together with the other users.
During the afternoon and after the welcoming session, carried out by the headmaster and teacher Ana Reis, there was a dynamic icebreaker led by the school psychologist, Ana Santos, which involved an association of personality with a fruit chosen by each participant, of those existing in a container. This afternoon session was attended by the representatives of the Almada municipality, ICA, Refood, teachers, the school psychologist, operational assistants (OA), parents and students.
After this introduction, the workshop began, with the theme “Almada context school & healthy meals. Healthy school meals, past and present. This presentation was carried out by those responsible for school meals at the municipality, PhD Sandra Rebelo (Head of Municipal Division – DMDS/DE/DAS), PhD Marta Calei (Nutritionist, school meals), PhD Ana Maria Lopes (Nutritionist, Health Authority Council Veterinary); ICA (company responsible for supplying and preparing school meals); PhD Beatriz Matriz (Refood – Stop Waste Feed People).
This presentation provided an overview of the work carried out by the municipality regarding school meals, health control, from a solidary and sustainable perspective, with the donation of unconsumed food. This was followed by a research workshop with stakeholders, followed by a Q&A session on experiences and healthy school meals.
The day ended with a social dinner between the partners, in Costa da Caparica, a pleasant place by the sea.
On May 16th, during the morning, a visit was paid to two primary schools of the cluster, to get to know the space and experience their dynamics, which was followed by a cultural tour of Almada, with a visit to “Cristo-Rei” and to the historic core of Almada. Lunch took place in the canteen of a primary school, to learn about the dynamics of meals among the little ones (6-9 years old).
The afternoon was spent at the main school, where a research workshop with mentor and mentee led by EMC took place, where the “next steps for Almada” were also discussed, as well as factors of success and failure learnt in Almada.
The day ended with a social dinner between partners, the school border, students, teachers and OA. This meal was prepared by the canteen employees, assisted by students, OA and teachers, with the starters, space decoration, logistics, and animation being the sole responsibility of the students. It was quite a much-appreciated meeting.
On May 17th in the morning, “Adjusting the benchmark” was held in a session led by EMC, a session between GAL and EMC on “Composing the plan/next steps for GAL” and to conclude, a presentation of the next steps for the Portuguese team was held.
It was then time to say goodbye, it was 3 days of intense work, but very dynamic and fruitful in which we said goodbye with another coffee break, throughout the days there were always moments of great interaction and in the fine Portuguese way where Port was served with a toast using such a Portuguese word like “saudades”.
In our acknowledgements, we highlight the precious and essential collaboration of Almada Municipality, and the entire team mobilized by PhD Sandra Rebelo, the Municipal Veterinary Authority, ICA, Refood, students, parents, canteen employees, OA (Teresa and Susana), the psychologist and finally to our headmaster, Teacher Carlos Almeida, who always supported and encouraged us.
Our “adventure” was sponsored by the Almada municipality, with the provision of meals (lunches on the 15th and 16th and dinner on the 16th), the enterprise “Quinta do Barroco” which offered fruit for the coffee breaks and the cluster Anselmo de Andrade with the facilities and all logistical support in the production of materials that were used as a support.
The Portuguese team - Ana Reis, André Antunes, Fernanda Farromba and Gonçalo Ferreira
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