Events in EE
Trainings for pupils
The aim of trainings for school children is to give students an overview of Fair Trade and its principles in order to help them become more aware and responsible as consumers. The trainings are set up in an interactive way so the students have a chance to voice their opinions, find parallels with things that matter to them and ultimately decide if and how they want to participate in changing the world for better.
In each training, the students are introduced to the topic of Fair Trade through fun games and ice breakers that help them realise how connected they are with the rest of the world and how their actions can influence people living on the other side of the globe. Then, the principles and products of Fair Trade are presented focusing on common products like coffee, sugar, chocolate or bananas. Finally the link is drawn again between their behaviour and its impact on producers and workers to show how much influence they have over the state of the world around them.
Fair Trade Booth
Three Fair Trade Booths in different public events have been organized.
1. Maijooks, 23rd May 2015.
Maijooks is a famous yearly running event for women that attracts thousands of women to run and thousands of people to support and cheer on the runners. The event takes place in down town Tallinn and longest distances are 7km. The start and finish host the largest number of supporters who also see the banners and other visuals set up there. At the start and finish of the event, there are also tents of different organisations and companies. Mondo set up a tent near the start of the run for the whole day, shared materials, offered Fair Trade products and had discussions with the participants. The start of different distance runs is at different times, but people often arrive together for the very beginning. This leaves a lot of time to wonder around the event grounds and visit the tents. Mondo has been present at the event previously as well and has always had good experience with people being interested in issues of global nature such as Fair Trade.
2. Viljandi Folk, 24th-25th July 2015
Viljandi Folk is the oldest and most well known folk festival in Estonia taking place in a small town of Viljandi. This year the event hosted 25 000 visitors with dozens of different performances across town.
Fair Trade Booth event took place in the form of a fairtrade café, with warm drinks, games and informal chats with people visiting the event. The Booth was open for two days at a separate area for families where different workshops took place. Set up near a children’s area, the booth caught the attention of young adults and parents. During both events different banners were visible both at the location of the café as well as at other locations.
3. In August 2015 a Fair Trade Booth was set up in a popular opinion festival in Paide – a small town in the middle of Estonia. As a festival of discussions and panels on topics relevant in the Estonian society, a Fair Trade café was an appropriate format to use. Thus, a café was set up with games to play and crosswords to solve with a chance to win a project bag or T-shirt.
Cartoons presentations
PThere have been four events promoting the Fair Trade cartoons.
The first one took place in one of the largest shopping malls in Tallinn – Rocca al Mare – on the 23rd October 2014. The cartoons were presented on a big outdoor screen throughout the day alternating with advertisements and other videos. As the screen overlooks the mall’s parking lot and is also visible from a nearby main road, the reach of the cartoons was notable. Additionally some people gathered to watch the cartoons together, try out some Fair Trade products and talk about Fair Trade, its necessity and effects, and available products in Estonia.
The second event took place in a university town of Tartu on the 31st January 2015, where young people gathered to a cafe on a cold winter night. In addition to the cartoon viewing the participants were briefed on issues with regular trade, the background of Fair Trade and of course the principles of the system. Warm Fair Trade tea and snacks were offered to keep the cold away and Fair Trade spirit high.
Third screening of the cartoons took place on the 23rd April 2015 on an event organised by the Viljandi Academy of Culture and the University of Tartu. During the first day of the conference the cartoons were playing throughout the day in the main assembly hall. The official coffee break of the event was hosted by Mondo in order to introduce the products and link the food to the cartoons and Fair Trade principles. In the evening a formal presentation was held in order to show the cartoons, explain the principles and discuss the topic of Fair Trade. In the evening most of them attended the presentation that was held in the same main assembly hall and was accompanied by dinner. This non-formal atmosphere and connection to food (dinnertime) allowed for good discussions regarding trade in general and specifically in Fair Trade.
On the 30th of May 2015 another screening was organised during a popular development cooperation and aid awareness raising event – Maailmapäev – in the centre of Tallinn. The cartoons were shown on a massive screen on stage with regular intervals. A panel was held on stage where the project coordinator participated and spoke about the cartoons and Fair Trade.
Shopping centres events
Four events were held in Estonia to introduce and promote Fair Trade products found on the local market.
First event took place at the biggest and most popular flea market in Tallinn, in Telliskivi Loomelinnak. As the regular cafe was closed that day, we had the chance to take over the space of the cafe, offer visitors hot coffee, tea and hot chocolate and have them try out different brands of chocolate, cookies, jam and marmelade and candies.
The second event saw the team head out and fight a blizzard in a ski resort right in the middle of a mountain. Offering warm drinks was again the way to attract visitors to take a break from skiing and snowboarding, enjoy some warm drinks and snacks and talk to the team about Fair Trade.
Both events proved successful in terms of the audience reached, interesting discussions held, questions answered and new ones raised. The chance to use a professional coffee machine usually seen in cafes and restaurants, added a level of quality to the event and to the drinks offered. Thus, the visitors left with “a good taste in their mouths” reminding them of Fair Trade.
A supermarket event was organised for Valentine’s Day – the 14th February 2015 in one of the main shopping centres in Tallinn. Based on the amounts of sweets and hot beverages shared, the direct reach of the event was around 250 people.
The final supermarket event took place just before Christmas at a shopping centre in the middle of town called Solaris. Thinking of Christmas presents mostly was introduced chocolate, coffee and tea products.
Gamechangers workshop
Altogether 3 workshops for 54 young people have been organised.
The first Gamechangers’ Workshop took place on 31st January 2015 with 18 participants and 5 external speakers/trainers. For attracting the planned audience of student council and youth organisation representatives, the project team cooperated with the respective umbrella organisations. Three fruitful meeting were held and call to the training sent out to the member organisations of the Estonian National Youth Council, Estonian Student Council Union and Federation of Estonian Student Unions. The speakers included:
Uku Visnapuu – a well known youth trainer in Estonia, who acted as moderator for the training, helped to prepare the timeline and structure of the training beforehand;
Aune Lillemets – an expert in responsible business (CSR) and social entrepreneurship.
Krista Allik, Kristi Hints, Liis Truubon – youth workers who are participating in a training cycle on the impact of different consumption items, trade and alternatives.
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An extended Gamechangers’ Workshop was organised in Tallinn on 27th November 2015. The workshop was extended into a seminar with open awareness event at the end of the day. This workshop/seminar was hosted in cooperation with the Finnish ethical consumerism organisation Pro Ethical Trade and also included speeches on related topics by different experts. Anna Härri and Maija Lumme from Pro Ethical Trade spoke about the development of trade related issues in Finland and globally. Margo Kurisoo from a survey company Nielsen Estonia introduced the recent consumer study and how consumers rather trust companies and prefer products with social and environmental standards. Rainer Pesti from the trash company Ragn Sells talked about circular economy and how environmental standards and ethical principles become more and more important as more and more of the Earth’s resources are depleted. The project expert Kristina Mänd spoke about the development of Fair Trade and responsible consumption related topics in Estonia. 22 youth participated in the workshop with more businesspeople and relevant people attending the extended seminar.
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The final Gamechangers’ Workshop took place in Tartu from Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th January 2016. The Workshop in Tartu was more interactive and inclusive with guest speakers from different organisations. The main focus was on the environmental aspects of international and Fair Trade. The speakers included Raul Potisepp, Project Manager at Estonian Renewable Energy Association, who spoke about the influence of climate change and other environmental aspects of trade on the developing world. Also two environmental activist Sanna Kartau and Kadri Kalle spoke about their experiences in eco activism and how to get your message across to inspire the youth to be better equipped to stand for their belief in Fair Trade. To allow for a very practical and hands-on involvement, a workshop was also hosted by a representative of Humana Estonia. During the workshop, participants upcycled worn T-shirts and bags to create new designs and carry on messages regarding trade and environment. 16 youth participated.
