The Unit for Education for the Environment and Sustainable Development (EESD) of the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, in collaboration with the AKTI Project and Research Center, is proud to announce the second annual “Tiganokinisi” Festival on Saturday, 18 October 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at the Environmental Information Center at Athalassa National Forest Park in Nicosia.

The Festival will honor schools and their supporters who collected the largest amounts of used cooking oil during the 2024–2025 school year.

Visitors will enjoy multiple sustainability stations featuring interactive activities for children and adults. The Tiganokinisi Caravan, the program’s mobile experimental unit and flagship, will be on site with AKTI’s research team, offering a unique opportunity to learn about energy efficiency, water management, and composting.

Additional activities include a treasure hunt in Athalassa Forest Park, a creative circular fashion workshop, games with aromatic plants, and the popular “Snake” game, which teaches participants about the water footprint of food, along with many other hands-on activities. The detailed program is available here.

Launched as a pilot in 2011 with just five schools, the Tiganokinisi program now involves over 530 schools across all educational levels and 146 supporting organizations (local authorities, NGOs, and businesses) that donate used cooking oil. Since the program began, more than 1,100 tons of used cooking oil, a toxic waste, have been collected and converted into biodiesel.

The sale of this oil has generated over €700,000, distributed proportionally to participating schools based on their collections. These funds have been invested in sustainability initiatives, leading to the creation of more than 1,100 green infrastructures and projects, gradually transforming schools into environmentally sustainable learning environments.

The program stands as an innovative model of corporate social and environmental responsibility, demonstrating effective collaboration between the public and private sectors, schools, communities, and other stakeholders. It is an exemplary approach to building networks of cooperation while promoting environmental awareness and sustainability.

For more information about the Festival and the “Tiganokinisi” program, please contact the EESD staff at 22402375 or 22402331, or the AKTI Project and Research Center at 22458485.