Climate Action
Johnny’s Diaries from Warsaw
March 4, 2025
Johnny Dabrowski Consultant, Coordinator of Climate Education Coalition
Johnny’s Diaries from Warsaw
Monday 10th of February
DAY 1: Warsaw, Poland
WEATHER: Sunshine, really cold -3 ‘C
MOOD: Excited for Kathleen and Max from EARTHDAY.ORG to visit policymakers in my hometown
7 AM: A couple of minutes before the alarm rang, my dog Tofi – crazy Cavalier King Charles Spaniel – had done the job already and demanded we go for a walk. It was really cold, so we made a quick circle around the block, got some croissants for me and my mum and headed back home to finalize the Earth Day presentation for the meetings. It was a huge anticipation. Kathleen Rogers, President of EARTHDAY.ORG, was about to visit my hometown Warsaw for the first time, together with EDO Strategic Advisor, our Italian pal Max Falcone.
9 AM: Presentation is done and the meeting with the Vice MInister of Education of Poland just confirmed for the next day.
As I’m currently studying in Dublin, every time I come home it’s always special. This time it’s not just me coming back, it’s the EARTHDAY.ORG team coming to Warsaw to meet key policymakers in Poland. Let’s do this best we can – I said to myself while leaving for the airport to greet Max (Kathleen is coming the next morning)
11:00: Here he is! We greet each other at Warsaw Chopin Airport and quickly jump to the taxi – there is a meeting with the Polish Institute of Environmental Protection in 15 minutes! (hopefully its close form the airport)
From the left: Johnny Dabrowski Coordinator of the Climate Education Coalition EARTHDAY.ORG, Agnieszka Stangreciak Head of Communication, Ilona Jedrasiak, Deputy Director for Climate Change and International Cooperation at the Institute of Environmental Protection, Max Falcone World Bank Group and EARTHDAY.ORG Strategic Advisor
11:30
We are welcomed by Ilona Jedrasiak, Deputy Director for Climate Change and International Cooperation and Agnieszka Stangreciak Head of Communication at the Institute. We sat down in the conference room where we were joined by the Director of the Institute – Marcin Stoczkiewicz. It was enriching to learn that the government of Poland plans to publish an official strategy for Environmental Education in June 2025. It was even more exciting to learn that as EARTHDAY.ORG we can support the process with our expertise.
15:00
Together with Max we met my mom Ula at the Museum of Warsaw Uprising, which tells the history of Poland’s occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II. It was important for my family to show Max the historical context of Warsaw and the story of civil resistance, of ordinary people, against a much more powerful enemy.
19:00
We had a traditional Polish dinner in the old town. We shared our thoughts after the visit to the museum and got the message from Kathleen that she is on the runway, departing for Poland.
At the dinner venue.
DAY 2: Feb 11th
Weather: still cold, cloudy
Mood: Happy to show Kathleen around Warsaw.
9:00 Arrived at Max’s hotel, during breakfast we went through the strategy for the meetings. Kathleen will join us at 1pm for the meeting with the Vice Minister, straight for the airport. Now we were now heading to meet the Mayor’s Office.
10:30 Elevator took us to the 22nd floor, the view was incredible – the old town, Vistula river all in winter fog. We met with Deputy Director Maria Wisnicka and Inspector Anna Paszko from the city’s Sustainability Team. Warsaw is one of the leading cities for green transportation and climate education at the C40 (alliance of sustainable cities) At the meeting we agreed to work together for Earth Day 2025, follow EARTHDAY.ORG social media to see how it goes on April 22nd 😉
With Warsaw city officials.
13:00 Arrived at the Ministry of Education. Kathleen Rogers, EARTHDAY.ORG President, was waiting for us in the corridor. We surprised her! Max turned on the Mission Impossible theme from his phone and we approached her with a Tom Cruise style. Kathleen was a little shocked but happy to see us. (Not to say about the staggered security people at the Ministry.) They recovered fast, and soon we were invited to meet Joanna Mucha, Vice Minister of Education of Poland, who announced formal climate education across the curricula in the whole country the day before. We agreed to support the Minister in her goal to empower polish students with green skills and to highlight the role of the teachers in creating a climate conscious society.
From left: Max Falcone World Bank Group and EARTHDAY.ORG Strategic Advisor for Europe, Vice Minister of Education of Poland Joanna Mucha, Kathleen Rogers EARTHDAY.ORG President, Johnny Dabrowski EARTHDAY.ORG Coordinator of the Climate Education Coalition.
14:00 We went for a quick tour around the city center. It was an opportunity to discuss the next steps for how we could best support the process of greening curricula in Poland. Kathleen has been advocating for formal climate education for decades and this announcement from Minister Joanna Mucha was something really meaningful.
15:00
After arriving at the Ministry of Climate and Environment we sat down with Polish Chief Climate Negotiator Katarzyna Wrona – champion for climate education and a great friend of Earth Day. During our conversation we set out next steps for working together under the Polish Presidency of the EU to make sure all EU Member States commit to formal climate education joint NDC submission to the UNFCCC in September. After a friendly discussion about the future of climate politics, consequences of the war in the Ukraine and the role of Earth Day, we set out to our last meeting that day.
From the left Johnny Dabrowski EARTHDAY.ORG Coordinator of the Climate Education Coalition, Kathleen Rogers EARTHDAY.ORG President, Katarzyna Wrona Director of Climate Negotiations, Max Falcone World Bank and EARTHDAY.ORG Strategic Advisor for Europe
17:00
In 2022 the United Nations Global Compact Poland has established the National Roundtable for Climate Education – with representatives of all political parties and stakeholder discussing the plan for greening curricula. That happened thanks to UNGC Poland Executive Director Kamil Wyszkowski. With whom we discussed how together we could bring the climate education evolution taking place in Poland for climate education to COP30 in Belem.
18:00
We sat down with Kathleen at the hotel to summarise the meetings before dinner. At one point we all received the message that our flight to Brussels on the next day- where we planned to meet the EU Commission – had been canceled due to the national strike in Belgium. This meeting was really important, but we decided to stay one more day in Warsaw and have the Brussels meetings together, on-line.
19:00
We met my mom for dinner, it was a great evening, we all could relax and discuss some other things than climate education.
My mom Ula anticipating us in the hotel lobby and enjoying the matching fuchsia flowers.
DAY 3
Weather: Sun came back! Still cold though
Mood: What surprise will the last day bring?;)
9:00
In the morning we met with Agnieszka Gołębiewska Head of Education and Anna Lewicka Education Project Specialist at UNICEF Poland for a working breakfast.
It was great to learn about the Green Revolution festival organized by UNICEF which begins on Earth Day April 22nd in the city of Konin – once a coal mine town which is now going through a green energy transformation. Naturally we agreed to participate, as more than 1000 young people from around Europe are coming together to share experiences about climate education and effective advocacy.
11:00
Sunshined asked us to go out, so we did and explored the Old Town in Warsaw, rebuilt after WW2 to its original shape, full of beautiful churches and colorful streets. Max, a proud citizen of Rome, could barely accept the temperature conditions.
