The ability of the European Union (EU) to successfully face the challenges of competitiveness and growth depends largely on the dynamism of the entrepreneurial spirit. Practised in the school environment, entrepreneurship arouses the desire to learn in the young, increases their motivation and encourages academic perseverance in them. Alongside this, environmental education for sustainable development should be an important part of children's basic learning programme, from an early age right up to the end of their schooling, to equip them with the necessary knowledge and methods to situate themselves within their environment, and to act in a responsible way. Faced with these pedagogic and educational challenges, schools from 6 European towns (including 2 twinned) have decided to come together under an ERASMUS+ partnership. They want to work together on the theme of protecting the environment by proposing an innovative project which calls for entrepreneurship, and thus contributes to the EUROPE 2020 initiative. The diversity of our regions allows our pupils and their families to open their eyes to the beauty and assets of European landscapes, and the accompanying environmental, economic and socio-cultural problems. The pupils will firstly be led towards a global overview, then called on to act at a local level by setting up entrepreneurial projects. They must suggest products, services or events for their local community and the other partner schools which will contribute to the protection and safeguarding of our planet. Our schools are signed up for the international programme for Education in Sustainable Development for Eco-Schools. They will work successively on six main themes: food, biodiversity, waste, water, energy and solidarity. For each activity, the pupils will develop different values and entrepreneurial qualities such as self-confidence, perseverance, initiative, creativity, a sense of responsibility, autonomy and a team spirit. Research for each of these themes will be a source of apprenticeship and will enable the pupils to acquire knowledge, capacities and attitudes which can be applied across all academic subjects. Reading and writing, well as the basic skills in maths and science will be at the root of each learning experience, and will feed into the project. Other key skills (defined by Parliament or the European Council), such as communication in foreign languages and digital competences will be developed and evaluated by certification during the running of the project. The pupils themselves will be the major actors in this project, and they will develop new skills, will be more fulfilled and better armed for success. The professional profile of the teachers and assistant staff at the schools will also be reinforced. They will set new methods in place and will get to use new tools, which is in keeping with the transition called for by the 'Rethinking education' initiative. The educational teams hope to share their good practices: all the products and educative resources will be made freely available on a platform dedicated to the project, and easily available from the respective schools' and city councils' internet sites, eTwinning plateform and TES The Entrepreunarial school website. By adopting new eco-citizen habits and new attitudes, our schools hope to reduce their impact on the environment and make financial savings. This project should allow new bonds to be created and better cooperation in schools and with local partners. Bridging the gap between two worlds – that of schools and that of business - with apparently very different objectives should bring benefits to both sides. Each partner school will see an increase in their international openness and a development of their European identity; their image will undergo a positive evolution. The twinning between the towns will be revitalised and could be extended. In conclusion, the project will be the first, but certainly not the last, step in a partnership which is intended to be long-lasting. It will be the start of a long adventure
The ability of the European Union (EU) to successfully face the challenges of competitiveness and growth depends largely on the dynamism of the entrepreneurial spirit. Practised in the school environment, entrepreneurship arouses the desire to learn in the young, increases their motivation and encourages academic perseverance in them. Alongside this, environmental education for sustainable development must be an important part of children's basic learning programme, from an early age right up to the end of their schooling, to give them the necessary knowledge and methods for them to relate to their environment, and to behave in a responsible way. Faced with these pedagogic and educational challenges, schools from 6 European towns (including 2 twinned) have decided to come together through an ERASMUS+ partnership. They have worked together on the environment protection topic by proposing an innovative project which have called for entrepreneurship, and thus contributes to the EUROPE 2020 initiative. Our area's diversity has allowed our pupils and their families to open their eyes to the beauty and assets of European landscapes, and the environmental, economic and socio-cultural problems that go with it. The pupils were first led towards a global overview, then called on to act at a local level by setting up entrepreneurial projects. They suggested products, services or events for their local community and the other partner schools, and contributed to the protection and safeguarding of our planet. Our schools are signed up for the international programme for Education in Sustainable Development for Eco-Schools. They have worked successively on six main themes: food, biodiversity, waste, water, energy and solidarity. For each activity, the pupils have developped different values and entrepreneurial qualities such as self-confidence, perseverance, initiative, creativity, a sense of responsibility, autonomy and a team spirit. Research for each of these themes were a source of apprenticeship and enable dthe pupils to acquire knowledge, skills and behavious that can be applied across all academic subjects. Reading and writing, as well as the basic skills in maths and science were the root of each learning experience, and have served the project. Other key skills (defined by Parliament or the European Council), such as communication in foreign languages and digital competences have been developped and evaluated by certification during the running of the project. The pupils themselves have been the main actors in this project, and have developped new skills and are more fulfilled and better armed for success. The teachers and assistant staff professional profile at the schools also was reinforced. They have set new methods in place and have gotten used new tools, which is in keeping with the transition called for by the 'Rethinking education' initiative. The educational teams hope to share their good practices: all the products and educative resources were made freely available on a platform dedicated to the project, and easily available from the respective schools' internet sites. https://www.greenerworldchildrenact.com By adopting new eco-citizen habits and new attitudes, our schools have reduced their impact on the environment and made financial savings. This project has allowed new bonds to be created and a better cooperation in schools as well as with local partners. Bridging the gap between two worlds – that of schools and that of business - with apparently very different objectives has brought benefits to both sides. Each partner school has seen an increase in their international openness and a development of their European identity; their image will undergo a positive evolution. The twinning between towns has been revitalised . To conclude, the project was the first, but certainly not the last. It has been an essential step in a partnership which is intended to be long-lasting. A second partnership on the topic of sports will be submitted for 2018/2020 as the Olympics and the EU values are very close.