The project is a partnership activity based on employing cross-curricular content and working with it in English and Spanish language. The main topic of the project is investigating various strategies of dealing with different environmental issues, namely air pollution, use of water sources, nature protection and noise pollution. The participating students and teachers will go through a series of interactive and practical workshops to investigate the topics in detail. The teachers will also create a set of CLIL handouts for later use. The project seeks to use a wide range of ICT tools, and it also has a European citizenship dimension. The methods used at different stages of the project include mainly peer teaching, research and presentation, field trips supported by CLIL-style handouts, videoconferences and blog/website creation. The project also includes an evaluative part which teaches students how to critically assess their work and their progress. The partners of the project are 4 secondary schools from different European countries (Czech Republic – coordinating partner, Spain, Sweden and Norway). The project partners have got to know each other through a two-week Comenius course for teachers held in Valencia in 2011. Since then the partner institutions have been in regular contact through communication media. All partners are dealing with specific environmental problems – Czech partner needs to reduce air pollution, Spanish partner struggles with rising noise levels, Swedish partner seeks to support outdoor activities as an alternative to sedentary lifestyle of young people and Norwegian partner is highly interested in maintaining clean waters inland and at sea. The objective of the project is to deal with these environmental challenges. The main task is to expand those ideas/activities/skills that can be implemented in all partner countries.The project’s key activity is a set of international meetings (each partner organises one) spread over 25 months. 6 students and 2 teachers take part in each mobility. In between the mobilities the project progresses due to a range of activities which are often conducted simultaneously and which bring common achievements, thus promoting the team spirit of project partners. The activities are always focused on environmental topics, but they further promote language and presentation skills, communicativeness, creativity and independent critical thinking.As for results, we mean to achieve a change in thinking and lifestyle of whole communities. The partner schools will become centres of the change, educating not only their students but reaching to the general public and getting also regional authorities to support the effort. The main result is therefore a set of teaching/learning materials that will be used for informing and challenging the communities to take a step back and see the future as the one of sustainable growth. Secondary result of the project will be the development of a wide range of skills – language skills will be strengthened by their use in internationally mixed groups, ICT skills will be developed thanks to the inclusion of ICT tools at all stages of the project. Our proposed activities will also have a positive impact on personality skills, such as self-presentation, responsibility, tolerance, accepting and giving realistic feedback and creative thinking. For teachers, the project brings the chance of professional growth and of completely new approach to educating.The impact of the project is the generally enlarged capacity of all involved students in terms of actual knowledge, as well as different skills. We presuppose the impact on their families as well. The impact on schools will be considerable as they will acquire a new status within the community, their interior will include the outcomes of the project and they will become more deeply involved in the regional environmental activities. The impact on all teachers of partner schools will lie in the accessibility of ready-made teaching materials as well as new methods which the project will bring within their reach. The new impulses achieved through the project will energise their personal potential and prevent teaching stereotypes and burn-out syndrome. On completion of the project the outcomes will be integrated into the school curriculums, their inclusion will be guaranteed by school managements. Opening of eTwinning activities will follow the conclusion of the project. All materials produced in connection with the project will be available for free use and accessible through the schools’ websites for a wide community of teachers. The co-operations started in the project are supposed to continue even after its actual end.
The project partners met in 2011 in Valencia at a networking workshop organised by Comenius. Since then, they have worked together. Their cooperation culminated in successful project application in 2016 with the Czech partner as the main coordinator and guaranteeing subject. The main topic of the project underwent slight changes, but finally it settled on environmental problems of different European regions. There are 4 partner institutions. All of them are secondary schools educating students of 14-18 years of age. Each partner institutions selected a relevant theme and designed a mobility around this theme. The Czech partner (Slezské gymnázium, Opava) has a long-term experience in conducting an activity based on monitoring emissions produced by households and educating the public in the area of correct heating and burning different types of fuels. That is why they selected the air contamination and introduced some ways of fighting it. Spanish partner (IES Campanar, Valencia) dealt with noise contamination and impact of noise on human health. Their mobility took advantage of Valencian festival las fallas as well as partnership with the town hall and its laboratory for monitoring noise levels in the city. Norwegian partner (Polarsirkelen videregående skole, Mo i Rana) took advantage of its location in the fjord coast and near the Polar Circle glaciers; thus they choose the problem of water pollution accompanied with the glacier expedition organised by local students as a part of their curriculum. Swedish partner (Gymnasium Västerhöjd, Skövde) facused on plant and animal protection as their town is situated on the border of a nature reserve and also because of the long-lasting tradition of rights of public access to natural heritage typical of this country. The basic rationale of the project was to develop environmental consciousness in the students of all partner schools and in communities. Thus, objectives of the project were varied and multiple. Firstly, the project educated a range of participants in a number of scientific issues ranging from chemistry and biology to history and languages. Secondly, there were some practical skills to acquire, such as survival techniques connected with glacier tracking skills, orienteering, plant identification, tree pruning and planting, conducting lab experiments, etc.Thirdly there was a cross-cultural objective based on sharing a multinational experience during group work and host family scheme at mobilities. Further, some of the objectives touched emotional scope and led students to produce creative and artistic output. The linguistic impact is not to be forgotten-students were encouraged to work in both project languages (English and Spanish) in equal measure. Besides mobilities summarised above, there were almost forty additional activities carried out over the two years of the project. These activities were often bound to mobilities and their topics, but some of them broadened the scope of the project. All of them contributed to the copletion of the project objectives. There were project days on sorting out waste, reusing materials, promotion of clean transport, spreading the knowledge of eco-labels and signs, warning about palm oil dangers, etc. There were international language competitions in translation and creative writing. Additionally, there were events interconnecting students of different age groups, producing useful output such as desktop photos etc. The results are considered satisfactory and complement the objectives stated above. The language results are visible mainly in the self-confidence that the students display after the completion of the project, they are now able to participate in multinational groups and produce high-quality written materials. The intellectual results are based on new sets of knowledge and skills that all participants gained especially during mobilities. Community and cultural results were reached, because students experienced different living standards and background, became more tolerant and less passive in terms of their individual efforts to change things. There are undisputed personal development results as all participants had to act as responsible adults in order to win a place at mobilities and participate fully in activities. Teachers developed professionally and got a lot of inspiration from foreign colleagues. The status of Spanish as a foreign language was strengthened, participating schools got noticed in their regions and became more attrative for prospective students because of the project. generally, greater European consciousness was forged in all participants, as they learnt that European countries face similar problems regardless of their location or historical links. In the long run, they view themselves as European citizens and recognise the importance of learning foreign languages as well as being open to national differences. In June 2018 the project was awarded European Language Award Label 2018.