Environment and its problems has been a largely discussed topic in the last decades and, as a consequence, the education to environmental preservation. Our school, which intends to become the promoter of this project, has dedicated a great deal of resources to such a matter, being our students majors in chemistry, biology and environmental biotechnology. As a technical school, we have already carried out a few practical activities concerning wastes recycling, water and air analysis and so on, cooperating with local associations and nearby Universities. All this showed how important active learning is in the actual development of competences and skills.Forming “aware world citizens” is the main purpose we mean to achieve. Anyone involved in education claims that this can be done only through an actual development of students’ competences and skills. This project, mainly based on practical activities, is aimed at developing studying skills through the collection, sharing and comparison of data concerning contemporary matters. Naturally, a deeper knowledge of the environment they live in and its problems – undoubtedly affected by the actions of each one of us – will not be given minor importance. Being the project arranged on a large European scale, will sure help to overcome the “ethnocentric” feeling which lately seems to grow stronger and stronger. Moreover, all the tools (including ICT and foreign languages) necessary for the project to be carried out, will be reinforced.Students have changed, that is a fact, and changing the teaching approach accordingly seems to have become an absolute priority. Yet, very little has been done, up to now, in terms of new school curricula, teaching organizations and teachers in-service training. Theory, transmitted through traditional frontal lessons, revealed to be pretty useless, whereas active practice-based activities definitely turned out to be much more effective. We expect that students will acquire skills and competences, both specific – concerning the topic they will be working on – and those related to the development of an autonomous personality.Particularly meaningful will be the involvement of families and institutions to build up a new approach towards environmental emergency. Our school will promote the establishment of a permanent monitoring and operational unit in our territory to promote effective prevention and limit critical situation. Number and profile of participantsThere will be six schools involved in the project: I.O. “Leonardo da Vinci”, Acquapendente (VT) – Italy – with 250 students (out of 450) and 15 teachers (out of 60); “Solski Center”, Slovenj Grade – Slovenia with 100 students (out of 600) and 8 teachers (out of 80); “C.E.O. Rey Juan Carlos I”, Valleseco – Gran Canaria, with 119 students (out of 270) and 9 teachers (out of 32); “Liceul Tehnologic Nicolae Balcescu”, Alexandria – Romania, with 300 students (out of 873) and 15 teachers (out of 57);General Secondary School "Nikolay Katranov" Svishtov, Bulgaria with 400 students (out of 790) and 19 teachers (out of 70) ; Zespol Szkol w Karczmiskach, Karczmiska Poland with 200 students (out of 800) and 22 teachers (out of 60); Lansirannikon Koulutus Oy, Rauma, Finland, with 420 students (out of 6000) and 34 teachers (out of 550).
In our School, we have three different branches. Some of our students are major in Chemistry, Biology and Environmental Biotechnology, so we had already given a great importance to matters such as waste recycling, air and water analysis. The main objective of the project has been “forming aware world citizens”, developing a growing sensibility towards environmental issues aimed at changing people’s behaviours. Starting from the analysis of the risk factors in our area and the idea of re-discovering and defending local and national territories, we promoted a culture of eco-sustainable use of the resources. The recent flow of immigrants in our school made us aware about the importance of overcoming a growing ethnocentric feeling. As a technical school, we have always been working with students with special needs, dyslexia and BES. Giving a special value to what they could do, mostly through lab activities, we encouraged a development of their self-confidence. Of course the crosscurriculum competences and skills were not given minor importance: modern technologies (ICT) and foreign language (English) have always been considered a central issue of this project. Seven schools were involved in the project: I.O. “L. da Vinci”, Acquapendente–Italy–with 250 students (out of 450) and 15 teachers (out of 60); “Solski Center”, Slovenj Grade–Slovenia 100 students (out of 600) and 8 teachers (out of 80); “C.E.O. Rey Juan Carlos I”, Valleseco–Gran Canaria, 119 students (out of 270) and 9 teachers (out of 32); “Liceul Tehnologic N.Balcescu”, Alexandria–Romania, 300 students (out of 873) and teachers (out of 57), General Secondary School “N.Katranov” Svishtov, Bulgaria 400 students (out of 790) and 19 teachers (out of 70); Zespol Szkol w Karczmiskach, Karczmiska Poland 200 students (out of 800) and 22 teachers (out of 60); Winnova Rauma, Finland, 420 students (out of 6000) and 34 teachers (out of 550). The main activities of the project concerned environmental education issues, so we focussed on topics connected with pollution (waste sorting out and recycling, water and air pollution and alternative sources of energy). As regards waste handling, the first step was classifying different types of waste, studying the different times of decomposition and the ways of reuse and recycling. Several techniques have been observed and data collected to be compared with those of the partner Countries. About water issues, we started with a guided active research aimed at classifying different types of water. Samples have been collected in our area to be eventually analysed in laboratory. The collected data were compared with those of the partner countries. Then different techniques of water purification have been studied. The same activities were undertaken to deal with air issues: classifying, sampling and analysing. The obtained data, collected and compared, were used for a further research on the relationship between the air quality and health. Regarding renewable energy sources, different types have been observed and classified; 3 field trips wereorganized. About cross-curricular activities we focussed on increasing students competences in ICT and English: materials in English was created using e-tools. A good deal of material was produced: A logo, to distinguish our project, eventually used on every gadget; Video clips presenting the schools; Multimedia presentations for all the environmental aspects we dealt with; An informative leaflet about waste sorting out and recycling; QR codes scanning for the garbage bins; Several photo books illustrating the different activities carried out; Posters for the celebrating events; Workbooks reporting and summarizing the activities; On-line resources for dissemination; Survey and evaluation sheets; Gadgets. The impact on all the participants was really great: both teachers and students developed a deeper ecological awareness, increasing their knowledge about environment at an international level, getting closer to such issues and to the the European policies regulating them. Teachers benefited very much from the comparison of different teaching methods and the European policies regulating them. Teachers benefited very much from the comparison of different teaching methods and approaches, especially in laboratories activities and for students with special needs. Understanding the importance of foreign languages to communicate with peers represented both for students and teachers a strong incentive, resulting in an increased competence in English. Moreover, everyone learned how fruitful real cooperation is to obtain important results. During the summer holidays, students kept in touch with their European peers exchanging e-mails.