5 schools from the Baltic region gather around the ecological situation of the Baltic Sea to raise their students' awareness of its pollution and possible solutions that could be taken to protect our sea from dying out. By carrying out this project, other target aims will be intended to be achieved as well, such as: developing language skills outside the curriculum, creating an interest towards new didactics and languague teaching methods, developing intercultural competence, overcoming social inclusion in relation to refugees and finally activating a positive view of the European Union. Concerning a foreign languages, this gives the learners the ability to speak their minds about the target subject which is the Blatic Sea and its protection. This will lead to the ability to cooperate, negotiate and compromise in the target issue. Intercultural understanding begins with individuals who have language abilities and who can thereby provide one’s own nation or community with an insider’s view into foreign cultures. As for the refugees or inmigrants, integration will only succeed if we welcome the refugees arriving in Europe by offering them a great range of education and training programmes which meet their educational needs. That is why one of our aims is to give them the chance to participate in this project to help them accomplish their goals in their new home countries. This fact emphasizes one of the main purposes of the European Union which is to offer equal opportunities among their citizens and thus, to promote greater social hormony. Regarding the benefits for the teaching staff, exchanging good practices and successes will allow the teachers to address their professional needs, re-evaluate and refresh their work methods. International partnership will enrich the inner character of our institutions and give their profiles an European dimension. It will provide everybody involved with an opportunity to examine their belief system and learn from the cultural wisdom of the other nation. Planned activities are of 3 types: - inside the schools - between the schools - in local communities During the project we will work with students by investigating the core role that environmental protection has in creation of the EUROPEAN CONCEPT of life. Working in the priority of MULTILINGUISM, the main objectives of the action are: - creating a long-term awareness of the contamination of the Baltic Sea - cooperation on ecological issue - improving the English language competence - bridging the gap between cultures by using English as a means of communication - enabling refugees to integrate more rapidly into our society Concrete information referring to the project: 45 active participants are going to take part in it, including teachers and students, 20 of them have a different social background. The exchanges will stretch during a period of 30 months.The communication will be via digital media which will enable to form international teams so as to perform the following activities: surveys, hospitations, taking part in workshops and lectures, cleaning the beaches, examining the water quality and presenting the results, learning the different cultures and creating fotoroman.
Five schools from the Baltic Sea region (Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Denmark and Estonia) came together to make their students aware of the ecological situation of the Baltic Sea, its pollution and its consequences as well as possible solutions. In addition to the aspects of environmental protection as well as the linguistic promotion of the foreign language English, the intercultural competence promotion of the pupils was also in the foreground: through stays in host families, visits to political institutions and discussions with politicians (e.g. Mayor of Klaipeda or a Danish MP) Political efforts to protect the climate also highlight the importance of the European Union and constructive cooperation between partner countries to solve global problems. Through classroom observations and discussions with the teachers, an exchange of the didactic-methodical repertoire of the teachers took place as well as an exchange of how the schools address the big issue of "environmental protection and climate change" in their everyday school life. However, also other everyday difficulties that teachers encounter in everyday life were discussed and different approaches of the schools were discussed (e.g. room hygiene or dealing with student delays). The goals and results of the project included: - a photo novel with fictional and real people - Raising awareness among schoolchildren about climate protection and the protection of the Baltic Sea - Development of measures that students and schools can implement to support climate protection - a beach cleaning in Klaipeda - Creation of different project results on the topic (e.g. project logo, water painting, quiz, message in a bottle, theater performance, mathematical models, water studies, assessment of water quality ...) - Visit to museums, scientific institutions and sewage treatment plants, which among other things deal with the consequences of climate change Around 80 students and 20 teachers took part in the project. The students were aged 14-16 and had different profiles. The majority of the students had at least average knowledge of English, showed willingness to accept guest students at home and expressed interest in the project topic. Some project participants had weaknesses with their spelling and reading skills, had no financial means to travel abroad or had never participated in a student exchange before. The teachers came from almost all departments of the schools. There was a mix of teachers who had many years of experience with EU projects and some for whom it was the first time. The school management also took part in the project and the project activities. The effects achieved: Surveys and discussions with students have shown that they have a very positive attitude towards the project, friendships have developed from different countries that still exist and that they have reduced prejudices about individual countries. Many of the project participants are still committed to climate protection (Fridays For Future) and strive at school to live more environmentally friendly. Some students have passed their final exams based on the context of this project (MSA). The schools have discovered cooperation partners with whom they want to work in the future or who want to use them for individual projects. With three partner schools from this project, a new Erasmus + project is planned in which the aim is to draw up a school-specific climate protection plan.