The ALL Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership aims at deepening the knowledge on the marine environment and ecosystem, with a particular focus on the Adriatic basin, and more widely on the Mediterranean one, by studying its habitats and environmental characteristics but also the impacts and threats due to anthropic activities. Particular attention will be dedicated to the impacts related to energy production activities such as Mediterranean oil plants. The project also aims at raising awareness on the close connections linking all the ecosystem’s components and on how human activities increasingly affect marine ecosystems. The project is the extension of the previous Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership NECST (2014-2017), led by the same coordination unit (composed of FEEM, Eni and CivicaMente). As NECST, it is part of the educational activities carried out by Eni within the Eniscuola lab (www.eniscuola.net). The project involves two highly-qualified scientific partners with educational experience (Fondazione Cetacea and Blue World Institute) and four upper secondary schools from three countries representing different shores of the transnational Mediterranean basin: Gela and Ravenna (in Italy), Zagreb (in Croatia) and Limassol (in Cyprus). The project will mobilise 160 students from the four partner schools and their teachers. Students will work together divided into transnational working groups in order to maximise the impacts of cultural exchange (a key component of all Erasmus experiences). Project activities will be carried out according to the most modern and participatory ICT-educational methodologies, such as Open Mind and Citizen Science. In fact, the aim is to develop and experiment an innovative learning approach using digital technologies. A key role is played by the Project Platform: a web learning platform linked to a smartphone App. The Platform provides a virtual learning environment that stimulates visual in-depth analysis. It will host the multimedia scientific contents produced by the partners. The App is designed to link scientific information to QR-code objects that provide the basic information to be fed into the Platform (following the game approach of a treasure hunt). Both devices allow students to discover information, to elaborate on it, to interact with other participants by playing with each other, and ultimately to disseminate the outputs produced. The project foresees the production of several Intellectual Outputs, among which: 1) multimedia scientific contents and webinars on marine biodiversity according to an agreed thematic educational path; 2) the Platform and the linked smartphone App; 3) 40 thematic monographies produced by the students on a research topic assigned (Blue e-book); 4) an e-journalistic reportage on the project produced by the students (Peer News). The 4 working groups producing the best Blue e-books will take part in a one-week transnational learning, teaching, training activity hosted by the Blue World Institute in the Lošinj Dolphin Reserve. Participants will be introduced to marine biology and ecology, habitats in the sea, flora and fauna of the Mediterranean coast, threats to the marine environment and methods for its conservation. Special emphasis will be placed on practical field work. The aim of the programme is to develop a real relationship between participants and the marine environment, to create awareness of the need for its conservation, and to highlight the natural beauty and biodiversity of the Northern Adriatic. The main impact of the project consists in the application of the tested methodology in other schools at both national and European level, as well as in other scientific fields (replicability). The acknowledgement of the ALL methodology as a modern learning experience by other schools will lead to its establishment as a best practice that can integrate the traditional learning approaches. Such an ambitious impact can only be achieved with the successful implementation of a robust and effective dissemination strategy carried out at various levels and with the active involvement of all partners, including the associated partner Eni and the other organisations that have already endorsed the project (the two municipalities of Gela and Ravenna and the UNESCO - Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission). The long-term impact envisaged by the project is to foster critical awareness on the connections between human activities and environmental protection, in particular conservation of the marine environment and ecosystems.
The ALL Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership aimed at deepening the knowledge on marine environment and ecosystem, with a focus on the Adriatic basin and generally on the Mediterranean Sea, by studying its habitats and environmental characteristics, as well as the impacts and threats of anthropic activities. The project also raised participants' awareness of the tight connections linking the various ecosystem’s components and showed how human activity is increasingly affecting the marine dynamics. The project originated from the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership NECST (2014-2017), led by the same coordination unit (including FEEM, CivicaMente, and Eni as an associated partner). In addition to the partners involved in the coordination unit, the project involved two highly-qualified scientific partners with educational experience (Fondazione Cetacea and Blue World Institute) and four upper secondary schools from three countries representing different shores of the Mediterranean basin: Gela and Ravenna (Italy), Zagreb (Croatia), and Limassol (Cyprus). In particular, the project involved 190 students from the four partner schools and their teachers (14 in total), who worked together in national and transnational groups to maximize the impacts of the cultural exchange envisaged by the project. Project activities have been carried out according to the most modern and participatory ICT-educational methodologies, such as Open Mind and Citizen Science. In fact, the aim has been to develop and experiment with an innovative learning approach using digital technologies. In fact, the project created an effective immersive learning environment, facilitated classroom discussion, stimulated shared reflection, and promoted the acquisition of new skills through activities mediated by digital technology. Also, Citizen Science approach was used to conduct dynamic field research with digital tools connected through the Platform and the smartphone App; it allowed schools to be actively involved in the project. Finally, the multimedia Platform created a learning environment where participants progressively discovered the project digital contents with the support of virtual areas to which students directly contributed to their work. The project produced several Intellectual Outputs, including 1) multimedia scientific contents and webinars on marine biodiversity; 2) the Platform and the smartphone App, connected through QR codes during a treasure hunt in the cities where the schools are located (Blue Hunt); 3) 40 e-books made by students, divided into transnational groups, on assigned research topics; 4) a digital journalism newsletter on the project activities. The main impact of the ALL project consists in the replicability of its methodology in other schools at the national and European level, as well as in other scientific fields. This entails that the ALL methodology is an effective modern learning experience and a "best practice" that may be complementary to traditional learning approaches. In the long term, this impact will result in a greater awareness of all direct and indirect participants, as well as in a widespread awareness of environmental issues concerning the marine ecosystem, its environmental peculiarities, and changes caused by anthropic activities.