„Back to Nature“ is a versatile and wide ranging Erasmus+ Project which will provide school students and teachers with a feel and appreciation for the natural environment, for the finite resources of nature and the significance of technology.This leads to a consideration of the process of sustainability, creativity in the area of STEM activities and internationally linked ideas. Five schools from Malaga, Barcelona, Dronfield, Kourou and Sindelfingen will take part in the project and each school will contribute a specific aspect of the project.The project as a whole addresses these interconnected subjects (Art, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Technology, Geography, History and Languages) and includes the involvement of experts in these fields, museum visits and research and development institutions. Participation in this project will promote motivation and gives the students the opportunity to apply their own knowledge and to link this knowledge with new experiences. In this way both students and teachers can reach higher levels of the development of their knowledge.Various goals will be achieved through this project: increased awareness of the themes of the project; improvements in competencies in content and methods of working; promotion of social and language abilities; increased proficiency in participants’ abilities to manipulate media; insights into various professional and career options; direct experience of European thought processes.These goals will be achieved through two pathways. On the one hand, some themes will be addressed in the respective schools through normal regular classroom teaching. Among these activities will be the construction of insect hotels and the preparation of a butterfly zone in the school grounds of each of the participating schools.Through subsequent observations and evaluations we shall record our findings, and these findings will constitute one of the project outcomes that we shall report on. The students will learn about these techniques in lessons and by expert guidance.In addition to these activities, there will be 4 project meetings involving students and teachers and 2 planning meetings.The planning meetings for teachers will provide enhancement of the teachers’ knowledge through excursions related to the project themes, cooperative activities linked to the planning of the project and meetings that will promote the development of international organisation teams. For the student meetings we shall invite students (age 15-19) accompanied by teachers from the respective partner schools. Accommodation for the students will be with host families which will further enhance the cultural and linguistic opportunities of the project experiences. Each partner school will be responsible for the planning and organisation of its hosting event, and the individual schools will thereby be able to offer a variety of experiences.The other partner schools will prepare in advance the presentations and workshops that they will offer during these project visits. The specialisms of the individual participating schools are: Barcelona (Art, Biology, recycling,restoration to nature in large cities), Dronfield (Physics, biodiversity on the school site), Kourou (Biology, Geography, History of the sociocultural development, visiting space centre and the rain forests), Sindelfingen (Art, Chemistry, nature and technology, renewable energies, sustainability) und Malaga (Biology, food). At each project meeting we shall plant a tree on the school site of the hosting school, as a symbol of the collaborative links between the partner schools.These trees will also be an indication of our commitment to the protection of the environment. Furthermore the project outcomes include the promotion of the principles for a way of life that includes sustainability, strategies for an increase in the biodiversity in each school site, construction of insect hotels), scientific investigations of the origins of heritage sites of the various countries (original inhabitants of French Guiana), manufacturing of products developed through a combination of nature and technology as well as displays of art objects (upcycling).Additionally an internet based homepage for the project will be established as one of the outcomes of this project. On this homepage all the meetings will be documented with reports, pictures and videos and additional ideas for their implementation in teaching (project days, workshops) will be uploaded also.It is important for us that we offer these experiences to as many students as possible via international exchanges and collaborative working. It is important for us that these opportunities for intercultural and linguistic development should enhance the regular learning of the students, all of whom come from a variety of cultural backgrounds. In this way we strengthen the awareness of our project theme and offer all participants the possibility to experience collectively a truly European way of thinking.
„Back to Nature“ is a versatile and wide ranging Erasmus+ Project which provides school students and teachers with a feel and appreciation for the natural environment, for the finite resources of nature and the significance of technology. This leads to an awareness of the process of sustainability, creativity in the area of STEM activities and internationally linked ideas. Five schools from Malaga, Barcelona, Dronfield, Kourou and Sindelfingen took part in the project and each school contributed a specific aspect of the project. The project as a whole was very motivating and addressed these interconnected subjects (Art, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Technology, Geography, History and Languages) and included the involvement of experts in these fields, museum visits and research and development institutions. Participation in this project promoted motivation and gave the students the opportunity to apply their own knowledge and to link this knowledge with new experiences. In this way both students and teachers were able to reach higher levels of the development of their knowledge. Various goals were be achieved through this project: increased awareness of the themes of the project; improvements in competencies in content and methods of working; promotion of social and language abilities; increased proficiency in participants’ abilities to manipulate media; insights into various professional and career options; direct experience of European thought processes. On the one hand, some themes were addressed in the respective schools through normal regular classroom teaching (e.g. the butterfly zone and insect hotels). Through subsequent observations and evaluations we recorded our findings, and these findings constituted one of the project outcomes on which we reported. The students learned about these techniques in lessons and by expert guidance. In addition to these activities there were three project meetings involving students and teachers and the initial organising meeting for teachers in Sindelfingen. Unfortunately, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic the last teachers meeting was cancelled and took place as online meetings. The first planning meeting for teachers provided enhancement of the teachers’ knowledge through excursions related to the project themes, cooperative activities linked to the planning of the project and meetings that promoted the development of international organisation teams. For the student meetings students (aged 15-19) travelled to the partner schools accompanied by teachers from the respective partner schools. Accommodation for the students was with host families which further enhanced the cultural and linguistic opportunities of the project experiences. This also gave the participating students an insight into various family situations. Each partner school was responsible for the planning and organisation of its hosting event, and the individual schools were able thereby to offer a variety of experiences. The other partner schools prepared in advance the presentations and workshops that they offered during these project visits. The project outcomes were developed in the course of the two year project: the production of a reference work for butterflies in French Guiana, strategies for improving the degree of biodiversity on the school grounds (e.g. the butterfly zone and insect hotels); the surrounding area of the school, developing awareness and insights into the original populations of French Guiana; creation of objets d’art (eg dyeing using natural materials). As a final activity for the participating students there was an online game-playing activity that the school in Dronfield created and organised on the theme of ecology in woodlands; this activity served as a compensatory activity that replaced the cancelled student mobility activity in Germany. Additionally an internet based homepage for the project was established as one of the outcomes of this project. Details of all the meetings including reports, pictures and videos were uploaded onto this homepage along with ideas for using these materials for teaching purposes. It was important for us that we offer these experiences to as many students as possible via international exchanges and collaborative working. It is important for us that these opportunities for intercultural and linguistic development should enhance the regular learning of the students, all of whom come from a variety of cultural backgrounds. The results and outcomes from the project were shared and developed still further. Through this project, groups and school clubs for students were introduced exploring issues of environmental protection and work in school gardens. Working groups for teachers were also developed as a result of this project. The improved awareness among the teaching groups and the student groups, as well as among the parent groups, in all participating schools has been significantly in evidence since the end of this project.