CONTEXT/BACKGROUNG OF THE PROJECT Our project emerged out of the need of the partners schools of educating young people in the field of renewable energy resources. The topic is an actual one as dependence on fossil fuels and diminished natural resources is one of the biggest problems the world is facing today. As school is the basis of the future society, it must bring its’ contribution to solving this major issue. Today’s students are very interested in technology but not all of them understand where the energy for their technology comes from. They don’t know the effects of producing this energy on the environment. Some of them don’t even care about this problem. Therefore, the main goal of our project is to raise awareness, to experiment and to use various renewable energy sources in schools. Our students must learn where energy comes from, the production costs, the effects the production process has on the environment and the solutions to obtain energy with a negligible impact on the environment. OBJECTIVES OF OUR PROJECT In terms of objectives, our project will be focusing on: - examining alternative energy sources according to their return time, greenhouse gas emissions and electricity generation cost indicators - examining the share of energy sources in electricity production and energy dependency for the European Union and Turkey - promoting investments in renewable energy sources to reduce this dependency - supporting and promoting the development of renewable resources - extending the knowledge and understanding of phenomena - developing the capacity to explore/investigate reality - developing analytical and problem-solving skills - raising interest in achievements and discoveries in sciences - increasing motivation for information and scientific documentation - developing care for one's own, others and environment - developing tolerance towards the opinions of others - cultivating responsiveness and flexibility for the application of knowledge in everyday life - raising awareness and involvement in issues of global interest - developing 21st century skills, such as creativity and innovation, critical thinking, communication and collaboration, flexibility and adaptability, initiative and autonomy, productivity and responsibility, leadership and responsibility - developing ICT and communication in foreign languages, social and transcultural skills NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS Our project reunites six schools from Spain (coordinator), Romania, Turkey, Greece and Italy. During our project meetings we will involve up to 30 teachers from the partner schools, especially the contact teachers and teachers of Physics, Sciences, Technologies, Languages or ITC. There will be approx. 45 students involved, aged between 10 to 16 years old, interested in the topic. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES There will be a wide range of activities, designed in such a manner that it will lead to the achievement of project objectives: - project presentations in various institutions; - creation of logo and slogan, website, eTwinning - Facebook page; - field trips; - seminars/open lessons on renewable energy with experts; - advertising campaigns; - interviews; - building a power generator on renewable energy sources; - creation of energy conservation guide, project magazine, materials, methodological resource book, etc. - assessing the success of the project, in general, and of project activities, in particular, etc. METHODOLOGY We will provide training for students in the field of renewable energy sources through project activities, using various educational methods, involving appropriate didactic resources. In the same time, we will provide training for teachers interested in the topic, enrolling in the continuous training process that focuses on teaching / learning / evaluation strategies in order to change opinions and attitudes of learners. During the project, the parents and the local community will be permanently involved in activities. RESULTS AND IMPACT In terms of results and impact, we are aiming at developing the skills and competencies of at least 30 teachers and 45 students in the field of renewable energy sources, of investigating/exploring the reality, critical thinking, problem solving; 21st century skills; ICT and communication skills; social and transcultural skills, as well as raising their interest and motivation for studying sciences and developing curiosity and respect for nature; becoming tolerant towards the opinions of others and more responsible when it comes to the application of knowledge in everyday life; becoming more involved in solving global issues. Also, the results will be measured in the number of tangible deliverables produced, such as: guides, magazines, posters, etc. POTENTIAL LONGER-TERM BENEFITS We plan to develop and implement an optional course, in order to promote and widen the knowledge of students on the topic and to lead to the use of renewable energy in everyday life.
The various planned activities related to the purpose of the project were accomplished according to the project schedule thus we reached the project’s objectives. Before carrying out project activities, we selected a project implementation team according to a selection criterion from the volunteer students and teachers. The team was combined of Math, Science, Chemistry, ICT, Literature, History, English teachers. The team members were responsible for the management of the project, activities, budget, evaluation, dissemination. They also took part in project activities and mobilities. The other school staff were engaged in organizing, applying and spreading activities, publishing news on school website and some paperwork like mobility documents and financial papers. In parallel with the project implementation team, we established a project management team, which consisted of the project coordinator, headmaster of the school, school's accountant, and the teacher of English. The members of the project team set up meetings regularly in order to supervise the work done, to analyse the progress, to make proposals for the future steps to be takes, to discuss means of evaluation, to prepare future meetings, etc. The coordinator supervised the worked done and acted as a link between the local project team and the international team for partners. Students were permanently involved in all the steps of the project, from planning the activities, to implementing and evaluating them. Also, they involved actively in the dissemination activities and carried out a campaign for promoting renewable energy resources. At the same time, we involved the parents, as well as the local community in our activities. They all answered positively to our activities, and we accomplished wonderful things together. We used the Project Management and Implementation budget to create a wide range of materials and products during the course of the project and disseminated the results effectively. We published flyers, leaflets, and posters and spread them out to local people and started an advertising campaign for promoting methods of using energy from biomass in our city. Our students highlighted the importance of using renewable energy sources and the positive impact on the environment. Also with some deliverables like flyers, posters, brochures,t-shirts, agendas, pens, pencils, bags, school newspaper, information technologies (project website, Facebook page, social network pages, and Erasmus+ Corner (which has been updated after each mobility with photos and articles), we reached more people than we intended to at the local, regional, national and international level. We disseminated our results and products to public schools, research centers, local authorities, other authorities, municipalities and universities, etc. We prepared the magazine of our project: https://www.flipsnack.com/gemosky1/green-energy-v1pfdzdqwd/full-view.html Although we didn't plan it in the application form, we used budget from Management and Implementation to organize two transnational meetings - one in December 2018, in Turkey, and the second in July 2021, in Spain. The meetings were necessary as the beginning of the project was affected by the withdrawal of a partner, and the end of the project was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, so it was necessary for partners to work together and discuss the final report. We calculated the grant according to the distance band: 0 - 1999 km - 575 euro/participant (Turkey), =<2000 km – 760 euro/participant in Spain. In each meeting there were 2 teachers from each partner school attending the meeting, specifically, the project coordinator and another member of the project team. Learning, Teaching and Training Activities grant was spent according to the planning realized in the application form. We carefully planned the LTT meetings so that we will respect the budget assigned for each meeting. Thus, we prepared the meetings in advance, took advantage of special offers, etc. The number of participants to each meeting respected the planning made at the beginning of the project, respectively 2 teachers and 3 students in each meeting. As our partner from Greece withdraw from the project, the Learning, Teaching and Training Activity that was planned to take place in Greece was held in Turkey instead, and the partners used the budget assigned for the meeting in Greece to the meeting in Turkey. There were a wide range of activities, designed in such a manner that they led to the achievement of project objectives: - Project presentations in various institutions, schools and main authorities of partners cities. - Creation of logo and slogan, website, eTwinning - Facebook page. - Initial and final survey: we did surveys in order to draw conclusions on the success of the project. - Field trips: students visited a Geothermal plant, a Hydraulic plant, a biogas plant, and an eolic park. They studied how to convert energy from the different natural resources into electricity. They did presentations about these energies and studied the renewable energy used in each country compared with the non-renewable ones. They also did a research work in this field and share the results they got with their schoolmates and partners. - Seminars/open lessons on renewable energy with experts: students learnt how to measure their carbon footprint and propose ways to reduce it. - Renewable energy exhibition in the schools partners. - Advertising campaigns: students did an advertising campaign in their cities to promote methods of using energy from biomass. They designed and spreaded leaflets and flyers. - Interviews: students made interviews to the members of the project team to get their opinion and the success of the project. - Building a power generator (becoming a scientist): students built 2 different types of aerogenerators and also a picoturbine ( all of them working with wind energy). They did a research work on how this machines work and its applications. -Building a solar car: students built a solar car in the workshop. -Study a solar panel: students studied how a solar panel works (photovoltaic panels) and made charts and tables related to the energy obtained. The photovoltaic panels were connected to the low voltage network. They also see the daily average solar radiation captured by the solar panel. -Creation an energy conservation guide: students created a guide for making an efficient use of energy and promoted an ecological behaviour between their school mates. -Creation a magazine: Students created a project magazine. This magazine had been distributed in local schools, authorities and other institutions. -Developing a Green School: students planted trees in the playground of their school and also in some other areas with other schools with some environmental organizations. -Celebrating the Erasmus Day in our schools. Our students learned more about all types of renewable energy sources, had unique opportunities to observe directly how energy is produced form renewable sources, were involved in building their own wind turbine. At the same time, they increased their interest in sciences, they learned to collaborate with their peers, and they developed essential competences. Through dissemination, we had the chance to spread word about our project in the local, regional, national, and international level and to present our project results and achievements. The main challenge of our partnership has encountered is Covid-19 pandemic. As schools were closed most of the school year, we extended the project for a year. As students were not allowed to go out, we carried out some activities virtually and some with less students. We organized virtual meetings to celebrate Erasmus+ day. We carried out Becoming a scientist activity with less students at school and all partner schools created a wind turbine.