BITE sheds light on Nutrition as a determinant of functional autonomy and quality of life. This project aims at supplying students with the appropriate tools to become active agents and critical consumers, able to identify healthy practices related to nutrition: the way that food choices and eating habits are viewed can shape their perspective of health and wellness for the rest of their lives. Considering and recognizing that the food system intersects with aspects of public health, equity and environment, students will become not only informed consumers, but also food citizens who can engage in many facets of the food system, from growing their own food to advocating for policies. It is prominent to undertake different approaches to diet and dietary principles to develop the "gut feeling", to bring intuition and awareness and guide the most profound principles of instinctive eating and health. All the school partners have already participated in Erasmus+ projects, hence they can strongly contribute to this proposal with their expertise. In addition, they are Mediterranean countries which will allow them to unify criteria and establish comparisons as regards the dietary culture. Likewise, the associated partners’s heterogeneity widens the project scope and becomes the perfect opportunity to enrich both, the activity contents and each student’s individual experience, above all the ones involved in the mobilities that are challenged with economical obstacles or learning difficulties. The target of this project is to empower our students to effectively engage with food system issues through active problem solving, developing questions and investigating to find solutions, not only as a local problem but as a global European necessity. Food habits, health and wellbeing, water and food sustainability, food security and social equality are the topics involved in the project in order to comply with Horizon 2020 challenges. It is intended to develop STEM subjects’ furtherly integrating them in active European citizenship, health, demographic change and wellbeing. Beyond the scientific approach, Literature and Arts will be conductors of detailed diachronic analysis of food patterns in diverse cultural backgrounds. Other goals of BITE are the acquisition of key competences, the promotion of innovation and creativity and training through transversal skills, such as critical thinking, creativity, initiative and problem solving. The relevant horizontal primary concern is social and educational value of European cultural heritage, and there are two additional priorities which are open education and innovative practices in a digital era and skill and competence acquisition. Consequently, all the activities have been designed for this purpose and will be distributed and shared on the Etwinning platform. Key contents are integrated within the current curriculum using alternate methodological procedures, such as cooperative learning, learning by doing, individual assignments and the development of cross-curricular activities. Tools are tailored to the activities and the objectives, offering space to student initiatives, implementing educational practices that purposefully stimulate structural meaningful cross-group interaction. Students are challenged by the life skills that are indispensable to become responsible and committed European citizens.They will acquire an innovative outlook towards learning and motivation thanks to European relationships. They will acquire scientific literacy and key STEM skills focusing on the connection between the food system, health, society and the environment. Furthermore, the English language competence and the use of ICT tools will be improved. They will increase their own cultural awareness and expand their horizons by mobilities and experience. As regards the impact on teachers, it will implement new creative teaching methods and international European links will be established. For the whole educational community the project can help promoting wellness, a healthy lifestyle and above all entrepreneurship under a sustainable perspective and it can be a stimulus for a more active and European teaching. We will disseminate project results to the local communities, students' families, local authorities, bodies of professionals, Ministries of Education, City Councils, NPO's, university representatives and the wider public at a national level. Moreover, collaboration of the five partner schools will maximize exposure of the project's activities and results internationally. The sustainability of the project will be guaranteed by means of the professional-social bonds created through BITE. Also it will continue through communication and further cooperation on Etwinning, the blogs and other exchanges of ideas affecting correlating issues such as protection of the environment and prevention of cruelty to animals, including it all in a more general health education.
BITE aimed to exchange good practices regarding nutrition, health and wellbeing, water and food sustainability and security, and to supply students with the appropriate tools to become active agents and critical consumers. The five school partners already participated in Erasmus + projects and come from the Meditarranen area (Italy, Cyprus, France, Portugal and Spain), this enabled them to unify criteria and to establish comparisons regarding dietary and nutrition culture. The main project’s objectives were the following: • effective students’ engagement with local and European food system issues through active problem solving, developing questions and investigating solutions; • improvement of students’ awareness of healthy practices related to nutrition and environment; • development of transversal skills, critical thinking and creativity by approaching the project’s tocip not only through STEM subjects but also through Literature and Arts; • improvement of STEM skills, foreign language and ICT competences; • promotion of European citizenship. During the transnational meetings in Spain, France and Portugal students participated to the following activities using different methodological procedures such as cooperative learning, learning by doing, debate in groups and individual assignments: • presentation of each partner school through video; • presentation and selection of the project’s logo during the first meeting in Spain; • oral presentation of the results of questionnaires about healthy food habits, food waste and water usage; • analysis and discussion of data applying mathematical and ICT knowledge (creation of statistics, charts, videos) • chemical and scientific experiments (analysis of energetic properties of food, of properties of industrial and homemade honey) • laboratory and learning-by-doing activities (healthy cooking workshops, creation of an “European Vegetables Garden” with seed coming from each partner country and of a compost using waste food and gardening,water footprint game) • meetings with local authorities and with experts (nutritionists and an Olympic sportsman in Barcelona, biological farmers in France and experts of sustainables diet and environment in Portugal) • visit to significant places (Sabadell Central Market, the biggest market in Caen, the natural park “Quinta do Pisão) • design of dissemination campaigns about the results of each meeting Students have raised their awareness of the connection between the food system, health and environment. They have improved their English language and ICT competence, such as their STEM skills. Cooperation in international teams and the establishment of European relationships helped to increase their social skills and to expand their horizons. As regards the impact on teachers, this project allowed the exchange of different teaching methods and practices and the awareness of the necessity of enhancing students’ key transversal skills. The successful European links established in this project will be continued through communication and further cooperation in video conferences, mails and blogs and Etwinning. Covid pandemia permitting partner schools are going to extend their cooperation in another Erasmus+ project in the near future. The projects results have been disseminated not only within partner schools but also to students’ families, local communities, bodies of professionals, Ministries of Education and university representatives. Through the project’s website, the Erasmus+ Project Result Database and the Etwinning Portal the project’s results will be exposed to a wider lifelong community. The outcomes and the activities of this project can be repeated in the future by other schools and teachers and be completely integrated in schools and national curricula.