The idea of the project titled "Renewable sources of energy - our chance for clean air in Europe" emerged from the smog. People have the right to breathe clean air and everyone knows that the air in almost every country in Europe is polluted. People should be aware of the fact that the quality of air depends not only on big companies, factories or other industrial facilities but and on them - ordinary people living in their households as well. And who can educate people better than school? Hence the idea that schools from across Europe, from the North to the South and from the East to the West should create a partnership to exchange good practices to raise the ecological awareness of young people, to teach them how important the environment protection is for all people and to show them what ordinary people can do to solve the problems with air pollution. Our school - Zespół Szkół Budowlano-Drzewnych in Żywiec, Poland - decided to look for similar schools in other EU countries teaching subjects connected with environment protection and RES application to work together for the benefit of our local societies. We found partner schools from Norway, Italy, Turkey and Spain and created the network of schools willing to cooperate internationally in order to achieve the assumed results. Over 100 students, aged 14-19, will learn about modern alternative energy sources, their application and installation. Our aim is to enable them to become highly qualified specialists in applying RES systems so that they can not only use them but also promote them in their families and among all people in the areas they live and where they will work in the future. We strongly believe that this project will contribute enormously to the fight against the pollution and climate change and to the improvement of health and life quality of residents in many places in Europe. Through the partnership cooperation and project activities during international meetings in every partner school, we would like to learn from one another, share our experience, exchange good practices and know-how, and then we plan to incorporate the acquired knowledge into the teaching programmes of our schools. All partners will work together to organise trainings, classes, lectures, presentations and workshops for students and teachers. One of our objectives is to prepare manuals describing renewable sources of energy in English and in national languages so that they can be used during classes in many years after the project. We would also like to prepare leaflets to promote the alternative sources of energy among ordinary people as well, to increase the ecological awareness of larger society groups by means of spreading information about the results of the project. This way the results can last long after the project is finished. We would like to stress not only the ecological but also the financial aspect of using RES so that people are not afraid of using solar or photovoltaic panels. We will cooperate with companies producing RES equipment, so we are going to visit them and we will show our participants the benefits of replacing the old and harmful heating systems with modern ones. Participation in this project will not only give students a chance to learn about the latest technological achievements in the project subject matter but also to improve their knowledge in other science areas. They will improve their vocational competences but also social and language skills. Many of our students are less fortunate than others, their economic situation is very difficult, they live far from urban areas or in poor city districts, they have no or limited access to the Internet and they have learning problems. We want to give them equal chances and enable them to take part in an international project so that they can acquire skills and competences, which in future may help them find good jobs and prevent social exclusion. The cooperation of many schools and a wide range of topics included in the project will guarantee broad and, at the same time, detailed approach to the project subject and will offer all participants more opportunities to pursue their careers. We expect that our students will acquire high-quality skills and competences in the field of RES and environment protection and also will improve their ICT skills. Pollution causing greenhouse effect leading to global warming and climate change is one of the biggest problems of our times and if we do not deal with it now, future generations will blame us for doing nothing. The teachers working in our schools care to make this effort and do something. We have already built an international network of schools exchanging experience and ideas to prepare the project application and we would like to continue this great cooperation.
Our project on Renewable Sources of Energy began in September 2018. The partnership consisted of five schools - from Poland, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Norway. As we are all concerned about the climate changes and air pollution, we decided to conduct a project aiming at making alternative sources of energy more popular and better-known among local people, making our students more ecologically aware and contributing to the fight against the air pollution and climate changes in Europe. So, the idea emerged that schools from across Europe, from the North to the South and from the East to the West should create a partnership to exchange good practices. Our school - Zespół Szkół Budowlano-Drzewnych in Żywiec, Poland - looked for similar schools in other EU countries teaching subjects connected with environment protection and RES application. We found schools in Italy, Turkey, Spain and Norway willing to cooperate internationally in order to achieve the assumed goals. About 100 students, aged 14-19, were involved in the project as well as many teachers and experts. We planned and carried out international meetings in every partner school involving different activities, like trainings, classes, lectures, multimedia presentations and workshops connected with presenting, spreading knowledge and popularising the benefits of using the renewable sources of energy. Each partner school organised an international LTT meeting for students and teachers, during which many activities were carried out – visits to companies producing elements of RES and institutions responsible for constructing, implementing and installing them. Not only schools but also many local authorities were involved in actions connected with the project, for example politicians, ecological activists, experts and university scientists. We were guests at Town Halls or Regional and National Members of Parliament were our guest during international LLT meetings. We visited power plants, university departments and natural reserves where we could observe and discuss the benefits of using RES. We took part in many ecological events, for example planting trees or bicycle ride through the city centre showing alternatives to using cars. The first international meeting we organised was the staff training meeting in the Beneficiary's school. All the coordinators and teachers had a chance to discuss different issues regarding the project subject, learn about legal solutions and regulations connected with the topic. We started using social media (Facebook, Instagram, schools' websites) for the purpose of the project results dissemination by creating fan pages and we also started working on eTwinning platform project. Before and after every international LTT meeting, students and teachers worked together on preparations of all the activities, learning about RES advantages and benefits for the environment and also about the culture of the countries involved. Every partner school organised an eco-picnic for parents, students and school employees after the meeting to summarise it and discuss the results as well as to present them to the local society. Students were preparing multimedia presentations, school gazettes and other educational materials for their peers, parents, other school teachers and guests invited to school. They were working on the eTwinning project and published posts on Facebook and Instagram fanpages. Information on the project activities was published on each partner school's webpage and on webpages of local authorities and self-government offices. We gave interviews for local radios and newspapers. Teachers prepared plans of lessons to be used in classes long after the project is finished together with gathered presentations which can also be used in different awareness campaigns in the future. We created a leaflet which can be printed and handed in. At the stage of the project application, we planned that we would exchange our experiences and gain knowledge first and after that we would disseminate the results of our activities. Unfortunately, due to the force majeure – the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemia and, in the result of it, lockdowns and closing of all schools and other institutions, we were not able to perform certain activities, fulfil the plans and reach some of the goals. We were forced to cancel the last summary meeting in Poland, where we planned a huge gathering and presentation of the results to the citizens of our town at a main market square during an eco-picnic for local people and there were supposed to be meetings with local authorities including discussions on the topic of air pollution in our area, visits to hydropower plant, RES department of AGH Kraków University as well as workshops, classes and lectures on heat pumps and geothermal energy among others. After the meeting cancellation, all we could do in this situation was the online cooperation of partners and organising a virtual summary and farewell meeting on the Internet.