The Erasmus+ project Climate Change and Environmental Protection in a European Context (CCEPEC) with participating countries in Czech Republic (Carlsbad), Germany (Bottrop), the Netherlands (Dokkum), Slovakia (Bratislava), Spain (Barcelona) and Sweden (Nacka near Stockholm) will be about the following topics and activities: In the first year, the participating students at the six partner schools all over Europe will research the legal situation in the participating countries (European and national laws concerning environmental protection) and find out about the momentary situation of climate change and environmental protection in the individual countries through an empirical, investigative approach, like conducting questionnaires and a survey at school and in their homes which will include the following topics: a) Consumption, waste and recycling: • Paper, glass, plastic and microplastic, biodegradable waste, electronic waste, clothing b) Pollution and climate change: • Energy, agriculture/nutrition, traffic, climate and weather phenomena c) The conscious use of resources at school and at home: • Sustainable shopping and consumption habits In the individual countries during the project year as well as during teachers' meetings in Nacka and Barcelona and students' meetings in Bratislava, Carlsbad and Bottrop (see timetable below) the students as well as the teachers will carry out learning activites in which they find out about suitable projects dealing with sustainable livestyles and environmental protection in the different partner countries. They will also visit eco-friendly companies in the area in order to learn from them about how to develop environmentally-friendly concepts. At the first-year student meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia, the students will evaluate the first-year questionnaire and compare the situation in the participating countries and learn from each other so that they can develop a first blueprint of ideas, namenly measures to be taken individually, at school, in the community to improve environmental protection in the different countries. In the second year, based on the blueprint of ideas from the first project year, the students develop detailed measures for environmental protection in the three major areas (see above) so that during the final student meeting in Bottrop, Germany, they can compare all the suggested measures and develop a common version of measures and how to implement these at home, at school and in the community. These will be presented to the school communities in the form of an exhibition. The end product of the project. however, will be a brochure of a sustainable lifestyle (individually as at school and in the community) to fight climate change and protect the environment. By means of the project website, newspaper articles published in the area of the participating schools and a brochure which will then be published and disseminatied, the success and long-term effect of the project will be ensured. The most viable measures are to be implemented at the individual schools to create a long-term effect of the project in the different countries. Timetable of mobilities 1) First learning activity for teachers in October 2019 in Nacka, Sweden (max. of 3 teachers from each country = 18 teachers/participants) 2) First student meeting in March 2020 in Bratislava, Slovakia (max. of 6 students from each country = 36 students and 2 teachers from each country = 12 teachers) 48 participants 3) Second learning activity for teachers in October 2020 in Barcelona, Spain (max. of 3 teachers from each country = 18 teachers/participants) 4) Trilateral student meeting in February 2021: student meeting for Bratislava and Bottrop students in Carlsbad, Czech Republic (6 students and 2 teachers from each country) = 24 participants 5) Second student meeting in May 2021 in Bottrop, Germany (max. of 6 students from each country = 36 students and 2 teachers from each country = 12 teachers) 48 participants
Students and teachers from 6 countries work on the topic of environmental protection In the summer of 2019, almost 3 years ago, 6 schools from Barcelona/Spain, Stockholm/Sweden, Bratislava/Slovakia, Dokkum/NL, Karlovy Vary/Czech Republic and the Bottrop Vocational Association started to change the environmental thinking and behavior of people at their schools: Climate change and environmental protection in a European context was the title of the project funded by the European Erasmus+ programme. In the first year of the project, the students involved first researched the situation regarding environmental protection at their own schools and in their own respective countries and created a presentation and a film in order to show the current situation in the different partner countries. The students from the other schools were then able to find out about the situation in the partner countries via the project website and were to be informed during the first studen meeting in Bratislava. But after the project had really started and the first student meeting in Bratislava was due in March 2020, the onset of the corona pandemic put a stop to the project work: While coping with Corona lockdown, distance learning and face-to-face teaching under different Corona regulations in the different countries, everyone tried to keep the project alive. First, the teachers met in numerous online meetings to plan the next steps. Then the participating students were divided into international groups and exchanged their experience with life and school in Corona times as well as environmental protection in their countries in several online video conferences. A teachers' meeting in autumn 2021 could take place as planned and finally all participants could meet face-to-face during the final student meeting from May 30 to June 3 at Berufskolleg Bottrop: Accompanied by 2 teachers each, a total of 30 students, 40 guests from the five participating countries travelled to Germany. On the first day the students presented their own schools, themselves and played some introductory games because they actually saw each other "face-to-face" for the first time. Thanks to the openness and communicativeness of the students involved, the diverse, international groups immediately got along very well despite the English language barrier. In the project work in international groups, each group dealt with the environmental problems of one partner school and looked for very specific solutions to improve the situation in the respective country, so that international teamwork was particularly important. The range of topics covered the lack of waste separation and disposal as well as sustainable traffic, food and also energy waste or carelessly discarded cigarette butts. In the afternoon, after the project work, the surroundings of Bottrop were explored together (examples were an ascent to the typical slag heaps of the Ruhr area or a visit to the Centro Oberhausen (a former steel factory) and the environmental exhibition "The Fragile Paradise" in the Gasometer. In the evenings, all guests and hosts wanted to use the short time for joint activities and dinner. On the last day of the meeting, the presentation of the results took place: The main environmental problem of each partner school was solved by the international groups by presenting a number of specific measures as well as proposals for financing. These are then going to be presented to the respective school management and student councils after the return of the students and actually put into practice. Evaluating the outcome of the project, one can say that the participating schools are very happy that we were able to lead this important project to a satisfying conclusion despite the many obstacles that we had to deal with. Hopefully the students will stay in touch, the teachers definitely have decided to continue working together as partner schools. In a final meeting in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, the Czech and Slovakian students, whose school year had not ended, yet, met again in order to review all the results and put them together into the final documents and the brochure: Especially the results of the large student conference in Bottrop were reviewed and put together into a summary showing also all the positive moments of the students' three-year work and the solutions to the environmental problems at our schools. All these results will be published on the project website and as a brochure. The project has shown that face-to-face conferences cannot be replaced as you could see how well everyone involved worked together and also enjoyed the encounters outside of project work. Thus, this project was not only able to contribute to a more conscious disposal of waste and help protect the environment but it also made all those involved aware of the enormous value of living and working together internationally in peace and tolerance.