As a green lung, forests have an invaluable, vital importance to us humans. Because of this great importance, we have a special responsibility to preserve and protect our forests. In order to fulfill this responsibility, it is necessary to convey the peculiarity and the meaning of this complex ecosystem to our students. In this context, the project is largely dedicated to sustainability and environmental education. Within the framework of an eTwinning project, the students of class 8a of the Mornewegschule Darmstadt and the students of the 7th grade of the Osnovna sola Janeza Kuharja Razkrizje cover the subject forests, within the school year 2018/19. In a project, they explored different aspects of their forests, presented them to their own and their partner class and exchanged similarities and differences. Thus, the students decided, they would like to meet the partner class to work together on the topic. This wish should be fulfilled within the current Erasmus project. During two weeks of mobility, the classes would meet, once in autumn in Razkrižje / Slovenia and once in early summer in Darmstadt / Germany to explore the forests together and to carry out various forest-related projects in German-Slovenian groups. Each of these mobilities includes a project day within the forest, followed by an evaluation phase in school and of course the exploration of the closer and further environment. The results of the project, summed up into a jointly created booklet. In the phases between the mobilities, the students stay in contact with each other via the framework of eTwinning and work on their topics and booklet. The student project is based on the concept of formative assessment. This means, that the students regulate their learning process independently. They help each other and create and shape their own learning product. Learning must be self-initiated, meaningful for the individual and oriented towards one's own interests. Additionally two short term meetings for teachers will take place in order to ensure the knowledge transfer between the schools. The colleagues from Darmstadt have a look at the concept of formative assessment in its practical implementation, while the colleagues from Razkrižje focus on the topic of learning and developing in multicultural learning groups. Through self-organized work in internationally mixed groups, students learn to share responsibility on a real-world problem, to make substantive decisions together and to work on their own research project, as independently as possible. This greatly strengthens personal competences, like self-responsibility, decision-making and creativity, as well as social-communicative competences, like teamwork, communication skills and conflict management. In addition, it furthers a better understanding of social, ethical, linguistic and intercultural differences, as well as their acceptance, and promotes intercultural competence. The motivation and satisfaction for learning is increased and a positive and appreciative attitude towards the forest ecosystem is developed. Furthermore, the students improve their knowledge, develop research skills and practice informative and communicative skills. As a concrete result, a joint booklet will be created, which contains the characteristics of the investigated forests, their threats and their measures of protection. In addition, a presentation of the classes, schools and regions will be included. A total of 41 students between the ages of 12 and 17, as well as their 6 mentoring teachers will participate in the project. Many students have little experience in dealing with foreign cultures. With regard to long-term benefits, the results of the group work can be further used in the presentation of different forest ecosystems in biology lessons. The newly acquired knowledge of "formative assessment" and “learning and developing in multicultural learning groups" can be incorporated into the school development process. It could be possible to establish a constant school partnership between the two schools.
As a green lung, forests are of inestimable importance for us humans. For this reason we have to face the special responsibility for the preservation and protection of our forests. It is therefore necessary to convey the special features and importance of this complex ecosystem to schoolchildren. The present project served to promote intercultural skills, environmental education and education about sustainability. For joint research in the forest ecosystem, two weeks of mobility in Darmstadt and Razkrižje were planned with class 8 of Osnovna sola Janeza, Razkrižje (Slovenia) and class 9a of Mornewegschule, Darmstadt (Germany) in school year 2019/20. The first mobility took place with 26 students from class 9a, 14 students from class 8 and the supervising teachers in September 2019 in Razkrižje to carry out a research week together. Some of the students were accommodated in host families, the remaining students lived in two holiday apartments with teachers and some Slovenian students. In order to carry out the project, all the students were exempt from regular lessons. All activities were carried out together. The language of communication was English. In German-Slovenian research teams, the students worked on research questions of their own choice. Due to the idea of the concept of “formative assessment”, they set their own learning goals and planned their research projects independently and in a self-organized manner with help of a trilingual research worksheet. The first results were presented at the end of the visit. During the school year further work with the results and the preparation of presentations took place in class. It was planned to continue the research work in May 2020 during the second mobility in German forests in order to compare the results and develop a booklet about German and Slovenian forests. Unfortunately, this visit and an alternative appointment in the following year had to be canceled due to the restrictions caused by the corona pandemic. After the original participants of the project graduated in summer 2021, a three-day virtual meeting with students of class 7 and 8 took place in autumn 2021 to “compensate” the lack of mobility. This virtual meeting marked the end of the project, but also introduced the new participants to intercultural work. Additionally two short term meetings for teachers were planned in order to ensure the knowledge transfer between the schools. In February 2020, the Slovenian colleagues visited Darmstadt with focus on the topic of learning and developing in multicultural learning groups. This topic is particularly interesting because the two schools differ greatly in terms of their students. Mornewegschule Darmstadt is an integrated comprehensive school with heterogeneous and multicultural students. In contrast, Osnovna sola Janeza Kuharja Razkrizje, as a small rural school, is still very homogeneous in terms of its cultural identity. In terms of increasing migration to Europe, this might change in the future. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, the second short term visit in Razkrižje on the topic of formative assessment in its practical implementation had to be canceled. Overall the project could not be carried out as planned due to the corona pandemic and the underlying restrictions. In particular the lack of the second student mobility harmed the whole project. Moreover, school closings and alternating lessons as well as the general uncertainty during the pandemic disrupted the continuity of work. Nevertheless, the pupils acquired a wide range of skills. Through the organizing their own project work in international groups they learned to take on and share responsibility on a concrete and real topic, to make fundamental decisions together and to carry out their own research project as independently as possible. This not only strengthened their personal skills, but also promoted intercultural competences through a better understanding of social, ethnic, linguistic and intercultural differences, as well as their acceptance. Friendly relationships developed, the motivation and satisfaction for learning increased and a positive and appreciative attitude towards the forest ecosystem was developed. A wide range of technical and methodological skills could also be gained. The bonds between the schools and the colleagues were strengthened, and further cooperation is sure to follow.