Current affairs There is only one Planet Earth, and all of its citizens have one future.“ (Al Gore, „Eine unbequeme Wahrheit“, S. 287) Our project ”World Heritage Earth – Our Common Future“ deals with the current state of our planet. According to a report by the UN in 2019, our planet is in a bad state: The earth’s climate is changing, the average temperature is rising, the polar ice is melting, our eco-systems are about to lose their natural balance and our resources are being used up on an unprecedented scale. Our planet is in danger. Our life-style endangers our health and our planet’s ability to recover from all the human-made damage is reduced. Planet Earth will turn into a desert if humans do not change their behaviour. Young people have realised this recently and gather for the “Fridays for Future“ demonstrations which were first held by the Swedish pupil Greta Thunberg. These protests, which are a form of political participation, cross the borders within Europe and the whole world. They highlight the worries of young people and the importance of climate change. The protesters demand the countries’ commitment to the Paris Climate Deal. They have realised that humankind needs to change its attitude towards life on this planet if this plant is meant to be the living space for future generations. Every one of us can contribute to change and to the protection of natural resources. We have to start with ourselves. This project aims to tackle the issues above together with young people by looking at the facts provided by the UN, by double-checking our lifestyle and by reflecting about how we can make our lifestyles more sustainable for our society and for the environment. Therefore, we will look at topics like: - Naturpark Aostatal: protection of natural resources found in fauna and flora - sustainable ways of creating energy - environmental pollution and its consequences for the society and the environment - dealing with resources and food, sustainable farming - the latest UN report from 2019 Together with the pupils we want to redefine “living in wealth”. We need to define a standard of living that mirrors the circumstances of current generations without endangering future generations. We need a standard of living which is affordable and realistic for everyone regardless of their cultural or national background. We need a standard of living which is based on sustainability. It is our aim to create an awareness of the importance of political engagement. It is only through political and societal engagement that we can have a say in forming our environment. It is today’s European pupils who will shape the future. We want to enthuse young people for the idea of Europe and we want to get the message across that a common European future will be based on values such as tolerance, empathy, respect and a sense of responsibility. We aim to exchange date about current global changes and individual lifestyles using e-Twinning and project meetings. Our results will be published in a final presentation and through a film. There will also be a public forum in which results will be presented in a “market stall” manner. Learning will not only be a cognitive task - pupils will need to research outdoors, engage in practical activities such as baking and building a solar oven. They will also be encouraged to cook regional and local food and create their own recipes using food leftovers. Most of these topics will already have been mentioned in the schools’ curricula of all participating countries. Their importance can be deduced from the fact that environmental issues are a global problem which needs to be tackled internationally. The project enables co-operation between different European cultures and school systems. Pupils will get the opportunity to broaden their horizons and to develop their own view on the European Idea, the importance of responsibility. They learn to use new digital tools and analytic skills. All these form a new foundation for an idea about European Citizenship. Participating schools from Italy, Greece, Portugal, Poland and Germany will be responsible for the organisation of project meetings in their respective schools. Each school is given a specific task and has to involve its school community. The results will be made available to everyone involved. In terms of self-evaluation, we will use www.mice-t.net/mice.html.
There is only one Earth, and all of us who live on it share a common future. " (Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, p. 287). Our project "World Heritage Earth - Our Common Future" looked at the current situation of our planet Earth. According to the 2019 UN report, our planet Earth is in a bad way: The climate is changing, the average temperature of the Earth's near atmosphere is rising, ice sheets are shrinking, our ecosystem is losing its balance, our resources are being used up like never before. Planet Earth is in danger. Our lifestyle threatens human health and increasingly exceeds the Earth's regenerative capacity. If humanity does not change its behaviour towards the Earth, it will turn into a desert. Young people have also recognised this and are now demonstrating against climate change under the motto Fridays For Future, as exemplified by the Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg. The protests, understood as participation in politics, are transnational and also go far beyond Europe's borders. This makes the importance of the issue clear, but also the fears of young people. It was a need of our pupils between 12 and 18 years from Aachen (Germany), Torino (Italy), Rozwienica (Poland) and Matoshinhos (Portugal) to consciously deal with this global problem and with democratic values and to experience participation in civil society and political life. We therefore worked in an action-oriented way on the topics of energy demand and energy production, food production, consumer behaviour, economic growth, use of resources, climate change and climate protection. Together and following the UN report and the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we dealt with the questions in different ways and with different methods: - How do we treat our environment, our planet? How sick is our planet? - How much does a sick, polluted planet also harm people's health? - How can we contribute to sustainability and the protection of our planet? - What possibilities do I have as a citizen to participate in political decisions? - What can European participation look like? We worked not only cognitively, but holistically by e.g. assembling a solar oven and making scrambled eggs or by organising ecological school actions like planting a tree. We researched all topics and objectives, acquired knowledge, conducted surveys and made presentations in different ways. We studied the function of the Pelton turbine in order to understand electricity production in the Italian Alps. We conducted surveys on the topics: Water consumption, eating habits, satisfaction with the project, which fed into our work. Practically, we built a solar oven, created an explanatory video on the fuel cell, which is available as teaching material. In terms of digital learning and media technology, we held workshops on creating a podcast on "How to conduct an interview", "How to create an explainer video", "What tools and programmes help us with Erasmus+ team work?". The lockdown, shortly after the start of our project, was a challenge for us at first. But we started to meet regularly online to work, to do crafts, to celebrate festivals (Carnival. Erasmus Day...). We did the workshops mentioned above and spent so much time together online, which strengthened our group feeling and bonded us together. During the project, the students created a sustainability charter and thought about democratic participation and engagement. Together with our partners, we conducted an interview on "Implementing the Green Deal" with a representative of the Bundestag. On this occasion, we also handed over our joint charter. After the end of the project, we will integrate our ideas for anchoring the idea of sustainability in the classroom into Moodle. Ideas have been collected, but also two lesson series have been created. In the course of the project, we created a charter, towards more respect for our environment, natural resources and future life as well as more tolerance and a higher sense of responsibility for our fellow citizens, as well as a website (http://erasmus-plus-whe.com). In addition, they have shown willingness to participate in shaping society The partner schools have worked intensively, cooperatively and shared their results and they have shown willingness to participate in shaping society. They want to work for a future worth living in and consider together what policy makers would have to do and how they could tackle the climate crisis. Therefore, we are in the process of planning a follow-up project to "Green and Sustainable Cities" with further partners.