There is a growing understanding of the importance of transversal skills, such as “learning to learn” and “initiative taking”. The labour market is increasingly concerned with what employees know, understand and are able to do in practice. At European level it is very important to develop synergies between the various countries, in order to get a better connection between Education and Training, especially in innovative sectors. Solar energy is one of these. The project lasts two years and is based on the exchange of good practices and cooperation between five secondary schools (with students aged 15-18), located in Italy, Portugal, Poland, Greece and Turkey, which have in common talent and excellence in areas directly connected to the project. These schools have the strong will to produce together something tangible and replicable: eco-friendly objects equipped with devices powered by solar energy, able to meet the common needs of young people, while providing clean energy. The EU is on track to meet its 2020 renewable target. We need to step up our efforts. The title of the project, "Catch the European Sun", wants to be a metaphor of this enthusiastic view: a way to "catch" the opportunity, offered by the Euroepan Union, to create some useful and replicable by working together. It will be a gradual and shared path from ideas to products, a challenge to explore new ways of teaching/learning and address important environmental issues, with a European added value. While working on this topic, the students will also be encouraged to develop a stronger sense of active citizenship and commitment to dealing with global issues. The project will increase: - knowledge and understanding of the differences, by encouraging tolerance and respect for other cultures; -skills in foreign languages and motivation towards language learning; -students/teachers' skills in the subject area of the project (the sun and solar energy) and in cooperative teamwork. Futhermore, it will: - Enhance the European dimension of education as well as the importance of a European Heritage. -Promote the international cooperation and understanding among young people and school staff. -Promote equal opportunities for every student regardless of gender, ethnicity, educational special needs and socio- economic background -Promote life skills for life-long learning. -Encourage cross curricular involvement of different departments at schools -Improve cooperative teaching and learning -Assess transversal skills -Promote practical experiences in education, training and teaching -Promote professional development in ICT Partners have been chosen using institutional data bases, such as e-Twinning and School Education Gateway. A balanced partnership will be created and all participating institutions will have equal opportunities, duties and responsibilities, with a common view of tolerance and friendship. All participating institutions will take an active and equal part. The coordinating school and the partner schools will have specific activities and tasks, but the common purpose of accomplishing the objectives of the partnership. The effective communication and cooperation between the participating institutions, will be ensured through: fast and regular communication –via e-mail, Skype, WhatsApp, telephone, eTwinning or similar free-access tools. The information and communication technologies will be used in great extent by all teachers and students participating in the partnership : using the Internet, collecting information; using the project website on eTwinning; using necessary computer tools and web-cameras for cross-curricular WEBINARS, using programmes such as Microsoft Power Point, Video movie maker, etc. for presentations. The project's Learning Teaching Tranining Activities will be carried out according to a plan of seven mobilities: two transnational meetings destined to teachers and five involving both teachers and groups of students. Each partner school will host, in turn, all the others, for a total mobility of 100 students and 64 teachers in two years. All activities will be based on "Learning-by-doing" methodology. In fact each mobility will be characterized by the production of solar powered objects. Their correct functioning will be the quickest way to test immediately the success of the work done. Experts could also be called to evaluate the final products. Moreover video tutorials will be made step-by-step to illustrate the correct assembling of photovoltaic components, which could be a useful tool to let the outcomes be assessed and replicated by other students and teachers, as they will be uploaded in eTwinning. The products will be displayed in exhibitions and the whole project will encourage local communities to adopt an eco-friendly vision (for example with the use of "solar bricks", "solar bicycle paths", "solar crosswalks"...). The "European Sun" will be a great opportunity for everybody.
At European level it is very important to develop synergies between the various countries, in order to get a better connection between Education and Training, especially in innovative sectors. Solar energy is one of these. The project lasted three years and was based on the exchange of good practices and cooperation between five secondary schools (with students aged 15-18), located in Italy, Portugal, Poland, Greece and Turkey, having in common talent and excellence in areas directly connected to the project. The topic of raising awareness on the importance of using renewable energy has proved to be very appropriate in recent times. The schools of the partnership powered daily objects with solar energy; so a solar rucksack to recharge the smartphone, a solar oven, solar speakers and a solar radio to listen to music, as well as a solar watch were made, ny using small solar panels. The students learned how to find solutions to the problem of energy but above all they realized that a common effort was essential and could increase the potential of the single actions. Though the Covid-19 pandemic made the physical mobilities impossible for a long period, the partner countries had the strong will to put them into effect as soon as it was possible. Therefore, the mobilities to Greece, Poland and Portugal were carried out physically by teachers and students, as well as the two staff meetings at the beginning and at the end of the project. As for the final meeting, there was the common agreement to hold it in Italy, in particular in Naples, known as "the city of the Sun". Two mobilities (to Italy and to Turkey) were carried out virtually for the adverse conditions of the pandemic but the results envisaged by the project were obtained in any case, thanks to the common efforts shown by all partners. The Sun was the central topic of all the project, not only as energy provider but also as an "inspirer" of philosophers, poets, singers, painters. These aspects were all examined in webinars carried out throughout the project: for example, the webinar on the Sun in literature, in history, in religion, in physics, in visual arts, in songs...All these activities allowed the participants to know each other and to appreciate the various cultures. While working on this topic, the students were ncouraged to develop a stronger sense of active citizenship and commitment to dealing with global issues. The objectives of the project were fully achieved; in fact it effectively increased: - knowledge and understanding of the differences, by encouraging tolerance and respect for other cultures; -skills in foreign languages and motivation towards language learning; -students/teachers' skills in the subject area of the project (the sun and solar energy) and in cooperative teamwork. Futhermore, it: - Enhanced the European dimension of education as well as the importance of a European Heritage. -Promoted the international cooperation and understanding among young people and school staff. -Promoted equal opportunities for every student regardless of gender, ethnicity, educational special needs and socio- economic background -Promoted life skills for life-long learning. -Encouraged cross curricular involvement of different departments at schools -Improved cooperative teaching and learning -Enhanced transversal skills -Promoted practical experiences in education, training and teaching -Promoted professional development in ICT The effective communication and cooperation between the participating institutions was constantly ensured through: fast and regular communication –via e-mail, GoogleMeet, WhatsApp, telephone, eTwinning or similar free-access tools. In particular eTwinning platform proved to be a very important resource for every kind of exchange, especially during the hard times of the pandemic. Moreover video tutorials were made step-by-step to illustrate the correct assembling of photovoltaic components, as a useful tool to let the outcomes be assessed and replicated by other students and teachers, as they were all uploaded in eTwinning. The information and communication technologies were used in a great extent by all teachers and students participating in the partnership : using the Internet, collecting information; using the project website on eTwinning; using necessary computer tools and web-cameras for cross-curricular Webinars, using programmes such as Microsoft Power Point, Video movie maker, Canva, etc. for presentations. The products will be displayed in exhibitions (for example, Didacta in Italy next year) and the whole project will encourage local communities to adopt an eco-friendly vision (for example with the use of "solar bricks", "solar bicycle paths", "solar crosswalks"...). A wide dissemination of the results, through specific events, media, meetings and debates will maintain the project alive for a long time and will provide inspiration for similar projects in the years to come.