Today, human pressure on environment has resulted in dramatic declines in natural capital and threaten the health of social and ecological systems. Human society is now face to face with complex environmental problems that require innovative solutions. Each individual should gain ability to apply what they learn about their impact on the environment to make changes in their behavior and live more sustainably. Several studies confirmed that for raising awareness, “ecoliterate worldview” is prerequsite to recognize that the earth is an intricate system of relationships that we are part of, and to live accordingly. An “ecologically literate person” has the ability to use ecological understanding, thinking and habits of mind for living in, enjoying, and/or studying the environment. However, it is not enough; it is required to understand the social–ecological systems (SES). Natural resource management issues are not just ecological or social issues, but have multiple integrated elements. These systems, in which cultural, political, social, economic, ecological, technological, and other components interact, are referred to as social-ecological systems. Using SES to improve ecoliteracy of young people will help to create possibility for combining different societal actors who are often times in each other’s vicinity and share common concerns but rarely find a way to collaborate. Along this line, this project aims to serve a platform for teaching ecoliteracy enhanced with SES approach. Emerging interdisciplinary endeavors of social-ecological systems, resilience, sustainability science, complex systems, are well-posed to contribute to finding solutions to contemporary environmental problems, and have the potential for increasing ecological mindfullness, environmentally behaving youth. Project consortium is comprised of 8 partners from 5 different countries; 2 universities (biology and environmental sciences dept.), 1 Research Institute, 2 SMEs working in the field of environment, and 3 NGOs dealing with environment-human related issues and education. These diverse perspective will strengthen the effectiveness of the project activities and provide it with a multisectoral, multidimensional approach. Young people ages between 17-26; leaders and members of youth clubs, scout leaders and scouts, members of environmental clubs in high schools/universities and young members of environmental NGOs are chosen as target group. The outputs of the project will be both theoretical and practical. The theoretical part will be textbook explaining ‘ecoliteracy’ and ‘social ecological system’ frameworks which will be contributed by different professionals in the project team. Then, for guiding practical part, outdoor training guideline focusing on teaching intrinsic value of nature will be prepared. This will be learner-centered and provides participants with opportunities to construct their own understanding through hands-on investigations. Once people & the participants value those assets, they will more likely be disposed to care for the environment and protect them. It will be problem-based and project-based, e.g., through case studies, experiential learning opportunities, or real-world applications, learning offers much promise. The toolkit used in the “mobile application” will permit examination of how relationships and social processes function to support or disrupt young people’s positive identity development which, in turn, shapes their actions and behaviour. Finally, establishment of e-learning training modules containing above outputs will be done. We consider learning systems composed of individuals interacting with their biophysical environment as embedded in the larger system of an environmental education program, which in turn interacts with natural resources management practices, environmental policies, and other elements of a local social-ecological system. The SES_ECO project is expected to achieve the following outcomes: - Building trainers’ capacity in the areas of ecology and systems thinking, - Increasing an awareness for the environment, - Improving the understanding of ecological science and its usefulness for real-world environmental issues, - Creating a sense of place and encouraging teaching with multiple learning styles. - Quantifying ecoliteracy The use of project outputs will offer opportunities for personal growth by encouraging teamwork, collaboration, and the development of leadership skills, which serve participating groups who are well in their academic & professional futures. The overall impact of the project is that it will increase the ecoliteracy skills enhanced with SES approach. This will improve their environmentally-friendly behaviours and render them better citizens for their countries for the EU and eventually for the world. Such ecoliteracy skills will also improve their entrepreneurship in terms of establishing more ecofriendly businesses.
Our project's objectives were; HORIZONTAL:Sustainable investment,quality & efficiency of education,training & youth systems YOUTH:Promoting engaging,connecting & empowering young people HORIZONTAL:Social & educational value of European cultural heritage,its contribution to job creation,economic growth & social cohesion SES-ECO prj achieved the following outcomes: - Building trainers’ capacity in the areas of ecology & systems thinking, - Increasing an awareness for the environment, - Improving the understanding of ecological science & its usefulness for real-world environmental issues, - Creating a sense of place & encouraging teaching with multiple learning styles. - Quantifying ecoliteracy - Restrict & avoid GLOBAL WARMING, - The use of prj outputs offered opportunities for personal growth by encouraging teamwork,collaboration & the development of leadership skills,which serve participating groups who are well in their academic & professional futures. - The overall impact was that our prj increased the ecoliteracy skills enhanced with SES (Social-Ecological Systems) approach.This improved the environmentally-friendly behaviours & rendered the persons as better citizens for their countries for the EU & eventually for the world.
We applied for SES-ECO Prj because of the following reasons & these were our main needs that have been addressed for our prj: -Investment in environmental sector by applying the green tech.by the training outputs in our prj, -Competitiveness by training in ecology & environment & giving chances to our prj partners in finding their jobs more easily, -Long-term economic growth in the EU by the protection of env.applying the ecoliteracy & decreasing the bad effects of global warming & conservation of environment effect the growth of economy of EU, -Supports the development of evidence-based policies & reforms that aim at delivering quality education & training more efficiently; closely follows the directives & instructions in EU & applies the most recent tech.in the training outputs of our prj by delivering theoretical & practical guidelines, -Raises awareness of the importance of Europe's cultural heritage thru education, lifelong learning, informal & non-formal learning, including actions to support skills development,social inclusion, critical thinking & youth engagement by the supplement of raising of the awareness of ecological values for youth & promoting the highest standards of practice for the benefit of nature & society.