The GO GREEN project is an Erasmus+ Schools Project which addresses the following three priorities: Horizontal: Environmental and climate goals: Horizontal: Supporting opportunities for all in acquiring and developing key competences, including basic skills: Sectorial : Strengthening the profiles of the teaching professions: The consortium of 7 experienced organisations with different background, status and expertise will work on this project targeting the needs of Primary Children and Primary School Teachers/ school leaders aiming to support them to create their own WHOLE SCHOOL GREEN POLICY. Schools have an important role to play as innovators of social change and sustainable development for a circular economy. The project aims to provide an upskilling pathway programme for teachers in order to strengthen their profiles in deal with environmental and green issues, so that they can support young pupils (pre-primary and primary) aged 5-12 yrs old to explore environmental issues, engage in problem solving, and take action to improve the environment in their school and in their community. As a result, pupils will develop skills for making informed and responsible decisions in their daily life. The project aims to promote from an early age an envionrmentally friendly mindset that could contribute towards the protection of the environment and prevent climate change. In order to secure a future for the younger generation it will be necessary to promote green thinking which takes into account ethical and social considerations. This means that traditional school curricula, need to be complemented by teaching pupils global environmental concepts that need to be tackled locally and individually. In this way, pupils will develop a caring attitude towards the environment demonstrated by actions (save resources, reduce waste, compensate carbon footprint emissions, choose sustainable food and mobility choices, etc.). The project will produce 4 main Intellectual Outputs: GO GREEN syllabus-curriculum, the educational resources and tools, the green platform with various functionalities and provision of services, the Green Glossary Book and the whole school policy documents for 6 different EU countries. 7 Multiplier Events will also be organised, as well as a Short Term Training for Teachers to pilot-test all products. The expected impact on the pupils, teachers and the schools is substantial, as Green or Environmental Skills are rarely taught at schools, as part of the curriculum. Pupils will have an opportunity from a very young age to be equipped with knowledge and comptences to address environmental issues and challenges that affect their communities. Teachers will upgrade their skills, as well as enhance their teaching methodologies and tools to be able to contribute to the protection of the environment.
The project aimed to promote an environmentally friendly mindset from a young age that can help protect the environment and prevent climate change. To ensure a future for the young generation, it is necessary to promote a green mindset that also takes ethical and social aspects into account. This means supplementing traditional curricula by teaching students global environmental concepts that must be addressed locally and individually. It was essential to create strategies and teaching materials that, in addition to imparting knowledge in an age-appropriate manner, also foster motivation to actively participate in processes towards sustainability. Since schools play an important role as innovators of social change and sustainable development, the project focuses not only on the targeted promotion of competencies of teachers and students, but also on schools as a whole by offering strategies for sustainable school development. This allows schools to become sustainable institutions and provides a real-life context for teachers and students to implement sustainable strategies themselves.
On the one hand, guidelines for education for sustainable development formulate the goal of conveying an understanding of sustainability to students as early as elementary school. On the other hand, many teachers express being overwhelmed by this task, as the topic of sustainability is very dynamic and requires constant training and is also very complex and therefore difficult to convey to younger students. The project addresses this challenge with a strategy for elementary school teachers that helps them to instill sustainability awareness in young students and support them in exploring environmental issues, solving problems, and taking action to improve the environment in their school and community. The essential principle is a real-life reference that does not individualize responsibility for sustainable transformation, but encourages students to participate in processes toward sustainability in their social environment (family, friends, school). As a result, students will develop skills to make informed and responsible decisions for their daily lives.