The aim of this project is to raise students’ awareness of how we as European citizens have already been taking and are going to take active measures against climate change in the construction sector by sharing and comparing knowledge of common building procedures, knowledge about material properties and technologies – from a recent but also from a historic perspective - as well as getting to know examples of best practice in the participating countries. The students will be involved in a complex learning system, in which they are asked to present their obtained knowledge in a virtual climate museum setting. Throughout the project a set of iPads - or similar devices - will be used to enhance the digital competences of the participants. The students will learn in an upfront workshop how to use an application to design images of digital rooms for the virtual climate museum. Apart from operating this app the students have to take many different aspects into consideration to create this virtual climate museum, and the electronic devices will be used as communication tools but also to process information. In each meeting the participants will learn about different concepts, technologies or methods dealing with sustainability in the construction sector and this newly acquired knowledge will then be used to create a virtual exhibition. A few guiding questions offer a brief insight into the planning process the students will be concerned with. Which aspects are worth sharing with a larger community by exhibiting them in a virtual museum? How could a room in a museum look like to exhibit these things? Who is a possible target group and how do we address them? How can we use modern technology to visualize our ideas of a virtual climate museum? How are we going to present our information in an interesting an engaging way? ... In each meeting there will be a group of 4-6 students from each of the participating countries + 2 teachers, who are travelling to the particular meeting, and additionally one or two German teachers, who do teacher training and who should get an insight into the planning and organizing of international projects. The number of national students and teachers involved might be bigger, depending on the activity and the capacity of the partner school. The main activities are connected to the gaining and sharing of information using different research strategies, e.g.: by looking at sights and places connected to the project in each partner-country, by listening to lectures or guides, by searching the internet, and by dealing with expert knowledge on particular topics at different levels. This information will be processed by the students to present it to each other and to a larger community. The students will also gain practical knowledge in workshops. Furthermore, the idea of job shadowing among the teachers is as well part of the project. One of the major activities will be the creation of the virtual climate museum - so the students will learn how to use a drawing app to create virtual rooms and create an exhibition space. The participants will be able to extend their individual competences and social skills in quality and in quantity throughout the project.
Within the framework of the project, the pupils actively dealt with different possibilities of climate protection in the building industry in a European exchange. Historical, but also future-oriented concepts and technologies were chosen as a starting point or frame of reference for a content-related discussion. The creation of a virtual climate museum offers very different access and design options. Each participant can be involved in the project according to his or her abilities and interests. In addition to the cognitive and explorative approach, a creative, aesthetic and manual approach is also possible and desirable, so that the action competence of the sus can be qualitatively and also quantitatively expanded. Through the continuous work with iPads or similar devices throughout the project, the digital competences of the students are promoted. The main focus is on using a drawing tool to create spaces - in this case: museum spaces - but the devices can also be used for research, image editing, as a translation tool, for video editing and as a general exchange medium. The content-related examination of the topic of climate protection/sustainability within the framework of the virtual climate museum offers the possibility of an international exchange on very different methodological levels and with the inclusion of national and regional experiences. An important goal of the project was to enable the pupils to face the challenges of the topic of climate protection/sustainability in the construction industry with more interest and competence and to become aware of their own possibilities, strengths and interests. At the individual meetings, 4-6 students per country and 2-3 teachers were expected. The number of students from the host country was in most cases higher, depending on the planned activity. The preparatory national activities consisted mainly of research and electronic communication to gather and exchange information on the topic to be covered. Working with the digital equipment acquired for this project was taught in a workshop at a first meeting, practised and deepened in the course of the project. In addition, knowledge was acquired and exchanged during visits and excursions and then prepared for presentation in the virtual museum. In the context of international presentations, the pupils expand their research and presentation skills, but also competences in the reception and production of technical texts in a foreign language, in this case English. Likewise, the horizons of the teachers are broadened within the framework of job shadowing. The expansion of manual/handicraft skills was integrated into the overall project within the framework of targeted activities in the respective country. The project was designed in such a way that a highly heterogeneous group could work together on the product, the virtual museum, in cooperative learning situations. The different activities, e.g: Designing the museum space, determining the exhibited content, curatorial decisions, advertising the museum, explanatory videos, display boards, role plays, gallery walk etc. made it very easy to integrate all students according to their respective abilities. The final result is a digital slideshow showing the project, the individual steps and the virtual museum. Unfortunately, it was not technically possible to realise interactive accesses such as clicking on an explanatory video or a filmed museum walk. Each participating school can use the virtual museum according to its needs, e.g. link it to its homepage, relate it to individual subject curricula, develop it further in subject lessons - expand or redesign rooms - use it as a source of information or inspiration, etc..