CONTEXT While the humans want to dominate the nature and lead a comfortable life, they sometimes end up destroying it involuntarily. Numerous dystopian films produced in the past decade are meant to give us a nightmarish insight into what the world of the future may look like unless we start taking care of it. Therefore, through this project, we want to raise students’ awareness about the environmental problems that are produced and perpetuated by human beings that have negative long-term effects on our planet. We want them to be responsible citizens and work towards the goal of leaving a safe and clean world for future generations. We want to turn our schools into green schools in which environmental policies are implemented and respected by everybody. Last but not least, we want to set a model for our communities and determine other schools to take action in the field of ecology. OBJECTIVES -To exchange ideas and practices with other European countries in terms of environmental issues -To familiarize students with environmental issues and concepts like sustainable development, renewable sources of energy -To raise students self-learning and autonomy by doing research, collecting and presenting data -To improve students’ creativity, critical thinking and analytical thinking -To improve students’ self-confidence in new environments, to foster their adaptability and flexibility -To enable the development of participants’ intercultural competences, the awareness of shared European values -To improve communication, interpersonal, social skills in multicultural contexts -To promote social inclusion of students facing all kinds of difficulties -To empower and determine students to get involved in their community life -To enable teachers’ development through communication and practice sharing with their European peers PARTICIPANTS The project is aimed mainly at pupils, who will be involved in all the stages of the project – preparation, exchanges, dissemination and exploitation activities. The target group of pupils is made of 1000 students aged 14-18. They are a mixture of nationalities, social and economic backgrounds, religions, mixed abilities students, both high and low achievers, rural and urban areas, VET or general training students. This is what makes the project so interesting. The fact that we can observe one another and learn from each other about our problems, interests, career paths, opportunities. Out of these, we will select 100 students to participate directly in the exchanges. MAIN ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGY C1 – Water is Life (transdisciplinary approach, water as a source of life, water shortage) C2 – Keep our environment clean (recycling, waste management) C3 – Breathe and Let Breathe (air pollution, air quality) C4 – Global warming issues and renewable energy for sustainable development C5 – Take action to build a clean future In order to prepare for exchanges, students will do research, interview school mates, parents, acquaintances about the environmental issue addressed. Also, students talk to local authorities and local NGOs in order to see what the local and national policies are, how schools can get involved. These findings are shared with partners during exchanges. The exchanges include activities and presentations developed by students for students, but also teacher coordinated activities in which students work together in order to do topic-related STEM projects. For C5, sts implement and share environmental awareness campaigns. RESULTS Our results consist of initial and final evaluation documents, students’ surveys applied in the local community, online quizzes for other school students, brochures about environment issues, presentations of schools, countries and environment problems, statistics and reports, STEM projects, flyers about recycling and responsible use of water, campaign posters and methodology, videos, pictures, dissemination platforms and tools. IMPACT The project is expected to result in numerous positive changes at the level of all partner schools. First of all, the relationship between teachers and students will improve, and so will the relationship between the school and the parents. Parents will become more aware of the key role that the school plays in developing the future citizens that will contribute to the development of the community. Local authorities will see the schools involved as a dialogue partner and will support the students’ initiatives, both the ones in the project and the future ones, because we expect that students will develop new initiatives and will become active in their community. NGOs will become our partners and we will develop future projects with them. Therefore, the schools will increase their collaboration with local institutions and will improve or boost their image in the community. It will benefit from more active students and teachers who will feel motivated by the participation.
The first mobility in Marsala took place just after the lifting of restrictions. This meant that coordination of all activities had to be carried out with special care. Thanks to the Italian side, the students were still able to stay with their families. The first day consisted of a presentation of all the groups and the culture, history and cities of all the participating countries. Quick familiarization was made possible by the Italian side which prepared a number of music and dance activities. After getting acquainted, we moved on to discussing the goals, the schedule of activities and discussing with the students the possibilities for improving waste management in both the partner schools and the local community. To this end, all groups were mixed up so as to share knowledge and insights. The biggest issues were not proper waste management and its impact on the environment, which, along with many other topics, were included in a presentation discussing potential solutions to these problems. During another mobility in Turkey, participants worked on the problem of air pollution in partner countries. For this purpose, before arriving, the students were acquainted with the statistics, trends and policies of the country related to this problem. After the start of the meeting, the students in a joint cooperation developed a presentation introducing the situation of each country which they then presented to all participants of the meeting. In addition, the participants took part in creating a concept for a device that would allow them to measure the degree of air pollution. The first part of the mobility also broke the first ice in relations between the countries, for this purpose the host country prepared a concert led by students and teachers, in addition films related to air pollution and its prevention were presented and the differences and realities of each country were brought closer. After the presentation, joint discussions began covering the causes and effects of air pollution, statistics and pollution trends were analyzed. During the tour, students observed the effects of pollution and tested an air quality measuring device. All participants developed their knowledge in this area and also improved language and integration skills. In addition, the students had a chance to raise a topic related to pollution and water consumption. A lesson was also conducted referring to the use of water from the perspective of subjects such as literature, geography, chemistry, biology or economics to implement the theme "Water is life." The next mobility carried out in Portugal covered topics related to global warming and renewable energy sources. During the first day, students from all countries were shown around the school building and then presented their countries in presentations. In order to integrate all participants, the host country prepared an artistic block in which traditional dances and music were presented. After the class a tour was conducted which showed the historical part of the city of Vila Real. Seminars in which students had a chance to participate in discussions on renewable energies and global warming and learn about possible countermeasures against it. In order to familiarize the group with the problem, they had the chance to watch a film about the future of the world affected by these problems. The students, working in groups, analyzed the use of renewable energy sources in their country via the Internet and which accounts for the largest portion of energy produced after by making comparisons. Working on the project, the students were divided into international groups and while working with STEM tools they tried to create cities of the future using renewable energy sources. As part of cultural excursions, participants learned about the history and traditions of northern Portugal and also visited a renewable energy company. Students also had the chance to visit a winery in the Duoro Valley where they learned about the applications of renewable energies in practice. The last meeting, held in Macedonia, was based on a summary of the actions the participants undertook to promote the fight against pollution. Each group focused on the biggest pollution problems in their countries. The activity began with presentations by students from each school. The host coordinator prepared various exercises to allow the students to get to know each other better. Later in the day, they talked about waste companies in their country and environmentally friendly companies. The next activity was an art workshop attended by students as well as the local community, in which plastic bottles and other waste materials were used. The next part was the creation of a garden from the imported seedlings of each country and assisted by a biology teacher.