The objectives of this Erasmus+ project was for students and teachers to work with climate change, to gain knowledge of this vast problem and to work with climate solutions for their own school and municipality. As climate change is a heavy burden for young people, we therefore focused on the students’ abilities to make a change, and work with climate change in a positive way, where the focus was more what we in different European regions can do, instead of focusing on what we cannot do. Therefore, the logo of the project was a climate handprint, which signifies focusing on all the good you can do to enlarge your handprint instead of focusing on your footprint which tells about the CO2 of each product you consume . Moreover, the students should also work with climate campaigns targeted at students at schools and the local municipality. Apart from working with climate change, as 5 project partners and students from four countries had to cooperate, one of the objectives was also intercultural cooperation, to obtain knowledge of how young people live, think and feel in different regions of Europe.
The background for applying for this Erasmus+ project was to give young people at VET and Upper Secondary Schools in five regions in Europe a voice within a topic which is so insurmountable as the climate crisis is, and to show them that small changes also can make a difference. Instead of feeling climate apathy, we wanted the students to become empowered and learn that they too have the possibility to make a difference, on a small scale, finding climate solutions at school and municipality level. In this Erasmus+ project, the students had the opportunity to do so through access to the participating school's management, teachers and key municipalities. Moreover, we wanted to give the students more information about climate change through tutorials and presentations, by going on excursions to experience how different local communities and regions work with climate change. Furthermore, cultural exchange and knowledge was another reason to apply for this project.