The aim was to improve students' academic results and reduce school dropout rates and frame the guidelines of the Innovation Plan with a focus on sustainability, namely by: ensuring students participation in decision-making; promoting responsible citizenship and contributing to a more sustainable school/community; stimulating the need for changes in attitudes and adopting everyday sustainable behaviours; contributing to the achievement of the SDGs; improving the school environmental management, as well as, raising awareness and involving the community with an emphasis on students; developing partnerships; aiming for the students' community of origin to acquire a new vision; allowing students to identify, strive for and design other opportunities to make their own area more sustainable and inclusive. In addition, we aimed to have teachers who might be leaders in sustainability, recycling and zero waste; the active participation of students in environmental activities; a greater linguistic diversification and contacts with foreign cultures; substantial digital training and use of Web 2.0 tools and increased participation in international projects, namely Erasmus+.
The Azambuja Schools Group (AEAzb) brings together 1,700 students from Pre-school to Secondary Education, with Technical Professional Education classes and Adult Education/Training. It has a Qualifica Centre for skills certification, which is headquarters of Lezíria Oeste Training Centre (CFAE-LO). An Innovation Plan, which was also implemented, created new school subjects based on learning laboratories and project methodology. The AEAzb offers several social and environmental projects/clubs: Eco-Schools, Ciência Viva Centre, European Club, eTwinning, Youth Parliament, among others. The main goal of the project was to raise awareness among the local community about the need to promote changes in daily life regarding sustainability, recycling and zero waste. We also aimed to reinforce our participation in national and international projects (Erasmus+), according to the needs of the Innovation Plan and the Educational Project. This last reason comes from the fact that we want to generate a sense of belonging at school as we have a community with intense immigration, in constant mutation, with low socioeconomic expectations, where many parents and guardians do not even master the Portuguese language.