The three European schools aimed at reaching a common scientific, cultural, and human reflection on responsible consumption and sustainability and develop positive environmental behavior among young people by using gripping lesson plans created on purpose as a joint result of the partnership. We wanted to provide pupils with environmental education, as stated by UNESCO, to make them more aware and conscious of environmental problems, to boost their interest in caring for and improving the environment, to enhance their ability to learn about their surroundings, to broaden their ecological knowledge in subjects such as energy, landscapes, air, water, and natural resources. We wanted to raise teachers’ and parents’ awareness and involvement in environmental education activities to make them understand they have a social responsibility in building the basis for children's future healthy mindsets and behaviours towards the environment. Our project developed as journey through partner countries’ environmental culture to raise awareness of our own environmental education teaching-learning approaches and share the best practices we use. In this context, European dimension and intercultural dialogue were essential
Before applying for the Erasmus+ grant, the three schools carried out a survey about environmental issues with these results especially in the Italian and Turkish schools: over 70 percent of students are unaware of how their daily habits can affect the environment - 75% said they / their parents often throw away food, 60% said they do not use special recycling bins for paper, plastic and other materials, 85% do not pay attention to energy or water consumption in the household. Moreover, the three schools do not have environmental education as school subject in their curriculum, but it is teachers’ voluntary responsibility to add sustainability lesson plans in their teachings. The Italian school delivers some environmental education lessons as part of their Civics Education curriculum but much more should be done. The Turkish school joins eTwinning or other international projects to acquire new methodologies to address environmental issues. The Slovak school is more expert in the field since environmental education is strongly promoted by local authorities to create mindsets and attitudes which are aimed at protecting natural landscapes and at spreading sustainable mentality. So, we shared our experiences and expertise