Responsible Nature Explorers Erasmus Project

Project Title

Responsible Nature Explorers

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Teaching and learning of foreign languages; Social dialogue; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

The project is the cooperation between five schools from five different countries:
Ortenbergschule, from Frankenberg in Germany,
Gymnasio Efxinoupolis from Efxinoupolis in Greece,
Istituto Comprensivo Sassuolo 4° Ovest from Sassuolo in Italy,
Agrupamento de Escolas Dr. António Granjo from Chaves in Portugal
Szkola Podstawowa nr 14 z Oddzialami Sportowymi from Krosno in Poland

The climate is changing and the impacts on the various European regions are different but can be found in all our local areas: In Germany we have had really dry summers in the past two years. If you walk through the forests around Frankenberg, you will see many dead or dying trees. In Greece rubbish is often carelessly discarded at the side of streets creating a serious environmental problem that affects land and waters. In the Po valley in Italy the rise of average temperatures has been constantly observed in the last years and it tends to be paired with extreme weather events. In the area around the school in Portugal forest fires and desertification were a major problem in the last years. And in Poland many areas are struggling with a very high level of air contamination and a lack of awareness of the seriousness of this problem.
So, it is undeniable that climate changes are and will be a key issue in Europe. We strongly believe that we all – students and teachers – have to change our way of life to reduce carbon footprints.

Although the greenhouse effect and its impacts are part of our school curriculums, there are still many students we somehow don’t manage to reach and we still notice a lack of the necessary knowledge.
Around our schools we all have places of outstanding national beauty. We want to bring students in touch with nature and develop activities which help to create a new, sustainable attitude. As a result, we would like to achieve that our students spend more time in city or school related to outdoor activities or environment topics.

During each mobility we will have one outdoor activity and one practical activity. The hosting school is well aware about the local environmental situation and which local experts they can invite and has the opportunity to include members of the local staff who are already acquainted with the topic.
Our motivation is to learn from each other and see examples of good practices from all the participating schools.

First, we want students to enjoy being outside in nature.
Our second objective is to show students how they can actively promote and implement the conservation of their regional environment. Projects like planting trees, guerrilla gardening or building and maintaining nest boxes or insect hotels during and in between mobilities are a concrete outcome here.
Third, we like to show students that in many parts of Europe people experience environmental problems. The conditions might differ, but it is an incisive turning point everywhere.
Finally, we want to motivate students but also the whole school community to save energy and reduce their carbon footprint by making sustainable decisions on a daily basis, e.g. using the bicycle more often or recycling more waste.
We encourage students (and teachers as a role model) to change their attitude and concrete behaviour in order to act more climate friendly at least for some time. This experience should be spread and discussed.

So, to achieve these objectives we will work in a collaborative way. During the mobilities we will use the time for an exchange of best practice examples. The students will spend time together in nature so as to explore the different vegetation zones in Europe and report about it at home. There will also be a common hands-on activity like planting trees or collecting waste to experience environment issues as a common European objective. The results of our work during the mobilities as well as throughout the project will be presented in an exhibition in all our schools.

We will use English to communicate. Teachers and students will have real/useful writing or speaking tasks and the students can practice their skills. The students must also use English to communicate with each other, so the language as a real purpose which again motivates the students to use it.
Exercises we have done during our project can be repeated in normal classes or might even become a part of the school curriculum.
The experiences teachers gain while organising these teaching projects will be used in further teaching settings with other groups.

We expect to improve social intercourse through our activities, so that it fosters greater mutual respect and understanding. Getting acquainted with other cultures and traditions broadens in general one’s horizon and leads to better quality of life.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 163690 Eur

Project Coordinator

Ortenbergschule Frankenberg & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Agrupamento de Escolas Dr. António Granjo
• Szkola Podstawowa nr 14 z Oddzialami Sportowymi i Integracyjnymi im. Polskich Olimpijczykow
• GYMNASIO EFXINOUPOLIS
• Istituto Comprensivo Sassuolo 4° Ovest