Rethink packaging and food! Erasmus Project

Project Title

Rethink packaging and food!

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: Environment and climate change; Social/environmental responsibility of educational institutions; Energy and resources

Project Summary

ReFood – Rethink packaging and food! Do you want to know how it can be done? Take a look at our MOTIVATION, our PROFILE, our AIM, our APPROACH and the possible RESULTS of our project.

Our MOTIVATION behind the project were our STUDENTS. The students detected the following issue: Every day a lot of packaging and food is thrown away by everyone in school. The students worked out that this is not very SUSTAINABLE.

The PROFILES of the TWO participating schools are similar. Both schools provide a general education as well as the same guiding principles ( e.g. inclusion, ECOLOGY, certificates, PARTICIPATION in school, DEMOCRATIC AWARENESS)
Furthermore, our students share a middle class socio-economic background. The participating students are between 16 and 18 years old. To ensure a comfortable working atmosphere the students will be matched. These BUDDIES work together throughout the project.
As Germany and Spain have a deep economic relationship, especially with regard to the import/ export of agricultural products, it made sense for these two schools to work together on a project regarding food.

There are multiple AIMs and BENEFITs of the project. The main aim is to create and to promote the AWARENESS of RESOURCES, which means to consider how we can use resources more effectively. Since there are many aspects, the project focusses on PACKAGING and FOOD WASTE. The project aims at REDUCING the general WASTE so that the environment is less burdened.
Additionally, the students are encouraged to be an ACTIVE part of society.

Our APPROACH is divided into two parts, both with regard to the HANDLING OF WASTE IN SCHOOL.
Although the topic mentioned above involves mutually depending aspects, we decided to divide the project into two years, so that different students get the opportunity to work on two different aspects in detail. This way the students will not be overwhelmed by the complexity of the topic.
During the FIRST YEAR, the students are focussing on the HANDLING OF PACKAGING. During the SECOND YEAR, the WASTE OF FOOD will be analyzed.
One important pillar of our approach is the COOPERATION with local partners, e.g. a food bank. That way the students can refer to a role model for their practical realization of the strategies.
The conditions for the project are diverse in both countries and schools. To include these conditions, we follow a 5-STEP-METHOD. It combines a PERSONAL LEVEL (via E-Twinning) and a SCHOOL LEVEL (during short term activity):

– Firstly, the students OBSERVE the habits regarding waste.
– Secondly, using strict criteria the participants ANALYZE the production of waste (Packaging/ Food)
– Thirdly, starting from this the students DEVELOP trial-and-error strategies suitable for each school.
– Fourthly, they APPLY these strategies.
– Fifthly and last, the students EVALUATE and ADJUST the taken measures.

The second short term activity (C2/C4) can benefit from the trial-and-error strategies developed in the first short term activity (C1/C3).
Since our project is based on two aspects (Packaging/ food waste), we follow the method twice.

The RESULTS of our project are easily measurable. After the application of our strategies, we hope to find a reduction of waste after the last step of our method (evaluation). This can be proven by simply weighing the amount of waste produced during one school day.
Apart from the apparent results, the project offers more PURPOSEs: The students are the most important part of society in the FUTURE. That is why we have to encourage them to be conscious about the future. That means, they are responsible and must be aware of their behavior. Through the young people society can be changed. Restrictively, the project can mainly influence on a local level.
A POTENTIAL of the project is the increase of local cooperations and partnerships.
Furthermore, the partner schools may establish a long-term work-shop about sustainability. It is desirable for the schools to stay in contact via E-Twinning to exchange their experiences.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 65508 Eur

Project Coordinator

Gesamtschule Gescher & Country: DE

Project Partners

• IES BEZMILIANA