from eco-irresponsibles to european eco-citizens Erasmus Project

Project Title

from eco-irresponsibles to european eco-citizens

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

As far as the context is concerned, we already have a pairing between the French middle school, located in Roumazières-Loubert and the Spanish high school, located in Rafelbunyol. Motivated by that positive and rewarding experience, we have decided to set up a more ambitious project including another partner in Italy. The Ostiglia highschool seems to us to be a suitable partner since it already has participated in an exchange with the Spanish one in Rafelbunyol. Moreover, the three institutions have already been involved in european opening for many years through different projects such as pairings or language travels. In addition to the European opening, all of our highschools, with the help of local partners and different associations, are actively involved in sustainable development which is a big part of our school programs. These are the reasons why we have decided to work on the following issue : from eco-irresponsibles to European eco-citizens : what are the means implemented in the European Union to preserve the environment ? Comparative studies of local initiatives observed in three regions of France, Spain and Italy. So as to answer plainly this issue, we have selected four main lines of thoughts : how to preserve our species, how to recycle our waste, how to protect our natural ressources and how to protect our heritage ?
Our main objective will be to provide our pupils with both basic and transversal skills. Mathematical, scientific and numerical skills will be used to explain how nature works and to develop communication, in connexion with the european project. Regarding the social and civic skills, they will help to strengthen open-mindedness, citizenship and autonomy. Another objective will be to improve our teaching practices through teamwork with our foreign colleagues. Finally, our last objective will be to prevent dropout and to help our disadvantaged pupils to succeed.
In France, all the pupils in their second year of middle school, will take part in the project. As far as Italy and Spain are concerned, their pupils will be in their first year of secondary school. Indeed, we wanted them to be about the same age class, that is to say between 11 and 13 years old. All of these pupils come from rural and landlocked territories and most of them come from disadvantaged families. In terms of mobilities, about 40 pupils will take part, they will all be selected according to objective criterias and they will all be hosted in the families of their correspondent.
Throughout the two years of the project, a lot of activities will be conducted through educational sequences of the school subjects involved : French, Sciences and Languages. The pupils will work on the four lines of thoughts aforesaid. Each mobility will result in a sharing of research and work carried out : setting up and study of an ecological pond and garden, visits to protected natural sites, activities and artistic creations around recycling and heritage.
So as to lead our project to the end, we will mainly use the e-twinning plateform to publish, share and pool not only the pupils productions but also the works of the involved teachers. This tool will also allow us to communicate via videoconferences very regularly. Moreover, a red wire questionnaire, a diary and a traveling notebook will follow the pupils throughout these two years.
At the end of the project, the host institution, that is to say the French one, will organize a final European eco-citizenship Forum. This meeting will show, through different exhibitions animated by pupils, all the educational actions carried out by the three partner institutions as part of the Easmus + project. A wide media coverage of the event is planned via the press, the partner institutions websites, e-twinning and the town halls so as to ensure the widest influence possible beyond the three schools involved.
As far as the benefits are concerned, we hope, thanks to this project, to take advantage of the pooling of our different experiences in terms of environmental protection. In this way, we want to make our pupils even more aware of the eco-environmental cause, a cause they are already working on. As for the local public authorities, we wish to provide them with new lines of thoughts in terms of politics aiming at protecting the environement, biodiversity and our heritage.
To finish, we would like to reach the pupils’ parents and the local associations we will have worked with. Regarding the parents, our experience could help them in their day to day life and concerning the associations, we hope they will be able to make new contacts and to develop a european dimension.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 19050 Eur

Project Coordinator

COLLEGE JEAN MICHAUD & Country: FR

Project Partners

• IES RAFELBUNYOL
• Istituto di Istruzione Superiore G.Galilei