Acting now for the Future Erasmus Project

Project Title

Acting now for the Future

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: Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); Social/environmental responsibility of educational institutions

Project Summary

PROJECT SUMMARY

The damaged Environment and Climate goals are our departing problems. Although many behaviours can be changed within each of our schools at a micro level, other or the same problems exist at the partner schools, which takes us to the meso level; we wish to help raising active citizens by promoting research collaboration among the partner schools, with the purpose of educating students to examine issues from different perspectives, therefore advancing reasoned arguments. Furthermore, the same or similar problems can be found all around the world, since pollution and climate change have no borders at a macro level, and we have also designed activities to bring the pupils to finding out about good practice around the European Union.
These are quite overly-complicated problems which are difficult to solve. Since there are multiple problems involved, we decided to break them down into smaller sections and get students to deal with them individually, in order to help their understanding and the finding of solutions.
We understand that addressing global and complex problems, in this specific case the Environment and raising awareness among students, teachers and the wider community, requires a cross-cutting approach to all areas of knowledge and collaboration across all sectors. This project thus promotes convergence and interdisciplinarity being guided by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda 2030, as well as by Model United Nations resolutions to propose changes.
We are now preparing students who belong to Generation Z, therefore being technological natives, at a time of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, which brings benefits in many technological areas, such as advanced robotics and autonomous transport, artificial intelligence and machine learning, biotechnology and genomics, advanced materials…, a time where some jobs will disappear and new jobs will be created. Skills are also changing for the future workforce: whereas hard skills will always be needed, with regular upskilling or reskilling, soft skills will be as much needed, being among the top five skills in 2020 those of Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Creativity and Coordinating with Others; among the last five skills needed Emotional Intelligence is also listed.
Recognizing our role of teachers as agents of transformation, we feel a responsibility to instill in students their own responsibility for the future of our civilization. In order to develop the hard skills needed by students to develop the project, as well as to bolster the required top soft skills, we intend that throughout the project students research the facts in their school, neighbourhood and country, detect problems, deepen their knowledge of the issues addressed through the approach in each partner school, develop critical thinking and open intellectual inquiry with stakeholders and decision makers, eventually by proposing feasible suggestions as young ambassadors for the environment and by the creation of an online petition to be sent to the EU.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 191640 Eur

Project Coordinator

Agrupamento de Escolas D. Filipa de Lencastre & Country: PT

Project Partners

• 7o GENIKO LYKEIO THESSALONIKIS
• Kauno ”Vyturio” gimnazija
• THEODOROPOULOS SCHOOLS
• Tallinna Inglise Kolledz
• Gymnazium J. A. Komenskeho, Nove Strasec, Komenskeho nam. 209