E.A.S.T. – Environment, Activities, Studies and Exchanges Erasmus Project

Project Title

E.A.S.T. – Environment, Activities, Studies and Exchanges

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 : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

Context/background of the project:
Education is one of the most important aspects for the improvement of life quality of youth around Europe, stated as such in several EU policy documents. The Europe 2020 strategy also emphasizes this aspect in terms of smart, sustainable, inclusive growth with an important attention to the issues related to the youth’s education, training. This project focused on this relevant aspect by promoting the cooperation and the creation of long-term partnerships in the field of youth, aimed at strengthening the professional development of young people active in the field of environmental and sustainable development, as well as targeting the issue of promoting the learning mobility of young people, enhancing skills and abilities gained by means of nonformal and informal learning activities, and support their permeability with FE.
The need to continuously develop professional and transversal skills for youth is of vital importance, specially related to the sustainable development and to the development of environmentally literate citizenry inside the dynamic European context of education and lifelong learning in general. A method for reaching this objective has been offering youth training opportunities according to the integrated sequence of planned educational experiences and materials intended to ensure firm foundation for new NF environmental educational programs, where the FE is permeated with NF and informal education, and to trigger improvement in the existing ones and spread its use.

Objectives:
The project pursued the following objectives:
-to provide a better knowledge on the environmental issues for improving the accessibility and usability of green areas and developing environmentally literate young citizenry;
-to exchange best practices;
-to promote synergies in the youth field and stimulate the participation of authorities;
-to innovate and improve the quality and the range of initial training of young people active and/ or potentially interested to venture in the field of environmental, sustainable development, green jobs by elaborating NF environmental education curriculum aimed at empowering of youth and thus to facilitate facing the challenge of youth unemployment;
-to promote the exchanges, training and cooperation among youth workers from EU countries and provide young people with useful soft and hard skills in order to use them in their professional lives.

Number and type/profile of participants:
The target groups of the project were public bodies, regional/ local associations, organizations interested in developing long-term projects in the field of environmental and sustainable development as well as youth organizations, organizations working in the field of environment, healthy life and sustainable development and wider society.
The target groups for training activities were youth workers, young people active and/ potentially interested in taking on the field of environmental and sustainable development, as well as organizations providing environmental education (FE&NFE) to the young generations.
Some examples of involved associations/institutions are: CET (Centro Educazione alla Terra) in Italy, Palermo University, Gardens of Buen Retiro Park in Spain, FOE Malta, Alter Power in Malta.
The target groups for training session were 39 youth workers, young people active and interested in taking on the field of environmental and sustainable development.

Description of undertaken activities:
The main activities realized are:
– Communication and Dissemination activities mainly through the creation and implementation of the project website and the EAST facebook page
– Organisation of 6 transnational project meetings in each project partner countries
– Training session in Alcamo (Italy) for 39 participants (one more then the foreseen number)
– design materials for a publication about Formal, non formal and informal Environmental Education Resources and Experiences

Results and impact attained:
– establishment of a solid strategic partnership
– Share case studies,exchange evaluate the best practices
– Elaborate a publication about Formal, non formal and informal Environmental Education Resources and Experiences

Longer-term benefits:
The E.A.S.T. project activities were designed to be repeatable in different EU contexts.
Thus, the project wants to be the basis on which the entire partnership will build its future activities, implementing and enhancing the activities carried out. The project outlines itself as “the firs planned activity” to ensure its further implementation by the Strategic Partnership created.
The internal communicational service established under the project will provide the operational basis to support further project planning of the created partnership.
The project website will spread the continue its functioning after the end date of the project and make available the access to the project contents.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 94585 Eur

Project Coordinator

EURO & Country: IT

Project Partners

• ASOCIACION IROKO DESARROLLO FORESTAL SOSTENIBLE
• ASOCIATIA CURBA DE CULTURA
• FOUNDATION FOR THE PROMOTION OF SOCIAL INCLUSION IN MALTA (FOPSIM)
• Turisticka zajednica grada Jastrebarskog
• NUOVO ATENEO
• ORSA
• ZELENA AKCIJA