European Wonders of Geography Erasmus Project

Project Title

European Wonders of Geography

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: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

This project started to evolve as we were finishing our last one. The coordinators from three of the participating schools decided to share the natural sights of Europe with our students. So far, we had experienced the Etna in Sicily, the deserts in Spain and the beech forests in Germany. We then added a new school and the teacher from the school in Croatia actually came up with the full title of the project: European Wonders of Geography. The detailed layout started to evolve in the beginning of 2020. After we finalized our ideas, a project team was put together at each school. Now we could build a two year program but we wanted to do it in a creative and original way.
The project has 5 major objectives: Firstly to improve the digital, social and foreign language competences of our students. We achieve this objective by using eTwinning and other digital tools. In the activities the students produce videos about the natural sights which will improve their communicative skills as they work in international teams.
Secondly, we want to implement innovative teaching approaches which include ICT, teaching and learning through the methodology of bilingual subjects (CLIL) and Project Based Learning. This benefits teachers and students alike, as we are designing our own didactic units for the project. These will be integrated into the curriculum of each school.
Thirdly, we will foster a better understanding of the natural world and geographical landmarks of each area and the changes they are undergoing, including the effects of climate change. This objective appears in the didactic units which are designed to integrate the subject matter of Geography and make it accessible in all languages.
Fourth, teamwork is encouraged with teachers and students respectively. This happens through eTwinning and the way the teachers plan the Joint Staff Training Event. Teachers are encouraged to work together using new technologies from which the ultimate beneficiaries are the students.
Finally, this will add an international value to all our schools by promoting the “social and cultural value of European heritage”.
We will have roughly 100 students and 20-25 teachers involved in the project. This includes the actual activities of travelling and the virtual work on eTwinning. As other project events are planned at each school, these are expected to reach a wider number of participants. We plan to involve students from year 7. They are around 12 years of age who will evolve and grow with our project. We will include 20 students who face economic obstacles and cultural differences.

We have organised 5 activities during these two years, which are divided into two different sets. The first one is a Short Term Joint Staff Training Event, where different workshop are prepared to foster innovative teaching approaches. This event is crucial to carrying out a successful work plan. The second set of activities consists of 4 Short Term Exchange of Students. We divided each activity into two stages. In the socio-cultural stage the students are hosted in their partners’ homes and visit the school and the area. In the field work stage students and teachers spend a short period, at a campsite or youth hostel near the area which is the subject of study.
– The Desert in Spain (April 2021)
– The Forest in Germany (July 2021)
– The Vulcano in Italy (November 2021)
– The Lakes in Croatia (May 2022)
The most innovative aspect of our project lies in the fact that we will have a product (the multilingual didactic units) designed by the teachers and materials such as videos and pictures produced by the students. This is a key aspect and gives the students a very important role in the project.
We believe that this project will have a deep impact on teachers, students and families. Teachers will learn and implement some innovative practices using digital tools and improve their foreign language and social skills. These two last aspects will also be relevant for students, who will have an unforgettable experience that shows them the meaning of belonging to this culturally differentiated but always tolerant and altruist European Union. Last but not least, other teachers and schools will benefit from our work. Our reseult will be shared and made available on the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform as well as on our webpages and other dissemination tools. We will show our capacity to keep an association of schools that can work together successfully. In the long run, we think that keeping contact with schools from other countries is the best way to maintain an open mind and learn from others.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 115230 Eur

Project Coordinator

Gesamtschule Battenberg & Country: DE

Project Partners

• IES SIERRA DE GÁDOR
• Osnovna skola Sracinec
• ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO “VITALIANO BRANCATI”