Healthy Planet Healthy People Erasmus Project

Project Title

Healthy Planet Healthy People

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

The crisis of climate change is scientifically proven. Therefore we urgently need to adress environmental issues and pursue the goals of sustainability, particularly with regard to the Paris Agreement: All participants in our society need to make a great effort to face the biggest challenge in the history of humankind. As a result, together with our partnerschools and extracurricular partners in Europe we will contribute to environmental protection and effect our environment as multipliers. Offering a holistic approach, we increase the competence of all participants in different fields that are relevant for sustaniability. We are setting the focus on professional information (facts about climate change), product creation, strategies of non-violent communication (according to Marshall Rosenberg) and school development.

With our work we encourage the design of a future-oriented curriculum, that adapts to individual, social needs and change. In three modules (1. climate; 2. circular economy; 3. biodiversity) basic concepts will be transmitted, trained and consolidated and material to dissaminate knowledge and information (such as leaflets, teaching units in the national languages etc.) will be produced. Each module concludes in a Learning, Teaching, Training Activity (LTTA) where students work together in one of the partner schools. Thus the LTTAs serve as milestones to conclude and review the previous projekt work. Non-violent communication (NVC) functions as a common theme throughout the full projekt term. It supports common and intercultural understanding, empowerment and social change. Looking at our world today we can observe that issues such as climate change, sustainability and environmentalists provoke an exacerbated polarization, black and white thinking and conflicts between different interest groups. The problem of climate change however can only be mastered together. Non-violent communication helps to cope with conflicting standpoints and opinions and assists the process of reflection of the personal stance concerning the challenges due to climate change. In addition NVC supports social change and empowerment by focusing on a resource-oriented perception and perspective. Applying innovative practises we enhance the further training of students and school staff to agents for change. The project starts and ends with a LTTA for the teachers involved to guarantee a long-term benefit for the school communities. With our specific actions and products we will have an impact on the maintenance of ressources, the compensation of CO2 emissions and promote energy savings, sustainable food and transport. Structural change will take place within the schools concerned. Goals are: minimizing the use of plastic, valueing paper as an important ressource (significant reduction of its use; conversion to recycled paper), waiste avoidance, accelerating recycling in our schools, reduction of energy consumption, protecting biodiversity (we will construct insect hotels and create wildflower areas) and cooperation with NGOs. The planned project to protect insects will motivate the students to deal with the problem of the increasing extinction of insects and to engage in activities to protect them. Parts of the green areas sourrounding the school will be changed into protection areas by planting wildflower meadows and bushes that give refuge to endangered insects. The most important objective stresses individual and thus social change, in particular a change of communication habits, a change of preferences and consumption behavior towards a more conscious and sustainable lifesyle. With these goals we as a school community can consolidate commonly shared values for a healthy future. The participants realize that their active citizenship and commitment plays an important part in a sustainable development. With the participation of socially disadvantaged students in the project all individuals taking part are called to increase their sense of responsibility for each other and environmental issues. Three vocational schools from Germany, Spain and Portugal are involved in the project. In the German school students of the international classes (refugees coming from different countries) will be involved. About 80 students with their teachers will travel to the partner countries. At least 100 students will be participating directly in the project. The school communities that are directly participating will benefit from the project in developing and implementing a concept of a sustainable school. Also other schools will be able to use the units and guidelines as they will be provided on the homepage of the project, eTwinning and the project´s result platform.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 90959 Eur

Project Coordinator

Georg-Kerschensteiner-Berufskolleg des Rhein-Sieg-Kreises in Troisdorf & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Instituto Nacional de Aprendizagem e Ensino, S.A
• IES L’ALMADRAVA