Cultural and Natural Heritage: save our landscape/monuments. Erasmus Project

Project Title

Cultural and Natural Heritage: save our landscape/monuments.

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 Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; Access for disadvantaged; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills

Project Summary

In this project we wanted to inspire the students to take responsibility and play a more active role in the knowledge and conservation of their respective cultural and natural heritage. In working with a real assignment, involving school subjects like mathematics, natural sciences and literacy among others, our main goal was to increase their level of achievements. The main activities between the student exchanges were preparing and learning of the themes: the preservation of buildings and monuments, the water theme, the environment/recycling and the energy theme. They achieved this by individual studies, group work, making surveys, exhibitions, films, app, field studies and theme days.
Students learned how to learn and become motivated to their studies. This we can see in the increase of applications to both the natural and technical program in Sweden. In Turkey, they have also noticed an increase of applicants to the English classes as the students realise how important the knowledge of foreign languages and further studies are.
We wanted to increase the elementary school students’ level of achievement in the subjects mentioned above and to perform well in the PISA survey. We have not seen any results from that survey yet, but in other tests of our students we can see an improvement in for example their reading comprehension. To let younger students be involved in this project has not only created bonds between age groups but also motivated them and made them realise the importance of knowledge and further studies.
Another pursued objective was to improve the attainment of students at risk of early school leaving (ESL). By doing this project, mathematics and natural sciences were taught in a broader context, with real-life relevance.
This project brought the classroom outside the school. In advance, the students prepared the field studies in each country, and then did them together with students from the partner schools and the elementary school. They looked at the results and valuated them together. When working with external contacts, the school, with its students and teachers, is considered as a resource in the future of our cultural and natural heritage/environment, cooperating with local and provincial organizations. As of now, there are three students who have obtained jobs (Alfred Nobel, Björkborn, Karlskoga).
The transnational meetings in all involved around 290 active participants (staff, students, guests and hosts) which exceeded our expectations. However, the dissemination involved many more students, teachers and external contacts throughout the length of the project. Bonds have been made between both students and adults involved. There are even examples of families having made bonds and keeping in touch by social media and actual visits.
The results of the project were presented to the local school board and school politicians, but also on a regional, national and European level. In using the E-Twinning and school website the project and its results were presented continuously. There were articles and debate articles written by the students which were published in local and regional papers in all the participant countries.
Our goal was that the material from the project will be used when the project is completed, and that our cooperation with the external contacts will be on a permanent basis in the future. Many of the themes and projects we started will continue (and already do) on a regular basis where we definitely will continue the cooperation with our partner schools but also the secondary school students.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 66120 Eur

Project Coordinator

Möckelngymnasiet & Country: SE

Project Partners

• 6o GYMNASIO LARISAS
• Burdur Cumhuriyet Anadolu Lisesi
• GO! atheneum Centrum Oostende