Fauna here, fauna elsewhere and fauna of tomorrow Erasmus Project

Project Title

Fauna here, fauna elsewhere and fauna of tomorrow

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 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Environment and climate change; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education

Project Summary

The project called “Faune d’ici, Faune d’ailleurs, Faune de demain” is mainly a scientific project based on the study of the areas of distribution of red foxes and polar foxes, animals which are impacted by climate change.

The project helped improve interdisciplinary work between two rural French schools located in Morvan and a Greenlandic school based in Ilulissat. This study was made in association with scientists and local organisations: The Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, la Société d’Histoire Naturelle d’Autun, le Parc Naturel Régional du Morvan, Bourgogne Nature, and a French laboratory specialised in Arctic regions.

The main objectives of the project – which were to fight against school dropout and to improve the learning of basic skills from the European reference program – were reached and sometimes even surpassed. The pupils, who were actors in each step of the project, found ways to push themselves to the forefront and to enhance their skills through activities such as :
corresponding with other pupils (practising English, making videos…),
working with scientists (meetings, conferences, class activities and field study in and out of France),
fundraising,
participating in communication activities (interviews, reports on the project…),
getting involved in everyday life tasks during the school exchange.

There were four types of activities organised:

Educational activities:
– scientific: to evaluate the impact of man on biodiversity in France as well as in Greenland (camera traps, data analysis, writing of scientific articles),
– cultural: surveys, English practice, discovery of the Greenlandic language,

Management activities:
scientific management committee, funding and project follow-up,

Promotion activities:
Facebook page, website, newsletter, exhibitions, books, design of a logo, merchandising products, films, clips, photo exhibitions and press articles

Assessment activities:
Microsoft Excel, surveys, logbooks, base skills assessment grids for the pupils, selection of indicators of the project’s success, results analysis…

Thanks to these activities, the following results were achieved:

intellectual and scientific cooperation between students of European countries,
sharing and international exchanges between classes,
varied productions,
reinforcement of teachers’ and students’ skills,
rallying of the different audiences targeted,
boosting of the schools,
improvement of team work in and between schools,
fighting against xenophobia and cultural barriers,
growing awareness on the necessity of protecting biodiversity.

This project directly impacted 100 participants (pupils, school team and scientists) and it brought together more than 1000 people locally.

In the short term, the participants had the feeling of proudly belonging to a unique adventure and they showed motivation. The pupils became actors of their learning and they could work in an uncommon way (new and innovative practices thanks to the collaboration with scientists and with pupils from a different culture). This project enabled an intense and unique collaboration between scientific partners and schools.

In the medium term, the project had a strong impact on the attractiveness of these middle schools, both on a local and regional level.

In the long term, the project gave more responsibility to the participants concerning environmental issues, making them adopt new behaviours. It also helped to initiate other projects related to the protection of biodiversity and the fight against global warming.

Being strongly set in a scientific context, the project ‘Faune de demain’ had repercussions in many other fields and it opened cultural and behavioural perspectives in which Europe has an active and central role for the future.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 186008 Eur

Project Coordinator

Collège François POMPON & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Atuarfik Jørgen Brønlund
• college François de la Grange