e-co-foot Erasmus Project

Project Title

e-co-foot

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 school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Environment and climate change; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

e-co-foot – Ecological Footprint Training

Humanity’s consumption of Earth’s natural resources exceeds its biocapacity. This imbalance can be quantified through the world’s Ecological Footprint as an extrapolation of all humans’ individual footprints. As many individuals don’t know about their Ecological Footprints, we want to spread this societally essential knowledge together with practical information.
E-co-logical Footprint Training. Smalls steps – big changes.

Providing young learners between 10 and 18 with knowledge regarding the Ecological Footprint, including backgrounds on what is included in such a footprint considering production, use and disposal of goods and services is the fact basis of this training. The call to action is triggering choices for daily habits and activities with a lower Ecological Footprint and empowering the youth to take action collectively– in order to sustain life on our planet. A high quality blended educational package that addresses the needs at different learning stages, get schools and class teachers interested in using the educational material, involving the whole school community and education system, parents, locals, local representatives from the municipality as well as other local NGOs and in a next step raise interest for participation throughout Europe is the project’s aim.

The results are:
A) Offline teaching and learning material grouped in six units in two versions (suitable for school kids aged about 10–13 and 14–18; the latter also for adults):
1) general introduction
2) Mini Hectare Workshop
3) Nutrition
4) Housing
5) Mobility
6) Consumption
B) e-learning course for students on the same subjects
C) Ecological Footprint calculator: online tool to log daily activities and calculate students’ Ecological Footprints
D) Background materials for teachers comprising of
1) Background info on the Ecological Footprint concept
2) Guide to Excursions and Projects
3) Guide to implementation
4) Calculator Warmup
5) Calculator manual
6) E-learning manual
E) multilingual website e-co-foot.eu hosting all these educational resources
F) Guide to Certifications; unbiased from certification institutions (overview of existing environmental education certifications and how to achieve them)

The project objectives included the compilation of the results mentioned above and the dissemination toward schools and teachers and the school community to use these materials, outlined below.

During the project 12 teachers from four countries were trained on the project contents in the TTL activity, our multiplier events atttracted several hundred teachers trainers, staff from school community and education systems, parents, locals, local representatives from the municipality as well as other local NGOs to participate. Several hundred of these stakeholders were reached through the manifold other dissemination activities like articles, social media posts, mailings, book contributions; with their teaching they can bring the project’s content into their classes is reaching thousands of pupils and into their schools sharing the knowledge with further teachers.

We see the impact of awareness-raising on the effect of sustainable consumption in our alumni’s local and regional study and work environment and an international role model effect as a vital part of the project.
E-co-foot lays the ground for a pan-European solution on how to raise schoolkids’ awareness on sustainability which cannot only be adopted beyond the partner countries but also beyond Europe because of the self-scaling character, its “translatability” and transferability of the e-learning-tool and the Ecological Footprint-calculator. The cross-border cooperation initiates the transversal take-up of innovative practices in education, the ICT-involving cross-community approach (school children and their environment, no segregation) among other things is a strategy against socio-economic digital divide.

Apart from this educational long-term effect, the project also benefits the ecosystem itself. We share – knowledge and responsibility and we care – for us, others and our planet. Together.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 285768 Eur

Project Coordinator

akaryon GmbH & Country: AT

Project Partners

• Colegiul Vasile Lovinescu
• KPE Pertouliou Trikkeon
• Plattform Footprint – Verein zur Förderung des Bewusstseins für den Ökologischen Fußabdruck
• EOTVOS LORAND TUDOMANYEGYETEM