ACTION – Empowering educators and community leaders to act on climate change Erasmus Project

Project Title

ACTION – Empowering educators and community leaders to act on climate change

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 vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Environment and climate change; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Open and distance learning

Project Summary

Education is a powerful tool to prepare societies for the global challenges that climate change brings. The United Nations Climate Conference, COP24, which took place in Katowice, Poland, last December 2018, dedicated one Thematic Day, to education and the pivotal role it plays in global responses to climate change.

Education has two obvious effects on the fight against climate change. Firstly, it impacts individuals’ general awareness of the issue, and secondly, it determines how enabled they are to develop the necessary solutions and innovations to overcome climate change. However, there is an alarming gap between awareness and action on climate change. To bridge this gap, ACTION develops a holistic framework to boost the acquisition and development of global and transversal skills on climate change related topics, among VET providers, local authorities and NGOs.

ACTION partners (CCSC/France, AEVA/Portugal, CEDRU/Portugal, CSI/Cyperus, CWEP/Poland, EGS/UK, GOI/Turkey, INFODEF/Spain, MEATH/Ireland, and SYMPLEXIS/Greece) truly believe that climate change education must consider the need to provide educators and community leaders and professional with learning opportunities and up-to-date facts, new and innovative training processes, cutting-edge resources and digital era tools, to better empower their learners and citizens as ‘agents of change’ and promote closer links between education and local communities. The following objectives are defined:
– Develop a culture of sustainability, creating the background so organisations can define and implement suitable action plans to act on climate change education
– Upskill the educators and community leaders with competences that has the required impacts in how climate change can be taught and integrated into targeted VET sectors (i.e. Tourism, Health and Energy) but also in community-based actions
– Provide a set of innovative and cutting-edge training curriculum and educational resources, available in digital and open media, to empower educators, community leaders, learners and citizens
– Boost European dimension and cooperation, through the participation of nine countries representing various regions who are experiencing climate change´s impacts and organisation of two transnational experience exchanges with peers
– Engage associated partners, experts and key stakeholders in development, validation, dissemination and mainstreaming actions, through the local working groups and multiplier events.

ACTION is built in cooperation with a local working group bringing together experts, target groups and stakeholders. The project involves over 180 educators and community leaders and 180 learners and citizens, and 300 stakeholders in its activities related with intellectual production, validation, testing, piloting, dissemination and exploitation. A set of 20 case study videos are produced and more than 1500 stakeholders across Europe reached through the project dissemination activities.

ACTION is available in French, English, Greek, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish, and free accessible online as a reference resource for climate change education.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 449894 Eur

Project Coordinator

Communauté de communes du Sud-Corse & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Evolve Global Solutions Ltd
• CEDRU – Centro de Estudos e Desenvolvimento Regional e Urbano, Lda.
• INSTITUTO PARA EL FOMENTO DEL DESARROLLO Y LA FORMACION SL
• CSI CENTER FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION LTD
• ISTANBUL VALILIGI
• AEVA – ASSOCIACAO PARA A EDUCACAO E VALORIZACAO DA REGIAO DE AVEIRO
• SYMPLEXIS