Be the solution-recycle! Erasmus Project

Project Title

Be the solution-recycle!

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; Natural sciences; Energy and resources

Project Summary

How to deal with waste has been a hot topic and not only a fundamental issue of environmental protection but also a growing problem of modern civilization in general. Throughout the world there are huge amounts of waste being produced by industrial plants, households, public institutions as well as individuals. Those huge amounts of waste end up piling up in the seas and oceans, rivers, lakes, forests and mountains. The amount of waste generated currently in the EU countries is around 3 billion tonnes a year, with more than 10% of it being produced by households and public institutions, which is around 300 million tonnes a year and only as much as 40% of it gets reused or recycled. This percentage of recycled or reused waste varies between EU countries. In Croatia it accounts for barely around 10% of total waste produced in households and public institutions, while in Germany most waste is recycled or reused (98%). The latest research shows that reducing waste produced in households and public institutions would largely affect and help mitigate the impact of waste on our environment. The objective of the EU Waste Framework Directive is to prevent the production of waste as much as possible, to use the generated waste as a new resource and to reduce the quantities of waste sent to landfills. Since we often encounter irresponsible individuals and communities who throw waste into forests, rivers and seas, do not sort waste and behave irresponsibly towards the local and global environment we all share, the students from partner schools have launched a project initiative. The main objective of this project is for students, their teachers and parents as well as other citizens in the local community, to understand the importance of the negative impact of waste and its poor management on the environment and climate, both locally and globally, and to learn how to recycle waste and use it as a new resource. The other project goals are: acquiring knowledge about waste, waste recycling and reusing of waste as a resource at school, at home and in the local community; developing personal and social responsibility necessary to protect the local and global environment; gaining knowledge and thinking about the causes and consequences of human environmental impact; developing creative and innovative thinking in addressing the issues of recycling and waste management as well as learning about the rational waste management and using waste as a resource. By doing so, we will be able to encourage young people to take personal responsibility for the environment and future generations, to motivate them to act for the well-being of their environment, to think about the future, thus preparing students to participate in creating a society based on sustainable development. The project includes primary-school students and teachers in partner schools from Croatia, Italy, Greece, Poland and Turkey. The teachers act as the project coordinators, who will educate both themselves and their students as well as work on developing the general awareness about the types of waste, different ways of recycling and sorting waste as well as using waste as a resource. They will also gain knowledge about the possibilities of recycling waste collected both in households and schools, such as paper, plastics, glass, batteries, electronic waste, scrap metal and bio-waste; and how to use it as a resource in a creative and innovative way. This project will also help students and teachers improve their digital, linguistic and presentation skills by communicating in English and delivering presentations to the students and teachers from partner schools, in the nearby schools and to the general public. The project activities will also involve educating students’ parents and the wider community on different environmental issues and topics in order to engage them and to raise awareness of the need to sort, recycle and reuse waste in local communities. The partner schools will raise the educational standards in their schools by implementing innovative teaching methods in the field of environmental and climate protection. The project activities, such as Green Building (sustainable building from waste), Educational Games Made From Waste, The Animated Film About Recycling, E-book On Making Games From Waste, Creating An Educational Kit From Waste And Recycled Materials for Biology, Chemistry, Geography and Physics will all contribute to students’ creativity and innovative creations and also to some new ways of learning about waste and how to use it as a resource. The dissemination of the animated film, the e-book and also the exhibitions of students’ work (made of various waste materials) on Earth Day in partner schools, will contribute to the long-term awareness and educating young people about the importance of recycling and using waste as a resource. Moreover, it will contribute to the protection of the local and global environment.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 148928 Eur

Project Coordinator

Osnovna skola Janka Leskovara & Country: HR

Project Partners

• Szkola Podstawowa Nr 3 im. Hugona Kollataja w Bloniu
• 45 Primary School of Iraklion, Greece
• ibrahim hakki konyali ilkokulu
• Nuova Direzione Didattica Vasto
• Osnovna skola Bedekovcina