Co-education in Green Erasmus Project

Project Title

Co-education in Green

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 adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; Pedagogy and didactics; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

The climate change emergency has risen public awareness on the necessity of working towards more sustainable societies. UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are pushing political agenda in this direction and, together with the pressure from environmental organisations and the younger generations, policy-makers are starting to take action at European, national and local level. Education is a crucial aspect of the development of sustainable societies. Over the last years, there has been an increasing number of civic initiatives that seek to transform public space with an environmentally-friendly mindset and, although there are some local regulations on the issue no European protocol yet exists.

At the same time, European countries need to put their effort into building more inclusive societies, fighting inequality and strengthening links among communities. ‘Co-educating in Green’ project core activities seek to promote and environmental community education through project-based learning, led by adult educators but counting on the participation of learners, including those with special needs, and the local education community.

Adult educators are the DIRECT TARGET GROUP of the project, which focuses on strengthening their competences on community education, environmental issues and accessibility for people with special needs as well as their leadership and motivational skills. The INDIRECT TARGET GROUPS are adult learners, especially those with special needs, and education communities.

The main OBJECTIVES of the project is empowering adult educators to become leaders in their local communities and promote cooperative projects of transformation of shared spaces into greener and more accessible areas, fostering social inclusion, common values and participation as well as to face environmental issues. The pedagogical approach to non-formal community learning seeks to promote values of non-discrimination, active citizenship, integration in the context of diversity and protection of the natural environment.

‘Co-educating in Green’ expected results include the development of three intellectual outputs, which will be a ‘Methodology of the creation of shared green shared spaces and implementation procedures’, an ‘Online Training Kit’ for improving educator’s competences and skills on environmental-oriented cooperative education through the collaborative transformation of shared spaces into green accessible areas, and a ‘Manual for adult educators and educational centres on how to co-create multisensory gardens for adults with special needs’, the output that will include the organisation of a one-day event of co-creation of a multisensory garden in all partner countries.

Each output and activity will have a responsible partner to ensure their correct development. Other tasks and responsibilities, such as coordination the project, quality assessment, coordination of dissemination activities, planning exploitantion of the results and the project’s sustainability, will be distributed among the partnership. All project’s outputs and developed materials will be accessible and downloadable in the project’s platform. They will be available in English and all partner languages.
‘Co-educating in Green’ project is expected to have an impact in the involved local communities, but its outcomes are expected to have an impact also at regional, national and international level. The project will foster international cooperation for transferring knowledge and experiences related to the co-creation of shared green spaces and formalise and establish a sustainable network of actors that work on the transformation of shared spaces to greener areas that tackles the different problems that communities face in relation to their natural environment and social inclusion.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 175630 Eur

Project Coordinator

VSI EDUKACINIAI PROJEKTAI & Country: LT

Project Partners

• ASSOCIACIO FAMILIARS PERSONES AMB DISCAPACITAT INTEL.LECTUAL I DEL DESENVOLUPAMENT – TBC
• UNIVERSIDADE DE AVEIRO
• Associacio Programes Educatius Open Europe
• APS Polygonal
• C.M. SKOULIDI & SIA E.E.
• C.F.C.D.C. CENTRE FOR COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT CYPRUS