Collect plastics not shells Erasmus Project

Project Title

Collect plastics not shells

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Civic engagement / responsible citizenship; Environment and climate change; Creativity and culture

Project Summary

Project “Collect Plastics not Shells” (PLANS)

As the Dutch leading partner, we are proud of our exchange programme with the two Italian partner schools with whom we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our relationship in 2018. The current project proposal supports and endorses the main objective of internationalisation in our school, which is formulated in its policy plan:
“in a globalizing world, in Europe, in which cross-border cooperation, internships and jobs are no longer an exception, we think it’s very important to learn our VMBO pupils to look across the Dutch borders and to orient them on other cultures. In order to strengthen the European dimension in our school, to develop an open mind and attitude, and in to learn to deal with different cultures, we strive for gaining more knowledge about and maintaining worthy contacts with certain European countries.” We are convinced that this project contributes to the main objective and vision of our school.
Thanks to the mature relationship with the Italian partner schools, many pupils from both sides get the chance to stay in host families, where they get to know each other’s culture and way of life in the most realistic way that is thinkable. One group of around 20 Dutch pupils will exchange with a similar group of our partner school in Santa Marinella, while at the same time another group of 20 is matched to our partner school in Cerveteri, both in Lazio Roma.
The theme of this project is a result of the fact that the Dutch partner school is both a ‘Certified Culture school’ and a ‘Certified Healthy School’. We will stress the relevance and importance of this project in a meaningful way by connecting Arts&culture with environmental issues in a directly visible way. As a motto we use KISS (Keep it small and simple). The activities that the pupils will be involved in are twofold: they learn to think out of the box and to use their imagination and creativity in performing the activities, and besides that, they need to find solutions and alternatives for a real environmental issue namely the use of and pollution by plastics. This has become a serious European and global problem. The Mediterranean Sea is with its plastic soup one of the most polluted waters in the world. Our Italian partners are eager to do whatever they can to raise awareness and to help solving the problem. Also in The Netherlands plastic pollution is becoming an urgent problem that we will focus on in our lessons.
The specific aim of this project is to create more awareness of pollution in general and in particular of dealing with environmental problems caused by plastics in a creative way. We aim to create a different attitude in lifestyle.
As a first activity all our 13/14 year old pupils, their parents and teachers of every partner school will be invited to a meeting about the relevance and importance of participating in transnational projects, in particular about this specific project. Inspired and interested pupils can apply for participating in the exchanges by writing a motivation letter in English. The other pupils will be occupied with relevant activities integrated in the regular programme. In our Dutch school we have a ‘thinktank’ composed of some selected pupils and parents to help in preparing, carrying out and evaluating the programme. So called ‘Ambassadors’, some pupils who will visit Italy in year 1, will promote the project during the second year. Information about the project will be regularly published on the websites of all three partner schools, on notice boards in each school and in internal newsletters.
Italian and Dutch exchange pupils will get to know each other by email, social media and Skype or FaceTime. They prepare activities like making questionnaires for interviews and doing research. Other activities include the creation of objects of art made by plastics, a visit to a waste processing station, collecting plastics on beaches in Italy and the Dutch Wadden island of Schiermonnikoog, visit expositions and cultural and historic places in Assen, Rome and Cerveteri (the Necropolis).
In order to try to guarantee a successful follow-up, conversations with the mayor or local government representatives in both Italy and The Netherlands are planned. Our long lasting relationship with these representatives will make it easier to involve them again and to convince them of the importance of this project. The results and products will be presented in each school, not only the objects of art, but also what we call a Plastic Pact that can be used in and outside of school. In this Pact we give recommendations to reduce the use of plastics and its waste in and around the schools.
We believe in the impact on all the participants, and in the long term also on school policy because we believe in making pupils more motivated and enthusiastic about this theme to broaden their minds and make them feel more responsible by sharing ideas about ideals and real world problems.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 98384 Eur

Project Coordinator

dr.Nassau College Penta & Country: NL

Project Partners

• I. C. Piazzale della Gioventù, 1
• Istituto Comprensivo Salvo D’Acquisto