Eco-Hiking Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

Eco-Hiking Europe

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 Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; Natural sciences

Project Summary

The “Eco-Hiking Europe” project was aimed to enhance, develop and improve participants’ professional and transferable skills and competencies. Five secondary schools from the Czech Republic, Finland, Romania, Greece and Portugal cooperated and exchanged groups of students in order to spread the idea of European citizenship, discover and explore each countries’ natural treasures and to create new materials and other outputs that has not been attempted yet. Most activities took place outdoors in the environment of first-hand experience and learning by discovering. Since the schools prepare students for their professional careers, the activities were focused on aspects of their employability in present and future labour market. The main objectives concerning the students and teachers were:- developing knowledge of English for communication as well as for their professional lives- deepening and enhancing their theoretical, social, interpersonal, communicative and also physical skills- increasing their chances in the labour market – working and cooperation in international teams – improving orientation in the real – out of class world- expanding their horizons and knowledge of variety of natural phenomena- helping them realize differences as well as similarities between partner countries related to their cultural, social and historical aspects that will enhance mutual understanding and respect for individual cultures. The main targets concerning the institutions- internationalization of the schools- enrichment of general and specific parts of the schools’ curricula- implementation teaching of ecology in English and transferable skills in curricula. -facing each institution with the counterpart/competition from other countries – catching up with current development European-wide. Approximately four hundred of participants were involved in the project, most consisting of students and their teachers who planned, implemented, realized, assessed and disseminated activities and outcomes gained and organised in the project.We believe that the overall project team with the cooperation of the schools’ implementation teams and participants was able to achieve the goals and fruitfully accomplished most of the activities and products planned in the proposal. The activities in the project covered wide variety of work. On one hand, the participants used IT tools (social network, website, video sharing…) for communication, work and presentation results of their explorations using English as Lingua Franca, on the other hand though, mainly, they discovered, explored, hiked and analysed under expert supervision different types and kinds of natural habitats and unique natural geoparks. They learnt how to cooperate, communicate, suggest solutions and share own ideas and attitudes towards wide range of natural aspects in order to produce outcomes usable for their professional lives (photobook, nature trail proposal, videos with worksheets or presentations) as well as for ideas for exhibitions and public relations. Five international outdoors workshops focused on five different kinds of natural phenomena were organized in the project. The receiving school which was responsible for preparation, organization and assessment of the workshop created a detailed schedule which combined hikes in the actual natural area with acitivities undertaken while hiking and consequential fifth day at school where results of outdoors activities were analysed, discussed and put into theory. During the major part of each workshop – hiking part – participants worked as one international team under the lead of receiving organisation. Depending on country, students discovered rare and unique natural phenomena such as various national parks across Europe, unique palm trees, birds, snakes, herbs and spices, marshes and swamps, lakes, geothermal areas and many more. The whole international team hiked and worked on various tasks outdoors, prepared by implementation teams of receiving organisation. Students explored nature which they don’t have in their own country and learnt many new skills. Major results were detailed photobooks from each workshop, new worksheets for schools, new, complete nature trail proposal ready to be constructed. Methodology was covered by coordinators’ assistant who is an expert on Ecology+Geography. We believe that the project helped students to improve and enhance not only their professional skills but also transferable competencies so important for their employability or entrepreneurship. Moreover, it made students aware of belonging to a community at local, regional, national and European level.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 109120 Eur

Project Coordinator

Stredni umeleckoprumyslova skola Karlovy Vary, prispevkova organizace & Country: CZ

Project Partners

• Agrupamento de Escolas Frei Heitor Pinto
• Geniko Lykeio Siteias(General High School Of Sitia)
• Joensuun yhteiskoulun lukio
• Colegiul National “Nicolae Balcescu”