Ecology and education, pillars of the Europe of tomorrow Erasmus Project

Project Title

Ecology and education, pillars of the Europe of tomorrow

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: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

This Erasmus+ project was born from the will of two schools (Belgian and Italian) to create a school exchange partnership to enable students to put into practice their knowledge and skills of the Italian language (for the Belgian students studying Italian) and the French language (for the Italian students studying French) while discovering the culture of the target language. Sixteen students from each school will participate in this project. They will come from the 3rd and the 4th grades in the Italian school and from the 5th grade in the Belgian school.
This project is entitled “Ecology and education, pillars of the Europe of tomorrow”. The ecology has been chosen as the main theme because it is a topic more than relevant today and is an important part of our lives. We can no longer ignore global warming and all its consequences. Reduce our ecological footprint has become a priority. The teachers who have written this project, want to allow the development of innovative practices regarding resource saving and responsible and sustainable consumption. They also want to allow the students, their families, other teachers or anyone else to become responsible and actors of change.
It is a broad topic; this will let the students to discover different facets of ecology. The project will explore eco-responsible citizen actions in both cities (Brussels and Palermo) and will focus on biodiversity. The idea is to get students interested: let them innovate, be creative in initiatives that they could develop in their own neighborhood and school. This project will strengthen their identity as a common European identity thanks to the exchange of good practices between both schools.
The project will be supported by the teachers of Italian, French, sciences, and philosophy and citizenship. Throughout the project, students and teachers will carry out activities. The results will lead to the creation of products coming from collaboration and teamwork, namely:
1) a video presentation of students’ own city and school,
2) presentation of the research of the eco-responsible citizen actions in their own city,
3) production of filmed interviews of people having launched ecological projects in Brussels and Palermo,
4) Brainstorming in groups about concrete actions that can be implemented at school in order to reduce its ecological footprint.

Throughout the project, the activities will be organized according to the methodology of the flipped classroom because it puts the student at the center of learning. This methodology is, according to all the involved teachers, the most adapted to the theme and planned activities. Through analyses, research, interviews, questionnaires, and video presentations, students will develop a critical reading of the environmental issue.

The activities have several objectives:
A) the general objectives:
– the modernization and strategic development of teaching and learning of basic and transversal skills and those specific to Italian, French, sciences and citizenship education,
– the development of ICT skills through the theme of ecology,
– the reinforcement of the motivation and will to lifelong learning,
– the development of awareness of the multiculturality of contemporary society and school,
– the development of interest in multilingualism in the teaching profession and the exchange of good practices.
B) the specific objectives of the theme:
– the knowledge and understanding of the terminology related to ecology (ecological footprint, local economy, short food supply chain, sustainable development, zero waste, etc.)
– knowledge and understanding of the different ecological projects existing in Brussels and Palermo,
– the development of social cohesion, intercultural dialogue and awareness of European citizenship through the theme of ecology,
– the awareness of the possibility of actions of students and their families in everyday life.

This project will generate long-term benefits. The eco-responsible actions that will have been reflected and implemented in each school by the students and the teachers will be sustainable actions planned to last over time. The teachers vouch for their sustainability. It is not excluded that after the end of the project, the two schools try to obtain a new funding to continue and go further in the activities of the project by applying to a new strategic partnership project of the Erasmus+ program.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 32580 Eur

Project Coordinator

Athénée royal de Ganshoren & Country: BE

Project Partners

• Liceo Statale “De Cosmi”