EURO-ENVIRONMENTS: THE RURAL WORLD AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LEARNING Erasmus Project

Project Title

EURO-ENVIRONMENTS: THE RURAL WORLD AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LEARNING

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 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); Rural development and urbanisation; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship

Project Summary

“Euro-environments: rural areas as a learning opportunity” has been carried out by four schools that shared common contexts, objectives, necessities, and educational approaches; these schools are all set in rural environments that have been badly affected by a demographic decline and ageing population. This social situation shapes their students´ personal development as well as their expectations, let alone the upcoming opportunities that might arise in their birthplaces.
Our school “Pablo Díez” has been fighting for many years to address these deficiencies, and with this goal in mind, a methodological proposal using Project Based Learning (PBL) has been a cornerstone within our school training plan. We soon realized that this further study on our environment should entail a European dimension and platform where the objectives and the competences are to be embodied; by doing so, students are likely to be better equipped with the right tools to successfully operate in a global work environment.
Through the E-twinning community, we contacted The Collége La Feuillade (Vic-sur-Aisne, France), “IIS G.A.Pishcedda (Bosa, Italy) and Szkola Podstawowa nr10im. Janusza Korczaka (Tarnobrezg, Poland); all of them were schools eager to make a cross border educational partnership which brought the strengths of the rural areas to life and turned our schools into an instrument of sustainable and cultural development.
Along with the aforementioned objectives, the project tasks were targeted mainly to boost high quality skills. We challenged ourselves to promote the sense of initiative, the creativity, and the entrepreneurial spirit of our students. We also set our hearts on building up collective awareness standards. The project promoted inclusion and tolerance among our youngsters; it also prepared them to become active actors in their self-development much less upgraded their competences, notably the cultural and awareness expression, the digital and the linguistic one.
Six teachers from the partner countries along with fifteen teachers working in the coordination school attended a workshop on robotics application in school orchard management at the early stages of the project. During this seminar, teachers learnt how to manage Arduino software in order to set sensors in motion; these sensors monitor the exact water quantity a plant should need; working in this way, the intelligent use of this invaluable resource is indisputable. Needless to say that this cutting-edged technology has the biggest impact on farming, main sector in our economy. 62 students and 16 teachers attended three mobilities with students organized within the project implementation. The polish school shared entrepreneur women stories who had to overcome an array of obstacles to succeed when setting up their businesses. They also showed the rest of the participants valuable examples of creative adaptations of recreation areas. In France, all the participants worked in the school orchard making a worm compost bin and an insect hotel. The focus of the mobility in Bosa revolved around tourism and sustainable development. Unfortunately, and to the despair of the four schools, the last two mobilities scheduled within the project could not be accomplished owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, further efforts were needed to do domestic activities that let us work in tandem sharing the results and impact with the partner schools. The coordinator school displayed its partners the project-based activities that had been accomplished along these 36 months so that they were externally assessed as formerly agreed in the objectives. The research on the environment was rounded up with the creation of a moving literary route entitled “The echo of the mountain” based on two literary works by Julio Llamazares. This literary route has enriched the area of Boñar, and it has also promoted high-quality competences and entrepreneurship. By the same token, the heart-warming route has ramped up the area´s international visibility turning Euroenvironments into the driving force of cultural development. The sustainability of the project is clearly demonstrated through this route whose dissemination on social media, newspapers, and radio exceeded initial expectations.
The four schools did roughly 40 different activities over the course of the project, each of them with clear goals in mind: interdisciplinary approach to the surrounding environments, cultural exchanges, schools’ internationalization, and social skills increase.
During these three hectic years, we have had a thorough understanding of our areas, discovered our heritage, designed a literary tour, attended workshops, analysed strengths and opportunities but above all this, we have led to the conclusion that these rural environments do offer significant opportunities ahead. Furthermore, we are all convinced that there are real opportunities for our students to make their living in their rural birthplaces.

Project Website

http://www.erasmuspluseuroentornos.com

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 89363 Eur

Project Coordinator

IES Pablo Díez & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Szkola Podstawowa nr 10 im.Janusza Korczaka
• Istituto di Istruzione Superiore “G.A. Pischedda”
• COLLEGE LA FEUILLADE