EUROPEAN CHALLENGERS TO SAVE CLIMATE Erasmus Project

Project Title

EUROPEAN CHALLENGERS TO SAVE CLIMATE

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: Energy and resources; Environment and climate change; Natural sciences

Project Summary

Spisska Nova Ves is a gateway to Slovak Paradise National Park. That might be one of the reasons why so many teachers of our school are close to nature, understand its role in our lives and value its significance for not only our physical but mental health as well. Unfortunatelly, we are witnessing global climate changes and we do not want to just talk or teach about steps which are necessary to be made; we want to take action and one way how we can do it is by attracting students` attention and raising public awareness through activities done in this project. Thus the main objective of our project is to contribute to the EU’s achievement of climate change targets by contributing to awareness-raising activities against climate change.
When considering the partnership, we tried to bare in mind certain balance between experienced partners as well as partnering schools with little or no prior project experience but on the other hand, we also took into account the relevance other schools demonstrate in the issue of climate changes or particular measures they have already taken. We firmly believe we succeeded in creating a strong strategic partnership (consisting of 5 schools) in which mutual learning and teaching processes will be highly valued and thus help gain the best results possible.
What is even more, students of all participating schools will not only learn and disseminate the knowledge on climate change, its consequences and possible solutions to prevent dramatic changes, they will also develop their key skills and competences, such as communication skills, flexibility, cooperation skills, goal oriented thinking, creativity, planning of work and strategy, responsibility, motivation etc.
We also tried to create a partnership rich in cultural diversity since beside the main objectives of the project, its aim is also to promote active citizenship in democratic life in Europe, to improve intercultural dialogue and intercultural awareness, to improve foreign language skills and competences and to contribute to intercultural tolerance and respect.

Our project will include students at the age group between 14 and 19 years old from 5 different countries. As for the number of participants, we decided to include 4 students from each participating school for each learning activity except for Aruban school and the learning activity taking place in Aruba (there will be 2 participants from each schools and 2 accompanying persons). The decision was made upon a thorough consideration based not only on less convenient logistics but also much more demanding requirements on accompanying persons. The participants of this age group need to express an interest in environmental and climate change issues, be aware of the need to protect the environment. Our aim is to broaden their horizons and strengthen their determination to combat climate change and the problems it brings.

In order to achieve the goals of the project, we have determined 5 modules covering our goals and the activities that will reach these goals. Module 1: Burning fossil fuels, Concrete Output: Electric vehicle design – Line following vehicle will be built., Module 2: Beach and ocean environmental damage due to plastic pollution, Concrete Output: Design of creative objects from plastic recycling., Module 3: Land use changes, Concrete Output: Design of ideal agricultural environments, Restortion of local wetlands by planting native trees, shrubs and flowers., Module 4: Deforestation, Concrete Output: A different approach to recycling: Toy design from Waste Forest products., Module 5: Green Energy, Concrete Output: Innovative home design that meets your needs and supports energy saving with green energy sources. In addition, planned outputs of the project are logo of the project, a presentation and an e-book describing the regional climate changes, a booklet of good practices, a letter to the European Parliament explaining the project, the project website, climate change boards, climate change T-shirts, hats, pens etc.

In project execution, methods such as activity-based teaching, project cycle method, flipped classroom, cooperative learning, problem-based learning, design thinking and gamification will be given a priority. Teachers will prefer student-centered approach and try to focus on such students` skills and practices that enable lifelong learning and independent problem-solving.

Dissemination is of great importance and we envisage a long-term impact and benefits of our project as the outputs of it will be integrated into the curriculum of Biology classes. Thus, the dissemination activities will include powerpoint presentations, project posters, open lectures, e-Book, Good Practices Guide, conferences with the presence of local as well as national media, social media accounts etc. The satisfaction of teachers, students and their parents will be given a high priority and will be evaluated through forums and surveys.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 85225 Eur

Project Coordinator

Gymnazium & Country: SK

Project Partners

• AGRUPAMENTO DE ESCOLAS DE VILA NOVA DE POIARES
• ISTITUTO TECNICO INDUSTRIALE STATALE ALESSANDRO VOLTA
• OZLEM BURMA MESLEKI VE TEKNIK ANADOLU LISESI