European Forest Young Keepers Erasmus Project

Project Title

European Forest Young Keepers

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; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship

Project Summary

In the context of global warming, we have chosen to build, over two years, this project “young people, guardians of European forests”, whose theme is focused on “discovering, promoting and protecting the heritage that the European forests constitute “.
Five schools are participating in this project: the Touchard-Washington high school in Mans, France, the secondary and vocational middle school Matías Ramón Martínez de Burguillos in Spain, the national middle school Johannes Honterus de Brasov in Romania, the secondary school of Eleja in Latvia and 2 Geniko Lykeio high school in Rethymnou in Crete.
A total of 120 students will participate in these mobilities. They will be aged 14-18 years old, showing an open mind, and motivated to get actively involved in the activities. Students experiencing financial or social integration difficulties, or learning difficulties, will participate in this project which will represent for them a real opportunity to open up to the world and develop their skills.
This project will enable students to acquire important skills such as commitment, responsibility, creativity, curiosity, cooperation and the spirit of mutual aid in order to promote the development of a citizen spirit and a European conscience, essential values for these 21st century future adults.
The theme of the forest was chosen with the aim of raising students’ awareness to the major challenges they are facing and will face. Europe, which has been shaped for thousands of years by agriculture and urbanization, is today one of the few regions in the world whose forest area is increasing. What are these forests? What values do they represent? How are these forests so precious but threatened?
Awakening curiosity on these crucial questions, allowing students to answer them and share their discoveries and learnings with their loved ones, their educational communities and more broadly with the general public are some of the objectives of this project.
For this, the students will be fully involved in this project. They will be committed in all the different steps of the implementation, always making sure of integrating all of the students, whether they go to mobilities or not. Cooperation and team spirit will be built at group level, within each school but also in the partnership..
The different activities imagined by the five partners are related to the particularities of their respective regions:
-The city of Burguillos in Spain being located near five natural reserves classified by UNESCO, is a ressource to give young people the opportunity to learn about the observation of the biodiversity of the forest ecosystem and the impact of preservation choices.
-The city of Brasov in Romania, overlooked by the Tampa nature reserve is intimately linked to the forest that surrounds it. It is the setting for many tourist, cultural and artistic activities related to the Forest.
-The town of Rethymnou is located in Crete. And, even if the problem of global warming will be found many times at the heart of the project, the geographic location of Rethymnou makes it a place where awareness of its impacts on the forest can be major for all partners .
-The city of Le Mans in France is located in a region where the forest is the result of a drastic management. Today and for several years, urban planning choices have tended to enhance this surrounding forest and give it a larger share. Meetings with stakeholders in urban planning will provide essential tools to become a stakeholder in societal choices.
-The forest in Latvia is a major economic resource. Thus, the participation of the Elejas high school in the project is an opportunity for the students to discover the human resources of the forest and the need for rational management.
The multidisciplinary and practical approach to each of these activities will allow students to work on their creativity and increase their general, scientific and artistic culture, through productions (“biodiversity in Europe” magazine, symbolic trees, articles, etc.) including dissemination (press, internet, open house, etc.) which will help promote the project and our establishments.
This project is a great opportunity to fight against dropping out of school by stimulating motivation, by restoring confidence in students thanks to the originality of the approaches, by giving everyone the opportunity to express their potential and talents. It will also help develop in our students an individual and collective awareness of current issues as well as the values of respect and sharing.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 156720 Eur

Project Coordinator

LYCÉE POLYVALENT GABRIEL TOUCHARD-GEORGE WASHINGTON & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Elejas vidusskola
• IESO MATIAS RAMON MARTINEZ
• Colegiul National “Johannes Honterus”
• 2 GENIKO LYKEIO RETHYMNOU