FFF: Fit for Future – Sustainable Learning Erasmus Project

Project Title

FFF: Fit for Future – Sustainable 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: Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

Sustainability will be the primary challenge of this generation. Only through international cooperation can nations overcome the challenges of the future, which is why our project was carried out transnationally. Preparing our students for those challenges and equipping them with the skills they need were our main educational goals. This project of our 5 schools in Estonia, Finland, France, Germany and Spain had thus been developed to enable the teachers to support the students to become aware of common challenges in Europe and enhance their problem-solving skills. Sustainability as the key challenge was the common thread knitting together the 22 months of project work.
All the five partner schools offer general education at a secondary level. The partners differed in their fields of expertise and complemented each other in their best-practise experience.
The main target group of our project were the students (4 student meetings: 5 students + 2 accompanying teachers per country in each meeting, 125 students in total) who were 14-17 years old. In order to benefit from the project and also to produce meaningful output, a certain level of English and intellectual capacity were required, explaining the chosen age group. Letters of motivation were part of the selection process of students.

The key concept of sustainability was further subdivided to tackle the specific needs of each school, leaving us with topics that covered various areas of learning addressed at the five meetings as planned in the application.

1. Sustainable Teaching in Helsinki (teacher meeting)
Major objectives: best-practise exchange on sustainable learning methods, updating project design, testing of technical equipment/acquiring skills later transferred to students (e.g. video making software), product: promotional video for our project

2. Communication: Sustainable Language Learning in Marburg
Major objectives: CLIL, language learning apps/games, autonomous language learning techniques, blended learning, products: language learning videos, recommendations for language learning apps

3. Environmental Sustainability in Tallinn / Helsinki
Major objectives: holistic approaches to raise environmental awareness, visiting a power plant in Tallinn, products: a news video on environmental sustainability, a newspaper with information and guidelines for schools and individuals

4. ICT: Sustainable Infotainment in Granada
Major objectives: ICT, real news/fake news, dangers of social media, product: a blog with information on fake/real news, guidelines on sustainable use of social media, dangers e.g. cyberbullying

5. Creativity: Artistic Expression of Sustainability in Paris
Major objectives: developing ideas for a “City of the Future” (Paris, district “Le Marais”), product: a piece of art + opening event

The methodology in carrying out the project regarding meetings, preparation, follow-up activities and management was based on the following principles: cooperative, international, competence-based, project-oriented, blended learning, learning by doing, ICT, creative.
The schools involved the whole community in all stages and results (e.g. recommended language learning apps, sustainability news video) were incorporated into the school curricula to guarantee a long-lasting effect on the schools’ development. Thus they will enrich and have already been part of daily teaching and school life.
Results were shared with our own students, parents and fellow staff but also with interested people in our cities online through our school websites, Twinspace, Facebook and other platforms (Erasmus+ Project Results Platform etc.). We also included the local media by issuing press releases.
However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the last milestone (International Sustainability Event) could not take place, which is why we lost this opportunity for dissemination purposes. In addition, the implementation of results into school curricula and daily school life has not yet been completed due to the more pressing Covid-19 pandemic.
We could not have known before but the Covid-19 pandemic made it necessary for distant teaching to draw on e.g. technology and ICT-skills the students had previously acquired. Students at home had to rely on their own competences and thereby experience self-efficacy. As they had mastered cultural, language-related, social, ICT and subject-specific challenges, they were well prepared for distant teaching. In distant learning the students also had to cooperate with other students who themselves in turn benefitted from their experience. Even if one day the pandemic should be overcome, the character of teaching will have changed and the skills acquired in the project will have a long-term impact on the student body and the teachers.

In conclusion, evaluation has shown that with the help of this project the students enhanced their key competences that are necessary to understand and tackle environmental and learning sustainability.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 116233 Eur

Project Coordinator

Elisabethschule & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Association Ecole Massillon
• Colegio Salesiano San Juan Bosco
• Kadrioru Saksa Gümnaasium
• Maunulan yhteiskoulu ja Helsingin matematiikkalukio