Green and healthy schools across Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

Green and healthy schools across Europe

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Health and wellbeing; Social/environmental responsibility of educational institutions; Cooperation between educational institutions and business

Project Summary

Green and healthy schools across Europe (GREHES) describes the mutual mission statement of five vocational/secondary schools from different EU countries – namely Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Great Britain. Pointing out the current health conditions in and around schools in relation to global sustainability goals (SDGs) and culture specific parameters, each project partner identified the need to help adjust the mindset and institutional conditions for a healthier lifestyle for students in Europe. This project brings together young people of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds, who are about to enter the European workforce. The school environment has great impact on their future ability to encounter national and international challenges. Hence, it is very important to prepare the students for an overall healthy lifestyle in respect to social, mental and physical health as well as professional readiness within the intercultural context of Europe.

In the course of the GREHES project, each participating school will introduce ideas, measures and facilities promoting a more healthy, sustainable and responsible school environment. Topics will include
(1) Social Awareness (i.e. learn & work conditions, school & job etiquette)
(2) Mental wellbeing (i.e. stress prevention)
(3) Physical health (i.e. extra curricular exercice, nutrition)
(4) Fair Trade (i.e. green produce, – focus on school canteen)

Through interactive workshops and cross-border learning, core groups of students and teachers of each project partner will compare, evaluate and enhance existing concepts. They will analyse all relevant aspects of their current school environment, learn about best practice examples of respective schools, local instituions and businesses, find out about the criteria of fair trade products and ways of including them into their daily needs as well as expand their individual range of physical excercise and balanced diet. Based upon their results, all participants shall develop new ideas and methods for improvements tailored to their communities. Adjusting and integrating successful concepts, facilities and ideas into the development of new concepts for each partaking school will be an important result of the GREHES project. A special focus in this context is the provision and promotion of healthy nutrition at each school. Developing methods to cope with stress situations in order to increase psychological resilience is also among the targeted results as well as promoting ways to make each member of the school community feel welcome and integrated. Naturally, the enhancement of intercultural skills and language skills are expected.

Each participating school will carry out the content in various learning teams and in interaction with their respective school community . Throughout the duration of the project, small student & teacher delegations (5 students + 2 accompanying teachers from each school) will meet in participating countries to complement national activities with first hand international experience. Collaboration with local institutions outside the school communities will be an integral part of the students learning. In order to create a sustaining impact, the groups of students will – together with the partaking teachers – present specific suggestions to the school community and its social environment.

Ideally, this project will lead to a wide range in change of awareness of individuals for a healthy lifestyle and also to lasting relationships between project partners and/or participating institutions. Long term school partnerships are anticipated to allow further student exchanges and advanced teacher training. According to the findings of participating groups of students, adjustments to the individual school programs and curriculars shall be made to achieve sustainable impact and ultimately a healthier lifestyle for students and teachers in Europe.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 85674 Eur

Project Coordinator

Hansa-Berufskolleg & Country: DE

Project Partners

• York College
• Erhvervsgymnasiet Grindsted
• Kristiansand katedralskole Gimle