Green Schools 2.0 for a sustainable future Erasmus Project

Project Title

Green Schools 2.0 for a sustainable future

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 : Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Environment and climate change; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

This project, born from the previous e-Twinning project “We are green schools”, promoted in our pupils the development and achievement of skills and competences through innovative practices and collaborative approaches to teaching and learning, focusing on Environmental Education and Education to Sustainable Development, connected to the urging need to protect and preserve the environment for a better future of mankind. During its life, pupils have carried out different activities through non-formal and inclusive methodology (cooperative learning, group and pair work, workshops, peer to peer, use of ITCs, learning by doing, CLIL), in order to become aware of the actual environmental issues in our regions, in our Countries and worldwide and to promote effective behaviours and models to improve the situation in a perspective of active citizenship; they have meanwhile developed basic, transversal and soft skills, like digital and language skills, as they have been encouraged to use the ITCs and the English language to communicate in a European dimension. All the eight key competences of Citizenship have been developed and strenghtened thanks to this project. All the activities have been the result of the partnership cooperation, some of them have been carried out in a vertical dimension in Comprehensive Institutes (from nursery to secondary school), and the collaboration with families, local authorities, policy-makers, public bodies, associations and firms in the territory has been always active and positive, leading to actions of local and regional development. All students from 3 to 16 have been involved in the project activities at different levels according to their age and competences, but the ones taking part in Learning Sessions were the older pupils of 13/16 years old, on average 4 from each Country for each mobility, selected according to precise criteria defined by each school (ex. merit, Citizenship skills, engagement and motivation in the activities related to the project, social or economic disadvantage).
The project activities were categorized in six different areas, and each school was assigned to one of them:
1. Energy saving -Romania
2. Water saving/marine protection-Greece
3. Healthy eco-environment/food/composting-Portugal
4. Ecologically designed yard/vegetables garden/outdoor eco classroom -Macedonia
5. Air pollution-Poland
6. Waste disposal management/Recycling-Italy
During the project life time, in order to implement these activities, there have been four Learning Sessions for pupils and three teachers’ transnational meetings to monitor the quality and progress of the program. Learning Sessions have been extremely important and necessary to this project, which was based on the sharing of green practices and behaviours ON -SITE, in a European perspective. Through the direct experience and observation of the activities related to different areas carried out in each country, the confrontation between different conditions, environments and backgrounds, the pupils have reproduced and acquired successful and effective new procedures and ideas relating to a healthy and eco-friendly life style, to be imported and implemented in their own country, creating innovation through entrepreneurial ideas and spirit.
Our project task was that of developing in our students and the whole community citizenship competences working on the growing connection between environmental, social and economical dynamics, and on the relation between sustainability, economics, ethics and social responsibility.
We can say that our project, promoting concrete environmental actions and good practices (i.e correct waste disposal and recycling at school and at home, reduction of CO2 emissions, sustainable mobility, cleaning of green areas and beaches, energy saving and water saving, reduction of waste and re-use, healthy diet, vegetable garden, reduction of plastic, “plastic free” families etc.) has had a significant impact not only on partnership schools, teachers, families and students, but also at local, regional, national and European level, involving local communities, municipalities, institutions, associations, firms, public bodies, policy-makers, networks of schools and so on.
The project results have been widely disseminated by each partner school both inside and outside the partnership, in order to give the most communicative visibility to all the activities and good environmental practices implemented: in this way we will allow all interested people, public bodies, institutions and policy-makers to spread our project results and ideas, extending our project impact, improving environmental sustainability and justifying the European added values. Thanks to this project our pupils could promote actions and activities related to the preservation of our precious environmental heritage, starting to behave as active citizens who will be the hope of tomorrow.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 140025 Eur

Project Coordinator

Istituto Comprensivo Statale “Silvio Pellico” Vedano Olona & Country: IT

Project Partners

• GUMNASIO AND HIGHSCHOOL OF SKRIPERO CORFU
• Szkola Podstawowa im. Jana Pawla II w Psarach
• LICEUL TEHNOLOGIC TIRLISUA
• OU”Stiv Naumov”-Bitola
• Agrupamento de Escolas de Maximinos