Healthy Minds for Healthy Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

Healthy Minds for Healthy 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 : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Health and wellbeing; Social dialogue

Project Summary

In the schools of the 21st century, there has been a significant change – from the place where students were trained for final examinations and admission to higher education institutions, schools have become a place where problems in the real world are addressed. In this century:
• Learning requires students to actively work with abstract concepts, facts and formulas in a real and highly social context.
• Critical thinking has become a necessity in the learning process
• Students must be able to use different resources
• Cooperation has become an integral part of learning.
It is therefore important to train teachers and pupils to address nowadays teenage issues. The project “Healthy Minds for Healthy Europe” focused on implementing a range of interventions in partnership with healthcare institutions to tackle various addiction problems at schools. It is very important for teachers and healthcare professionals in different European countries to share their experience in dealing with these problems. Each country has its own practices and methods of trying to prevent youngsters to become addicted to bad habits.
The main objectives of the project were to:
• Improve the capacity of partner school staff based on the needs of the 21st century
• Identify and analyze the situation with addictions in partner countries
• Share success stories in the field of addictions in n each school
• In co-operation with healthcare institutions, develop course program and lesson and activity plans “How to prevent different types of
addiction at schools”
• Try out the created lesson and activity plans in partner schools.
• Strengthen mutual understanding between the peoples of Europe by getting to know the cultures of the partner countries.
The project worked in several directions: 1) studying the situation in all partner schools and countries concerning different types of addiction; 2) getting to know good practice on fighting addictions; 3) creating a study programme, lesson and activity plans for preventing various addictions and promoting a healthy lifestyle. 4) organizing seminars and simulation games on various topics on fighting addiction:
• How to work successfully in a team
• How to reduce addiction to mobile phones and video games and replace them with more appropriate activities
• How to limit the time spent on social networks
• How to learn to eat healthily
• How to convince peers to quit smoking
• How to restrict the use of alcohol and drugs among young people.
5) writing success stories on fighting with addictions.
Teachers and healthcare workers worked together to create a study program, lesson and activity plans “How to prevent different types of addiction at schools”. During the simulation games, students had to play different roles – the one of a psychologist and an addict, trying to persuade the addicts to turn to a healthy lifestyle.
All the materials created during the project were posted on the project website www.theserasmus.wordpress.com and the brochure “How to Fight Addictions at School”.
During the project, 2 project meetings and 3 teaching/learning activities took place as well as 3 teacher teaching / learning activities. During the first project meeting, project coordinators in Latvia elaborated a plan for implementation of the objectives set out in the project, divided the tasks, discussed result dissemination activities and project finance issues. In the second project meeting in Greece, a seminar was held where the progress of the project and the created materials were analyzed, the planned result dissemination activities in each school and the sustainability of the project were discussed as well. The final project report and the publication of the brochure were also analyzed.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 93810 Eur

Project Coordinator

Grobinas gimnazija & Country: LV

Project Partners

• 4 Gymnasio of Thessaloniki
• Gymnasium Aradippou
• IES Mar Serena
• Bartuvos progimnazija
• IIS Liceo “Bocchi-Galilei”